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. 2023;22(1):251-266.
doi: 10.1007/s10209-021-00831-1. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Private post-secondary library websites and the ADA: compliancy and COVID-19

Arlene Bielefield  1 , Yan Quan Liu  1 , Victoria Waimon  1
Affiliations

Private post-secondary library websites and the ADA: compliancy and COVID-19

Arlene Bielefield et al. Univers Access Inf Soc. 2023.

Abstract

This study explores whether US post-secondary institutions (PPI) follow philosophies to foster inclusive communities, providing resources for those individuals with disabilities thrive socially, personally, and academically, while there have been no thorough studies conducted to determine web accessibility of the nation's top-ranked PPI library webpages. Additionally, this study pioneers in comparison with the accessibility of PPI's library homepages fighting COVID-19. The study evaluated the library homepages of the premium PPIs based on Money.com's 2019 list of "The Best Colleges in America" via the WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool. The outcomes determined that most of the library homepages analyzed were littered with numerous errors, and the shift to online-based research in learning had no significant impact on the number of errors WAVE detected. The disconcerting findings of this study demonstrate the overall failure to recognize the importance of web accessibility or perhaps even the indifference toward accessibility on the part of the PPI community.

Keywords: ADA; Academic libraries; Accessibility; COVID-19; Disability; Private colleges and universities; Section 508; WAVE; WCAG.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interestNot applicable.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of library homepages that have no Section 508 errors vs. those that do have Section 508 errors
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentage of library homepages that have no errors vs. those that do have errors
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentage of errors found on PPI library homepages per October 2020 analysis
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Occurrences of specific errors on 2020 PPI library homepages
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Based on the information in “Appendix”
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
2019 Section 508 compliant vs. non-compliant library homepages
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and revised ADA regulations implementing Title II and Title III. (n.d.). http://www.ada.gov/2010_regs.htm
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    1. Bielefield A, Liu YQ, McKay P. Are urban public libraries websites accessible to Americans with disabilities? Univ. Access Inf. Soc. 2019;18:191–206. doi: 10.1007/s10209-017-0571-7. - DOI

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