This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1044207308315274v1 19/1/24    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Jaeger, P. T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

User-Centered Policy Evaluations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Evaluating E-Government Web Sites for Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities

University of Maryland

The author examines user-centered evaluations of e-government Web sites for compliance with a policy related to persons with disabilities: the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Although Section 508 requires that federal e-government sites offer equal access to all users, research indicates that inaccessibility is still prevalent. User-centered evaluation approaches offer a vital way to discover areas of inaccessibility on Web sites related to the requirements of Section 508. Following an overview of accessibility, Section 508, and e-government sites, the goals of evaluation and various approaches to evaluating e-government sites are analyzed. The author then focuses on methods and issues in user-centered evaluations of e-government that measure accessibility, and considerations for universal design and future studies. Sample instruments and example data from a 2006 study of e-government accessibility are included to illustrate methods and issues. Evaluating e-government Web sites can ultimately prove quite informative in ascertaining compliance with laws intended to promote accessibility.

Key Words: policy • telecommunications • Section 508 • law/legal issues • disability

This version was published on June 1, 2008

Journal of Disability Policy Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1, 24-33 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1044207308315274


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. T. Jaeger and Bo Xie Developing Online Community Accessibility Guidelines for Persons With Disabilities and Older Adults Journal of Disability Policy Studies, June 1, 2009; 20(1): 55 - 63. [Abstract] [PDF]