Practitioner barriers to diffusion and implementation of web accessibility

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Farrelly, Glen

Affiliations: Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, 140 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G6. E-mail: glen.farrelly@utoronto.ca

Abstract: As people increasingly integrate online activities into their daily lives, disabled people are often impeded from accessing websites due to code and design barriers. Despite guidelines on how to improve web accessibility, adoption remains low. The responsibility to implement accessibility tends to fall on web practitioners, yet prior scholarship has failed to adequately consult this group on their barriers to adoption. A qualitative study conducted using semi-structured interviews with web practitioners found that current social and individual values, inadequate guidelines and support, and monetary demands are halting the diffusion of web accessibility. These factors perpetuate an artificial construct of online disability and impede developments towards an inclusive Web medium. Recommendations to remediate this environment and thus improve accessibility rates are offered.

Keywords: Web accessibility, accessibility, eAccessibility, disability, web development, web design

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-2011-0329

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 223-232, 2011