UCSC Web Assessment Results
During Fall of 2004, the
Web Accessibility Subcommittee conducted a baseline assessment of the UCSC
site. The goal was to assess the extent to which campus Web content complied with
Section 508 guidelines, determine the most common areas of non-compliance with those
guidelines, and identify the Web sites most in need of improvement.
The assessment process included two different
types of analysis: a quantitative analysis using Web assessment software, and a qualitative analysis
conducted by human assessors.
Quantitative Analysis
The campus purchased AccVerify for the quantitative analysis. 86 URLs listed
on the campus A-Z index (including all top-level and second-level pages) were
assessed for compliance with Section 508. The software was programmed to "crawl"
six levels deep for each URL. For each URL entered, AccVerify returns the percentage
of files in that URL that meet all Section 508 guidelines. The average "pass rate"
of the URLs checked was 34%, but only 10% of the tested Web sites
complied fully with Section 508.
AccVerify provides a simple "pass/fail"
check for compliance with the following Section 508 guidelines:
- (a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided
(e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content).
- (f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side
image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available
geometric shape.
- (i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame
identification and navigation.
- (j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker
with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
- (m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application
be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must
provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with ¤1194.21(a)
through (l).
AccVerify also provides an alert
that visual verification is needed for the following Section 508 guidelines:
- (b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall
be synchronized with the presentation.
- (e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of
a server-side image map.
- (g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.
- (h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for
data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.
- (l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to
create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall
be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive
technology.
A PDF can be downloaded of the
spreadsheet showing the results of the quantitative analysis,
including each URL tested, and the Section 508 guidelines not met. (If you would
like a copy of the screen-readable Excel version of this data, please send an email to
Susan Willats.)
Qualitatative Analysis
Several of the Section 508 guidelines cannot be easily assessed by a computer.
The Web Accessibility Subcommittee decided to conduct a human assessment of the
following guidelines:
- (c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with
color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.
- (d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring
an associated style sheet.
- (n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the
form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information,
field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission
of the form, including all directions and cues.
- (l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to
create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall
be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive
technology.
- (o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive
navigation links.
The results of the
qualitative analysis is available online.
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Last modified November 22, 2004
Susan Willats, ADA Compliance
Unit, UC Santa Cruz, willats@ucsc.edu
