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Website accessibility: a cross-sector comparison

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Abstract

The Web has transformed the way organizations interact with clients, customers, and constituents. A large portion of these groups is often neglected, namely people with disabilities. This study compares federal government, non-profit organization (NPO), and corporate homepages accessibility to determine how accessible these websites are to people with disabilities and how they compare to each other. The results indicate that federal homepages (23%), which are mandated to be accessible, are significantly more accessible than NPO (11%) and corporate homepages (6%).

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Notes

  1. http://www.usablenet.com & aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca

  2. http://www.crunchy.com & http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities/piat/wave

  3. http://www.watchfire.com

  4. http://www.webxtutti.it/testa.htm

  5. http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/french/index.html

  6. We felt that homepages were an appropriate level of analysis, since visitors to a website were most likely to enter through a homepage. If the homepage was inaccessible, the likelihood that the rest of the website would be accessible would be irrelevant

  7. random number generation was used

  8. random number generation was used

  9. http://www.fortune.com

  10. http://bobby.watchfire.com

  11. Number of Priority 1 Accessibility Errors used for comparison

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Washburn Hall, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    Eleanor T. Loiacono

  2. School of Business, College of William and Mary, Tyler Hall 320C, Williamsburg, VA, 23187-8795, USA

    Scott McCoy

Authors
  1. Eleanor T. Loiacono
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  2. Scott McCoy
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Correspondence to Eleanor T. Loiacono.

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Loiacono, E.T., McCoy, S. Website accessibility: a cross-sector comparison. Univ Access Inf Soc 4, 393–399 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-005-0003-y

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