A method to automate the ranking of web pages according to user defined accessibility ratings

Abstract

The premise of this research is to present the final results of an investigation, which looked at a means to automate the rating of web pages according to their accessibility to specific user groups. These groups include visual impairments, mobility restricted and dyslexia. This research identifies three integrated, user-centred studies that assisted in the development of this work. The research conducted for this project has collected data that will help to develop a better method for disabled users to search for and easily locate accessible web pages. It has investigated how web pages can be rated for accessibility using specific algorithms that have designed according to user defined ratings of accessibility. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that re-ordering search results, by ranking web pages according to user defined ratings, could provide a better user experience for people with disabilities. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.