Accessibility is not a feature: an analysis of common accessibility errors on academic library websites

Abstract

The library website is a tool shared by all library users. It is imperative to keep this tool accessible, but accessibility guidelines are not consistently applied to all library-owned pages. As institutions that receive federal funding, libraries have a responsibility to provide accessible websites. This study examines the library websites of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) United States (US) academic libraries. The homepages of 124 libraries were checked utilizing the WAVE web accessibility tool, and an aggregate of common errors and warnings were recorded. These errors are identified and discussed, and techniques for fixing these errors are provided.