Exploring the Relationship Between Website Accessibility and Usability: An Analysis of U.S. County Government Websites

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Communication Law and Policy Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Although website accessibility and usability are highly related concepts, few empirical studies exist which empirically test the correlation between these two constructs. Using an automatic accessibility evaluation tool and a government website usability checklist, this study first evaluated the accessibility and usability of 342 U.S. county government websites, and then examined the relationship between the accessibility and usability of the sites. The results of the partial correlation and one-way ANOVA test indicate that website accessibility and usability are positively correlated, and the websites with better accessibility also have significantly higher usability. The finding of this study suggests that improving website usability benefits not only web users with disabilities but also users without disability.

Author

• Yang Bai, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, Penn State University