Web Accessibility: Recent Research and Policy Activity

Speaker: 
Jonathan Lazar
 
25 Apr 2011
 
4:00 PM
 
Alliant-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Add to Calendar

Jonathan Lazar is the founder and director of the Universal Usability Laboratory at Towson University, where he is a professor of computer and information sciences and director of the undergraduate program in information systems. His research interests are web usability, web accessibility for people with disabilities, and public policy in Human Computer Interaction. Lazar will discuss the federal requirement that all websites be accessible to persons with disabilities as well as research findings on such topics as web-based e-mail applications for blind users and web browsing for expert users with Down's Syndrome. He is the author of Web Usability: A User-Centered Design Approach, coauthor of Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction and editor of Universal Usability.

Abstract Design guidelines and tools exist for making web sites accessible for people with disabilities, but a majority of corporate and government web sites continue to be inaccessible. For the U.S. Federal government, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that all web sites be accessible, however, a majority of Federal web sites are not in compliance, and site accessibility statements often provide little information. This presentation will provide information on recent research and recent policy activity related to web accessibility. Some recent research findings include studies of human interaction proofs, link structures, and web-based e-mail applications for blind users, and web browsing for expert users with Down syndrome. Some recent policy activities include the July memo from the Office of Management and Budget on Section 508 enforcement, the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from the Justice Department on the accessibility of web information provided by entities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the administrative complaint filed against Penn State University due to inaccessible campus technology.