Accessible Website Content Guidelines for Users with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

Background The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative has issued guidelines for making websites better and easier to access for people with various disabilities (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines 1999). Method The usability of two versions of a website (a non‐adapted site and a site that was adapted on the basis of easy‐to‐read guidelines) was tested with two groups of 20 participants. One group had intellectual disabilities but could read, the other group had no identified intellectual disabilities. In a 2 × 2 experimental design, it was investigated whether the easy‐to‐read website was indeed better accessible and usable for the participants with intellectual disabilities. Results The adaptation of the website worked well for participants with intellectual disabilities. Users without identified intellectual disabilities were as effective with the adapted site as they were with the non‐adapted site. Conclusion The results form an empirical basis for recommendations about applying guidelines for easy‐to‐read text on websites for people with intellectual disabilities.

Investigating Information Search by People with Cognitive Disabilities

“…In a similar study, Karreman et al [2006] tested two websites that contained similar information. One of the two sites adopted the easy-to-read guidelines that consist of several categories including verbal content (e.g., use simple, straightforward language) and document layout (e.g., never use a picture as background for text).…”

New Em@ncipatory Landscapes? Young People With Intellectual Disabilities, Internet Use, and Identification Processes

“…Another focus often highlighted in recent research concerns issues of accessibility (Karreman, van der Geest, & Buusink, 2007). Studies have investigated how the Web could be made more accessible for people with ID, in order to facilitate participation within the intellectual disability community (Kennedy, Evans, & Thomas, 2011).…”

Bridging the digital divide for people with intellectual disability

“…Other authors suggest instead to remedy some difficulties by configuring certain parameters through the control panel, for instance, modifying the mouse settings or enlarging the font (Rivas-Costas et al, 2014;Williams & Nicholas, 2006). Finally, some believe that the solution would be to take into account universal accessibility rules, so that everyone in the community could access the same digital environment (Blanck, 2014;Harrysson et al, 2004;Karreman, van der Geest, & Buursink, 2007;Tanis et al, 2012). Unfortunately, designers give very little consideration to these rules (Bunning, et al, 2010;Harrysson et al, 2004;Kennedy, Evans, & Thomas, 2011;Tanis et al 2012).…”