Literature Reviews

Reviewed research papers, articles, and publications relevant to digital accessibility.

• Development and Trial of an Educational Tool to Support the Accessibility Evaluation Process

  Christopher Bailey, Elaine Pearson (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper describes the design, development, and first trial of the Accessibility Evaluation Assistant (AEA), a web-based knowledge management tool created at Teesside University to support novice auditors in conducting accessibility evaluations. Th…

  • accessibility evaluation
  • accessibility education
  • WCAG compliance
  • evaluation tools
  • novice auditors
  • structured walkthrough
  • accessibility training

• Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Tool to Support Novice Auditors

  Christopher Bailey, Elaine Pearson (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper evaluates the Accessibility Evaluation Assistant (AEA), a web-based knowledge management tool designed to help novice auditors conduct accessibility evaluations, by comparing it against standard WCAG 2.0 conformance review. The AEA was dev…

  • accessibility evaluation
  • accessibility education
  • WCAG compliance
  • evaluation tools
  • accessibility training
  • novice auditors
  • structured walkthrough

• Prediction of Web Page Accessibility Based on Structural and Textual Features

  Sina Bahram, Debadeep Sen, Robert St. Amant (2011) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper from NC State University explores whether machine learning classifiers can predict the accessibility of web pages based on structural and textual features of their DOM — features that are independent of explicit accessibility markup like a…

  • machine learning
  • accessibility evaluation
  • automated testing
  • visual impairment
  • web accessibility
  • accessibility metrics
  • artificial intelligence

• Guidelines, Icons and Marketable Skills: An Accessibility Evaluation of 100 Web Development Company Homepages

  Teresa D. Gilbertson, Colin H. C. Machin (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This study examined whether web development companies that market accessibility as a skill actually practice what they preach, by evaluating the homepages of 100 UK web development companies selected from Google searches across four geographic region…

  • web accessibility
  • WCAG compliance
  • developer awareness
  • conformance testing
  • accessibility evaluation
  • web development
  • accessibility policy

• Certification or Conformance: Making a Successful Commitment to WCAG 2.0

  Suzette Keith, Nikolaos Floratos, Gill Whitney (2012) — Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  Commissioned by ANEC (the European consumer voice in standardisation), this study examined whether voluntary self-declaration or third-party certification of web accessibility conformance translates into actual compliance with WCAG 2.0. The researche…

  • WCAG compliance
  • accessibility evaluation
  • certification
  • conformance testing
  • e-government
  • European accessibility
  • accessibility policy

• Benchmarking Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools: Measuring the Harm of Sole Reliance on Automated Tests

  Markel Vigo, Justin Brown, Vivienne Conway (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper provides rigorous empirical evidence on the limitations of automated web accessibility evaluation tools by benchmarking six state-of-the-art tools — AChecker, SortSite, Total Validator, TAW, Deque, and AMP — against expert manual evaluatio…

  • automated testing
  • accessibility evaluation
  • WCAG compliance
  • evaluation tools
  • benchmarking
  • false positives
  • conformance testing

• Evaluating Accessibility-in-Use

  Markel Vigo, Simon Harper (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper introduces a novel method for evaluating web accessibility that goes beyond traditional guideline conformance testing. The authors argue that standards like WCAG 2.0 capture only about 53% of accessibility problems experienced by users, mi…

  • accessibility evaluation
  • user interaction
  • behavioural analysis
  • screen readers
  • blind and low vision
  • automated testing
  • conformance testing
  • user experience

• Are Users the Gold Standard for Accessibility Evaluation?

  Amaia Aizpurua, Myriam Arrue, Simon Harper, Markel Vigo (2014) — Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper critically examines whether user testing with blind users is a reliable "gold standard" for web accessibility evaluation. Drawing on an exploratory study with 11 legally blind participants (10 JAWS users, 1 VoiceOver user, ages 21-64) who …

  • user testing
  • accessibility evaluation
  • blind users
  • screen readers
  • research methodology
  • bias
  • WCAG 2.0
  • participatory design
  • usability

• Towards Web Accessibility Repair

  Nádia Fernandes (2013) — Proceedings of the 10th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper presents early-stage research on automatically evaluating and repairing accessibility problems in Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). The author identifies a critical gap: as the web evolves from static pages to complex,…

  • automated testing
  • accessibility evaluation
  • accessibility repair
  • rich internet applications
  • ARIA
  • WCAG 2.0
  • dynamic content
  • web development tools

• A4TV: Assessing and Ameliorating the Accessibility of the Ascending Connected TV Platforms

  Daniel Costa (2015) — Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This doctoral consortium paper proposes a two-stage research programme to study and improve the accessibility of connected TV platforms for visually impaired users. Connected TVs — smart TVs and set-top boxes with internet connectivity — use web tech…

  • connected TV
  • blindness
  • visual impairment
  • accessibility evaluation
  • multimodal interaction
  • WAI-ARIA
  • WCAG
  • mobile accessibility
  • second screen
  • audio description
  • automated testing