- From: Chetz Colwell <C.G.Colwell@herts.ac.uk>
- Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 17:49:12 +0000
- To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Dear All, Below is an overview of my current work with the WAI page author guidelines. This outline was presented at the recent WAI meeting at CSUN by my colleague, Sarah Morley. I am posting it here for information. Please contact me with any questions, comments etc. Chetz Overview of evaluations of the WAI Page Author Guidelines & Checklist Chetz Colwell and Helen Petrie Sensory Disabilities Research Unit, University of Hertfordshire Hatfield, AL10 9AB Tel: +44 1707 284630, Fax: +44 1707 285059 {c.g.colwell | h.l.petrie}@herts.ac.uk It is important to evaluate guidelines for two reasons. Firstly to test whether they provide sufficient and relevant advice to the person using them, and secondly to test whether the result is usable by the intended users. This study will evaluate both of these aspects of the WAI Page Author Guidelines. This study involves both Web page authors and blind people. The two aims of the study are to investigate: a) whether Web page authors are able to use the Guidelines effectively for designing new pages and adapting existing pages; b) whether Web pages that are designed to the Guidelines are accessible to blind people. In order to investigate the use of the Guidelines and Checklist two groups of students will use them to design or evaluate web pages. Blind people will then evaluate the students' Web pages in order to examine whether the pages are accessible. Two groups of students who are learning about the Web have been recruited from Computer Science and Human Computer Interaction courses. Under experimental conditions the two groups will be given tasks which will involve both designing new pages and adapting existing pages. These pages will then be made available on the Web and will be evaluated by blind people with different levels of experience of the Web, and using different combinations of browsers and screenreaders. The task will involve visiting the Web site and then completing a questionnaire giving their opinions and experiences of the accessibility of the site. This evaluation by blind people will investigate whether the students' interpretation of the Guidelines and Checklist produce accessible Web pages. Chetz welcomes any input from the WAI in the form of suggestions and comments. Chetz Colwell Sensory Disabilities Research Unit Department of Psychology University of Hertfordshire Hatfield AL10 9AB UK Tel: +44 1707 284630 Fax: +44 1707 285059 e-mail: c.g.colwell@herts.ac.uk
Received on Wednesday, 25 March 1998 14:38:05 UTC