Accessibility evaluation using Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0

Abstract

The Homestay websites in Malaysia are gaining popularity, locally and abroad. Thus, it is imperative that it should be designed by using the proper accessibility guidelines However, the current accessibility state of the Homestay websites in Malaysia is still unknown. The main objective of this research is to investigate the accessibility of Homestay websites in Malaysia. There are 328 samples of Homestay websites in Malaysia gathered from www.carihomestay.net portal. The evaluation was done from 15th April 2014 to 15th June 2014 by using an automated evaluation tool (Achecker) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. The results show that there are six top critical accessibility errors; (i) Non-text Content: IMG, ALT TEXT (1.1.1), (ii) Info &Relationships: INPUT (1.3.1), (iii) Contrast: LINK, TEXT COLOR (1.4.3), (iv) Link Purpose: ANCHOR, TEXT (2.4.4), (v) Language of Page: HTML (3.1.1) and (vi) Labels or Instructions: BODY, INPUT (3.3.2). This research provides several recommendations to improve the accessibility levels for Homestay websites in Malaysia. Future research includes accessibility evaluation for different genre of websites and applications that are being used in the blended learning environment.