Website usability and content accessibility of the top USA universities
Date Issued
2001
Author(s)
Abstract
This study investigates whether the websites of the top USA universities are ranked
high in terms of accessibility and usability and if these two measures are correlated. The usability
and accessibility of the top fifty USA universities (USNews, 2001) were measured using two
automatic evaluation tools: Bobby and LIFT. The results show a low compliance (30%) with Web
site Content Accessibility Guide and a low usability rating for most of the university websites. The
accessibility approval was found to correlate significantly with overall usability ratings of the
websites. The size (in Kb) of the website was found to be a driving variable both for usability and
accessibility.
high in terms of accessibility and usability and if these two measures are correlated. The usability
and accessibility of the top fifty USA universities (USNews, 2001) were measured using two
automatic evaluation tools: Bobby and LIFT. The results show a low compliance (30%) with Web
site Content Accessibility Guide and a low usability rating for most of the university websites. The
accessibility approval was found to correlate significantly with overall usability ratings of the
websites. The size (in Kb) of the website was found to be a driving variable both for usability and
accessibility.
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