Study Reveals Government Websites Are Unusable To A Growing Number Of Californians

May 24, 2004 - A new study, California's cash-strapped city does not succeed in their efforts to provide services through one of the most profitable available - the Internet. As a result, the city sites are largely unusable by a growing number of Californians, including the elderly, the disabled, and in many cases, the power of the overall evaluation users.A over 400 municipal websites reveals that 91% of cities in California do not meet basic standards of accessibility. The results show that the websites of the city are mostly useless for a wide range of people including people with visual impairment, hearing and mobility, as well as non-disabled users attempting to access government services with the latest technology such as Internet-enabled mobile phones. Poor performance is the result of city websites that use obsolete technology and design practices, in effect, shut out 20% of its voters, who are disabled.The study was conducted during the first quarter of 2004 Alt Tags (www.AltTags.org), a website specializing in Internet usability and accessibility issues. Using automated testing tools, Alt Tags analyzed 408 municipal Web sites in California, the verification of compliance with the rules of common usage: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Manual of additional tests were conducted at selected sites to validate the results. Only 35 sites were examined Section 508 testing tools to determine how compliant.While perform when accessing websites using assistive technology devices such as screen readers, many high-tech devices have restrictions similar screen respect and benefit accessibility standards. Alt Tag's Kirk said Billon, "Although our study focused on the accessibility of websites for disabled users, we found that in most cases, accessibility, design issues to create barriers for the disabled as well." Alt tag results' were similar to those recently reported by the Committee on Disability Rights in the British trial of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been that non-disabled users face greater difficulties in using the websites accessible problems meeting accessibility standards.Common noticed while testing: - the inability to use a website when images are not visible .- The inability to easily adjust the text to a wider dimension .- The failure to move from a website without a mouse .- The poor performance when accessing through a slow Internet connection .- inconsistent or not there are many cases navigation.In site, apparently simple problems present obstacles for a wide variety of users. Billon, says, "something as simple as the text size with the same ease of adaptation is one of the main factors of usability, especially for older users. Billon suggestions to improve government websites are: - education on accessibility and the specific problems that are created for users to find the sites inaccessible. - Agencies must commit to accessibility by developing an accessibility policy on its website of the agency. Only 4% of sites surveyed had accessibility policies Published online best education for webmasters .- Government .- The use of Web development tools that facilitate compliance. Many of the problems encountered in this study were the result of poor coding practices encouraged by the popular web development tools.Biglione warns: "There is no quick solution to the problems identified in this study, but education and awareness can go a long way toward solving these problems. Once the cities are concerned with basic issues of accessibility and usability, providing a better user experience for all users. The result is a more efficient use of dollars increasingly Technology Limited, components and happier. "alt tag Full Report" can be downloaded from the website at Alt Tag: BiglionePhone Kirk http://www.alttags.org/archives/2004/05/22/35/Contact Information: (626) 791-5852 Email: alttags@pandemic.com