Abstract

Six Web-based services from 10 state websites were assessed for accessibility for people with disabilities. Five states with strong web accessibility policies and five with relatively weak accessibility policies were selected for comparison. Among a variety of measures for accessibility, including "Bobby," strong policy state websites were compared against weak policy state websites. Strong policy states showed a difference in the number of links on pages, their use of JavaScript, and a trend in how they passed Bobby priority 1. However, no other evidence of any apparent effect from strength of policy was found for accessibility on these websites. Overall, states showed similar levels of accessibility to other public websites in other similar studies. Issues and ways to improve state website accessibility are explored.

See "Ten States' Web Services and Policies on Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities"
- David W. Klein, Daniel Kresowik, & LeeAnn McCoy
Fall, 2005, in Disability Studies Quarterly, Volume 25, no. 4.

Authors

David W. Klein, Ph.D.
Director of Technology
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa
E-mail: David-klein@uiowa.edu

Daniel Kresowik
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa

LeeAnn McCoy
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa

The program of research described herein is supported by a grant to LHPDC from the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center. The views herein reflected are those of the authors only and not of any funding agency or any other entity. Many colleagues provided valuable suggestions on this article including James Schmeling.