Teaching Accessible Web Design to Business Students: A Compilation of Tools for Beginners

Abstract

Organizations increasingly recognize web accessibility as both necessary and beneficial for legal, ethical, and economic reasons. This article shows how instructors can easily integrate accessible web design into an introductory web design and development course for business students who have limited experience with design theory and user interface design. By applying testable criteria, following industry-standard guidelines, and using online tools, these business students can successfully build websites that individuals with visual, hearing, cognitive, or motor-control disabilities can use. The authors present their approach, describe specific assignments, and provide suggestions for incorporating accessibility into a traditional introductory web development course.

Keywords

accessible web design teaching web design WCAG guidelines user experience (UX)accessibility tools

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

ADA.gov. (2022). Guidance on web accessibility and the ADA. https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/#top.

Babin

Kopp

(2020). ADA Website accessibility: What businesses need to know. Journal of Management Policy & Practice, 21(3), 99–107. https://doi.org/10.33423/jmpp.v21i3.3144

Bao

Zhang

(2020). Research and practice of students’ academic achievement evaluation based on “web design” course. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 4(9), 79–83. https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v4i9.1509

Bielefield

Liu

Y. Q.

Waimon

(2023). Private post-secondary library websites and the ADA: Compliancy and COVID-19. Universal Access in the Information Society, 22(1), 251–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-021-00831-1

Borodin

Bigham

J. P.

Dausch

Ramakrishnan

I. V.

(2010). More than meets the eye: A survey of screen-reader browsing strategies. In Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A; Article 13, pp. 1–10). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/1805986.1806005

CC2020 Task Force. (2020). Computing curricula 2020: Paradigms for global computing education. Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3467967

Dinc

(2017). Web-based education and accessibility. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science (IJTES), 1(1), 29–35. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijtes.1796

Gilbert

R. M.

(2019). Inclusive design for a digital world: Designing with accessibility in mind. Apress.

Gudivada

V. N.

Rao

Paris

(2015). Understanding search-engine optimization. Computer, 48(10), 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2015.297

10.

Hamid

M. A.

Salleh

Laxman

(2020). A study on the factors influencing students’ acceptance of learning management systems (LMS): A Brunei case study. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science (IJTES), 4(3), 203–217. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijtes.v4i3.101

11.

Howe

(2014). Learn to Code HTML and CSS: Develop and Style Websites. New Riders.

12.

Huntsman

(2021). Addressing workplace accessibility practices through technical communication research methods: One size does not fit all. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 64(3), 221–234. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2021.3094036

13.

Khan

Amatya

Sayed

T. M.

Butt

A. W.

Jamil

Iqbal

Elmalik

Rathore

F. A.

Abbott

(2017). World Health Organization global disability action plan 2014-2021: Challenges and perspectives for physical medicine and rehabilitation in Pakistan. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 49(1), 10–21. https://doi.org/10.2340/16501977-2149

14.

Langer-Osuna

Lawless

(2019). Supreme court hits escape button, refuses to clarify website accessibility standard. Labor Law Journal, 70(4), 235–238.

15.

Lee

J. N.

Oswal

S. K.

(2024). TEACH—Standardizing accessibility with usability pedagogy in an introductory technical and professional communication course. In Amplifying voices in UX: Balancing design and user needs in technical communication (pp. 49–76). SUNY Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781438496757-006

16.

Oswal

S. K.

Melonçon

(2014). Paying attention to accessibility when designing online courses in technical and professional communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 28(3), 271–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651914524780

17.

Oswal

S. K.

Palmer

Z. B.

(2024). Compliance, commitment, and web accessibility: Findings of an organizational study engaging accessibility experts at twenty US universities. In Ranade

Green

Veeramoothoo

Card

Hardin

A. R.

(Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd ACM international conference on design of communication (pp. 17–25). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3641237.3691647

18.

Palmer

Z. B.

Oswal

S. K.

Koris

(2021). Reimagining business planning, accessibility, and web design instruction: A stacked interdisciplinary collaboration across national boundaries. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 51(4), 429–467. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047281620966990

19.

Palmer

Z. B.

Palmer

R. H.

(2018). Legal and ethical implications of website accessibility. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 81(4), 399–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490618802418

20.

Putnam

Dahman

Rose

Cheng

Bradford

(2016). Best practices for teaching accessibility in university classrooms: Cultivating awareness, understanding, and appreciation for diverse users. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), 8(4), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1145/2831424

21.

Spina

(2019). WCAG 2.1 and the current state of web accessibility in libraries. Weave: Journal of Library User Experience, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.3998/weave.12535642.0002.202

22.

Tsai

C. Y.

Shih

W. L.

Hsieh

F. P.

Chen

Y. A.

Lin

C. L.

(2022). Applying the design-based learning model to foster undergraduates’ web design skills: The role of knowledge integration. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00308-4

23.

UsableNet. (2021). 2021 year end report ADA digital accessibility lawsuits [Fact sheet]. https://usablenet.com/

24.

U.S. Access Board. (1998). Section 508 (federal electronic and information technology). https://www.access-board.gov/about/law/ra.html#section-508-federal-electronic-and-information-technology

25.

Wang

Y. D.

(2012). A holistic and pragmatic approach to teaching web accessibility in an undergraduate web design course. In Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education (pp. 55-60). https://doi.org/10.1145/2380552.2380568

26.

WCAG 2.1. (2018). Web content accessibility guidelines document, W3C Recommendation. https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/#requirements-for-wcag-2-1

27.

WebAIM. (2023). WebAIM’s WCAG 2 Checklist. https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist

28.

Weber

Recht

(2021). COVID vaccine websites violate disability laws, create inequity for the blind. https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/covid-vaccine-websites-violate-disability-laws-create-inequity-for-the-blind/

29.

White

(2019). WCAG 2.1 Meets STEM: Application, interpretation, and opportunities for further standard development. Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities, 22(1), n1. https://doi.org/10.14448/jsesd.11.0008

30.

Yesilada

Harper

(Eds.) (2019). Web accessibility: A foundation for research (2nd ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-7440-0

31.

Youngblood

S. A.

(2013). Communicating web accessibility to the novice developer: From user experience to application. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 27(2), 209–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651912458924