Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19?

Iyad Abu Doush; Mohammed A. Awadallah; Mohammed Azmi Al-Betar

doi:10.5220/0010146601960201

Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19?

College of Engineering and Information Technology

American University of Kuwait
Al-Aqsa University
Al-Balqa Applied University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

University web portals are considered one of the main access gateways for universities. Accessibility of university online services is a major issue for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities. Online registration makes people with disabilities more independent to register courses, add, drop courses, or attend courses independently. Yet, many people with disabilities in Palestine face major challenges when using university websites. In order to understand the issues that face people with disabilities when they use websites of Palestinian universities, this study evaluates the accessibility of the home pages of these universities during COVID-19. In order to evaluate partially the accessibility of Palestinian universities during COVID-19, we apply automatic evaluation on all homepages of eighteen Palestinian universities. The most violated guideline is empty link which is related to success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose. The second highest violated error is linked image missing alternative text which is related to the success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content. The obtained results show that all the universities websites are not conforming to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level A.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications
Editors	Andreas Holzinger, Hugo Placido Silva, Markus Helfert, Larry Constantine
Publisher	SciTePress
Pages	196-201
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9789897584800
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5220/0010146601960201
State	Published - 2020
Event	4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, CHIRA 2020 - Virtual, Online Duration: 5 Nov 2020 → 6 Nov 2020

Publication series

Name	CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications

Conference

Conference	4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, CHIRA 2020
City	Virtual, Online
Period	5/11/20 → 6/11/20

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 4 Quality Education
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Keywords

Automatic accessibility evaluation
Universities web accessibility
Web content accessibility guidelines (wcag)

Access to Document

10.5220/0010146601960201

Cite this

Doush, I. A., Awadallah, M. A., & Al-Betar, M. A. (2020). Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19? In A. Holzinger, H. P. Silva, M. Helfert, & L. Constantine (Eds.), CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications (pp. 196-201). (CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications). SciTePress. https://doi.org/10.5220/0010146601960201

Doush, Iyad Abu ; Awadallah, Mohammed A. ; Al-Betar, Mohammed Azmi. / Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities : Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19?. CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications. editor / Andreas Holzinger ; Hugo Placido Silva ; Markus Helfert ; Larry Constantine. SciTePress, 2020. pp. 196-201 (CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications).

@inproceedings{b9cf0d20b22e4ad09e17c233978643b8,

title = "Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19?",

abstract = "University web portals are considered one of the main access gateways for universities. Accessibility of university online services is a major issue for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities. Online registration makes people with disabilities more independent to register courses, add, drop courses, or attend courses independently. Yet, many people with disabilities in Palestine face major challenges when using university websites. In order to understand the issues that face people with disabilities when they use websites of Palestinian universities, this study evaluates the accessibility of the home pages of these universities during COVID-19. In order to evaluate partially the accessibility of Palestinian universities during COVID-19, we apply automatic evaluation on all homepages of eighteen Palestinian universities. The most violated guideline is empty link which is related to success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose. The second highest violated error is linked image missing alternative text which is related to the success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content. The obtained results show that all the universities websites are not conforming to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level A.",

keywords = "Automatic accessibility evaluation, Universities web accessibility, Web content accessibility guidelines (wcag)",

author = "Doush, \{Iyad Abu\} and Awadallah, \{Mohammed A.\} and Al-Betar, \{Mohammed Azmi\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2020 by SCITEPRESS-Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved.; 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, CHIRA 2020 ; Conference date: 05-11-2020 Through 06-11-2020",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.5220/0010146601960201",

language = "English",

series = "CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications",

publisher = "SciTePress",

pages = "196--201",

editor = "Andreas Holzinger and Silva, \{Hugo Placido\} and Markus Helfert and Larry Constantine",

booktitle = "CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications",

}

Doush, IA, Awadallah, MA & Al-Betar, MA 2020, Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19? in A Holzinger, HP Silva, M Helfert & L Constantine (eds), CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications. CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, SciTePress, pp. 196-201, 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, CHIRA 2020, Virtual, Online, 5/11/20. https://doi.org/10.5220/0010146601960201

Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19? / Doush, Iyad Abu; Awadallah, Mohammed A.; Al-Betar, Mohammed Azmi.
CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications. ed. / Andreas Holzinger; Hugo Placido Silva; Markus Helfert; Larry Constantine. SciTePress, 2020. p. 196-201 (CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities

T2 - 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications, CHIRA 2020

AU - Doush, Iyad Abu

AU - Awadallah, Mohammed A.

AU - Al-Betar, Mohammed Azmi

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - University web portals are considered one of the main access gateways for universities. Accessibility of university online services is a major issue for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities. Online registration makes people with disabilities more independent to register courses, add, drop courses, or attend courses independently. Yet, many people with disabilities in Palestine face major challenges when using university websites. In order to understand the issues that face people with disabilities when they use websites of Palestinian universities, this study evaluates the accessibility of the home pages of these universities during COVID-19. In order to evaluate partially the accessibility of Palestinian universities during COVID-19, we apply automatic evaluation on all homepages of eighteen Palestinian universities. The most violated guideline is empty link which is related to success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose. The second highest violated error is linked image missing alternative text which is related to the success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content. The obtained results show that all the universities websites are not conforming to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level A.

AB - University web portals are considered one of the main access gateways for universities. Accessibility of university online services is a major issue for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities. Online registration makes people with disabilities more independent to register courses, add, drop courses, or attend courses independently. Yet, many people with disabilities in Palestine face major challenges when using university websites. In order to understand the issues that face people with disabilities when they use websites of Palestinian universities, this study evaluates the accessibility of the home pages of these universities during COVID-19. In order to evaluate partially the accessibility of Palestinian universities during COVID-19, we apply automatic evaluation on all homepages of eighteen Palestinian universities. The most violated guideline is empty link which is related to success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose. The second highest violated error is linked image missing alternative text which is related to the success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content. The obtained results show that all the universities websites are not conforming to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level A.

KW - Automatic accessibility evaluation

KW - Universities web accessibility

KW - Web content accessibility guidelines (wcag)

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85108056943

U2 - 10.5220/0010146601960201

DO - 10.5220/0010146601960201

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85108056943

T3 - CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications

SP - 196

EP - 201

BT - CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications

A2 - Holzinger, Andreas

A2 - Silva, Hugo Placido

A2 - Helfert, Markus

A2 - Constantine, Larry

PB - SciTePress

Y2 - 5 November 2020 through 6 November 2020

ER -

Doush IA, Awadallah MA , Al-Betar MA. Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19? In Holzinger A, Silva HP, Helfert M, Constantine L, editors, CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications. SciTePress. 2020. p. 196-201. (CHIRA 2020 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer-Human Interaction Research and Applications). doi: 10.5220/0010146601960201

Web Accessibility of Palestinian Universities: Can We Access Higher Education Information during COVID-19?

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this