Improving the Web Accessibility of a University Library for People with Visual Disabilities Through a Mixed Evaluation Approach

摘要

Web accessibility is an essential aspect in nowadays technologically ever-advancing societies as it promotes equality and inclusiveness of those people with different kind of disabilities, such as visual impairment. This article examined the accessibility of one Chilean University's Virtual Library platform in order to generate significant improvements and to make it more accessible for visually impaired students. To do so, the present research used a mixed method approach, which included heuristic usability evaluation, user experience evaluation through the usability test involving real users, and both automatic and manual evaluations of accessibility. Results revealed that the most remarkable accessibility issues were related to the general structure of the website and the user control of the moving elements. Based on the information gathered through the different evaluations, it was possible to outline a proposal for changes to the University's Virtual Library platform. The proposed changes were subsequently implemented, resulting in the platform's compliance with the A and AA levels.