I gratefully acknowledge the suggestions, comments, and insights that we
have received from Brian David, California Digital Library; Julia
Caffrey-Hill, Towson University; Steven Turner; and Katherine (Kate)
Deibel, Syracuse University Libraries to solve the issues related to
measuring web accessibility of Indian institutes.
I think finally we’re getting somewhere with the concept.
Heartfelt thanks and best regards
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay
Professor, Department of Library and Information Science,
University of Kalyani, Kalyani - 741 235 (WB), India
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On Fri, Oct 23, 2020 at 11:12 PM Kate Deibel <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> WebAIM offers an API for their WAVE evaluation tool, albeit not as a free
> service.
>
> Many others have said what I would have said, but I'll make a further
> comment on ARIA. For my regular work doing accessibility evaluations, more
> ARIA is a RED FLAG that the page will need to be fully tested by hand with
> multiple browser/screen reader combinations. The first rule of ARIA is
> don't use ARIA, but many sites and many frameworks abuse it horribly.
>
> Furthermore, keep in mind that ARIA is currently only utilized by screen
> reader technology. Disability access on the web is more than supporting
> screen readers for blind and low-vision users. Mobility issues, other
> sensory issues, supporting different cognitive abilities, and all forms of
> disabilities must be supported.
>
> That all said, automatic testing of websites will only get you so far.
> Keyboard navigation and focus control need to be tested by a human.
> Alternative text for images, link names, and other labels need to be
> evaluated for appropriateness.
>
> Katherine (Kate) Deibel | PhD
> Inclusion & Accessibility Librarian
> Syracuse University Libraries
> T 315.443.7178
> [log in to unmask]
> 222 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, NY 13244
> Syracuse University
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of
> Caffrey-Hill, Julia
> Sent: Friday, October 23, 2020 9:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Web accessibility and ARIA
>
> Hello Dr. Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay,
> I can provide some partial thoughts, and there are other members who have
> strong, knowledgeable perspectives that may want to chime in also.
>
> Re: 2.
> - For ARIA, there's consensus that a high number of ARIA found on a page
> is not necessarily an indicator of accessibility and, to the contrary, a
> high score is a red flag that may indicate abuse of ARIA tags. They are
> easily mishandled. There are others in this community, namely Katherine
> Deibel, who are prolific on this topic that I hope can chime in or link to
> part presentations/resources.
> - For your study, as it relates to ARIA specifically, I recommend AXE
> browser extension (https://www.deque.com/axe/). I don't think an API is
> available for it, but it is good for validation, and I believe is suited to
> a quantitative study. There is a learning curve on understanding it. Deque
> Systems, according to their training, split off from the team behind WAVE,
> and built out the tool's capacity for testing ARIA tags.
>
> Re: 3
> - In terms of a globally recognized quantitative indicator, I'm not aware
> of one. A combination of different tools is recommended, and they do have
> their weak spots. I prefer mixed methods to test for web accessibility.
> - For a large number of websites at a time, I understand the need for a
> framework. For auditing our e-resources for accessibility, Towson
> University adapted a framework from Princeton University, who in turn
> adapted it from another library. My colleagues and I recently presented on
> how to do this approach (Description:
> https://wp.towson.edu/tcal/one-step-at-a-time-assessing-e-resources-for-accessibility-compliance/
> Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQZjTeW-69E&feature=youtu.be
> - 40 mins) - I hope that's helpful and if so, I'd be interested to hear
> about it.
>
> All the best,
> Julia Caffrey-Hill
> Web Services Librarian
> Towson University
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of
> Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay
> Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2020 7:55 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Web accessibility and ARIA
>
> [EXTERNAL EMAIL - USE CAUTION]
>
> Hello all
>
> We are trying to measure web accessibility of some Indian
> institutes/universities/libraries in the form of a score and then rank
> those institutes/universities/libraries against the score (still at the
> idea plane). The plan is to fetch data through API in a data wrangling
> software for further analysis. My questions are as follows:
>
> 1) Are there other services (apart from WAVE) that provide results in JSON
> format through API?
> 2) What is the significance of *ARIA* in determining such a score for web
> accessibility? Does a higher number of ARIA indicate a better
> accessibility? Or is converse true?
> 3) Is there any globally agreed-upon indicator for web accessibility?
>
> Best
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay
> Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, University of
> Kalyani, Kalyani - 741 235 (WB), India
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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