AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS ON WEBSITES

Abstract

The websites of higher education institutions, due to the fact that they are addressed to multiple stakeholder groups, not only need to have an appropriately designed information structure but must also be useful. Additionally, in the case of public universities, their services are expected to be accessible to the widest possible audience, especially for people with disabilities. The accessibility tools used on websites should be quickly located, easily identifiable and user-friendly. So far, no standards have been developed regarding these issues, and therefore, there are various solutions on the web. The objective of this study is to analyze various implementations of accessibility tools on university websites in terms of their location, form of presentation and ways that enable access to them. A study was conducted in which web interfaces were evaluated with the participation of users. The experiment consisted of two parts: the first one used the eye tracking technique, whereas in the second one, a survey was conducted. The research material was prototypes of websites from four different universities. Each website had two versions differing in implementation of accessibility tools. In the study, 35 participants were divided into two groups of people. Each group was shown one of the two sets of website prototypes and the users were tasked with finding and activating a specific accessibility tool. After exploring the websites, each participant completed a questionnaire that pertained to their opinions regarding aspects such as appearance, placement and a way to access tools dedicated to people with disabilities. The obtained data, processed to the form of heatmaps and fixation maps, were subjected to a qualitative analysis. The survey results and eye tracking data were analyzed quantitatively. On the basis of performed analyzes it can be concluded that the following factors have an impact on the reduction in efficiency and productivity of users: placement of accessibility tools on university websites in a place other than the upper right corner, an indirect access to these tools or their non-standard appearance.