Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 87–96

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Computers in Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate /comphumbeh

Migrating from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0 – A comparative study based onWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines in Taiwan

Shing-Han Li a,1, David C. Yen b,⇑, Wen-Hui Lu c, Tsun-Lin Lin a

a Department of Information Management, Tatung University, 40 ChungShan North Road, 3rd Section, Taipei 104, Taiwan, ROCb Department of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, United Statesc Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Tatung University, 40 ChungShan North Road, 3rd Section, Taipei 104, Taiwan, ROC

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Available online 13 September 2011

Keywords:Web accessibilityWeb Content AccessibilityWeb Content Accessibility GuidelinesWCAGWCAG1.0WCAG2.0

0747-5632/$ - see front matter � 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Adoi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.08.014

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 513 529 4827; faxE-mail addresses: shli@ttu.edu.tw (S.-H. Li), yen

d9906007@ms.ttu.edu.tw (W.-H. Lu), yuhui041@yaho1 Tel.: +886 2 25925252x3610; fax: +886 2 2585396

a b s t r a c t

The primary purpose of this research was to explore a comparative analysis of the ‘‘Web Content Acces-sibility Guidelines (WCAG)’’ standard in Taiwan and the international WCAG standards (WCAG 1.0/WCAG2.0). The WCAG in Taiwan was established by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission(RDEC), Executive Yuan in 2002. The WCAG 1.0 was established by the Web Accessibility Initiative(WAI, an organization that created the Web Content Accessibility system) of the World Wide Web Con-sortium (W3C), and became a W3C standard on May 5, 1999. The WCAG 2.0 became a W3C standard onDecember 11, 2008.

The WCAG in Taiwan was established based on the contents of the WCAG 1.0. However, as the WCAG2.0 was announced in 2008, check standards based on the WCAG 1.0 were facing revision in all aspects.Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing and comparing the differences between the WCAG 2.0 and theWCAG standards in Taiwan. Utilizing ‘‘human check’’ based on the WCAG 2.0 standard, this studyassessed disabilities-related websites conforming to the WCAG standard in Taiwan. Results suggestedthat migrating from WCAG in Taiwan (based on WCAG 1.0) to WCAG 2.0 does not require a full rangerevision of webpage design. Suggestions given to disabilities-related websites in Taiwan for developingand providing more complete web accessibility included: (1) websites without accessible design shoulddirectly follow the WCAG 2.0 standard in developing web accessibility; (2) future promotion of webaccessibility should include all educational institutes and related associations/organizations.

For future studies, the resource availability for the disabled and the government achievement in webaccessibility after WCAG 2.0 is implemented in Taiwan are topics worth of investigation. Expert opinionsand user feedbacks should be included to reflect the actual needs of people with disabilities.

� 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Web sites provide diverse functions and services which are de-manded by users with different characteristics. The application ofvarious emerging technologies and the use of multimedia audio/vi-sual effects can cause various tangible and intangible barriers tosome users. Accessibility on the web has attracted research intovarious aspects of the topic (Abanumy, Al-Badi, & Mayhew, 2005;Fernando, Money, Elliman, & Lines, 2009; Feys et al., 2001; Foley,2003; Lazar, Dudley-Sponaugle, & Greenidge, 2004; Liu & Song,2005; Marincu & McMullin, 2004; Parmanto & Zeng, 2005;Williams & Rattray, 2003). Over the past decade, various standards

ll rights reserved.

: +1 513 529 9689.dc@muohio.edu (D.C. Yen),o.com.tw (T.-L. Lin).6.

and web guidelines have been developed by organizations aroundthe world to ensure web accessibility (Abanumy et al., 2005).

In order to assist government sectors in Taiwan in the develop-ment of accessible web sites, the Research, Development and Eval-uation Commission (RDEC) referred to the Web ContentAccessibility Guidelines (WCAG) established by the Web Accessi-bility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)Accessibility Initiative, 2005, 2008, 1999, 2008 and establishedthe ‘‘Web Content Accessibility Guidelines’’ in Taiwan with specificobjectives and strategies for the promotion of Web ContentAccessibility. Through the combination of the ‘‘Web AccessibilityService’’ launched in June, 2003 (RDEC, 2003a, 2003b), the single-license check tool (Freego) and repair tool developed in 2004 and2005 (RDEC, 2010), and the ‘‘Human Check Manual for Web Acces-sibility’’ drafted in 2006 and 2007 (RDEC, 2006) Taiwan is aiming atfacilitating more smooth web content presentation and userinterface. This will in turn enable a more convenient browsingexperience to internet users in Taiwan (RDEC, 2008).

88 S.-H. Li et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 87–96

The WCAG in Taiwan was established based on the contents ofthe WCAG 1.0. However, as the WCAG 2.0 was announced inDecember, 2008 (Web Accessibility Initiative, 2008), check stan-dards based on the WCAG 1.0 are facing revision in all aspects.

The main purpose of this study is to present a comparative anal-ysis on the differences between the WCAG Standard in Taiwan andthe WCAG 2.0 Standard. The identification of the website checksthat conform to and fail to conform to WCAG 2.0 standards willprovide references to government sectors in Taiwan in draftingnew WCAG standards.

2. Literature review

2.1. Web accessibility

Web accessibility is the idea of a ‘‘barrier-free’’ web (Schmetzke,2007). To achieve accessibility to the web, web administratorsneed to enable web content to be accessible to users at various lev-els and for different needs. In particular, people with disabilitiescan access the internet through specially designed equipments,technologies, and resources that are currently available. Webaccessibility can be defined as the ability to acquire complete infor-mation from the web by anyone – regardless of limited softwareenvironment, limited hardware, and disadvantaged capabilities(Huang & Chao, 2001).

Prior studies related to web accessibility and its implementa-tion have been conducted from various aspects. For example ; La-zar, Dudley-Sponaugle, and Greenidge proposed the WebAccessibility Integration Model and investigated the reasons whywebmasters did not implement web accessibility (Lazar, Dudley-Sponaugle, & Greenidge, 2004); Sierkowski discussed in detailsabout the reasons for, assistive technologies related to, and theimplementation and testing of web accessibility (Sierkowski,2002); and finally, the study of Zaphiris, Kurniawan, and Eills com-pared the usability and accessibility of governmental, organiza-tional, educational, and commercial aging-/health- relatedwebsites (Zaphiris, Kurniawan, & Eills, 2001). As per above discus-sion, it is obvious that the standards, implementation, and evalua-tion of web accessibility remain to be key topics in the prior studiesperformed in this subject area.

Table 1Comparison of numbers of checkpoint of WCAG in Taiwan and WCAG 1.0.

WCAG in Taiwan WCAG 1.0

Item # of Checkpoints Item # of Checkpoints

Guideline 1 16 Guideline 1 5Guideline 2 2 Guideline 2 2Guideline 3 10 Guideline 3 7Guideline 4 3 Guideline 4 3Guideline 5 7 Guideline 5 6Guideline 6 6 Guideline 6 5Guideline 7 6 Guideline 7 5Guideline 8 1 Guideline 8 1Guideline 9 6 Guideline 9 5Guideline 10 6 Guideline 10 5Guideline 11 4 Guideline 11 4Guideline 12 6 Guideline 12 4Guideline 13 14 Guideline 13 10Guideline 14 3 Guideline 14 30Total 90 Total 65

Source: RDEC, 2007 (RDEC, 2007); WAI, 1999 (Accessibility Initiative, 1999).

2.2. Organizations promoting web accessibility

1. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The mission of WorldWide Web Consortium (W3C) is to ‘‘lead the World Wide Web toits full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that en-sure the long-term growth of the Web’’ (About W3C, n.d.). W3Cis managed through voluntary participation by members fromindustry and academia. Currently, W3C’s development is followingtwo primary principles (About W3C, n.d.):

(1) Web for All: Making the benefits of communication, com-merce, and knowledge sharing available to everyonethrough the web. Related activities include the Web Accessi-bility Initiative (WAI), Internationalization, and Mobile Webfor Social Development.

(2) Web on Everything: Enabling various kinds of devices,including mobile phones, personal digital assistants, interac-tive audio/video systems, to access the web. Related activi-ties include Mobile Web Initiative, Voice Browser, andMultimodal Interaction.

2. Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Established in1984, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) is a non-profit educational organization which primarily aims at developing

assistive technologies for the disabled to provide more learningopportunities. ‘‘Bobby’’ is a check software product developed byCAST under WCAG 1.0 standard (Center of Applied Special Technol-ogy, 2009; Wang & Zhang, 2008). Currently, ‘‘Bobby’’ can be used tocheck two types of Web Content Accessibility standards, includingWCAG 1.0 and US Section 508 Standard. Once a web productpasses these checks, a conformance logo can be issued and postedonto the webpage to declare its status of web accessibility (W3CWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Conformance Logos, n.d.).

3. Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC). InTaiwan, under the goal of narrowing digital divide, web accessibil-ity service is one of the major government policies. The Research,Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) of ExecutiveYuan is in charge of stipulating the development timeline of webaccessibility and promoting the establishment of public websitesof government sectors, to achieve greater web accessibility amongpublic websites (RDEC, 2005).

2.3. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Web Accessibility Initiatives (WAI) of W3C aims at promoting acooperative environment with accessible web content for peoplewith disabilities and developing protocols and associated web pagelanguages to ensure compatible communication existed among thewebsites, various operating software, and different supportinghardware. Further, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG) was developed by WAI as a global standard for accessibleweb content design. This aforementioned standard explains how tomake ‘‘web content’’ (i.e., information in a web page or web appli-cation including text, images, forms, and/or sounds) more accessi-ble to/by people with disabilities (Web Accessibility Initiative,2008). As one part of a series of accessibility guidelines includingAuthoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) and User AgentAccessibility Guidelines (UAAG), the intent of WCAG is primarilydesigned for: (1) web content developers, (2) web authoring tooldevelopers, (3) web accessibility evaluation tool developers, and(4) others who need/request a technical standard for web accessi-bility (Web Accessibility Initiative, 2005).

1. WCAG 1.0. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0(WCAG 1.0) was announced by WAI in May 1999. WCAG 1.0 con-sists of 14 guidelines, each containing clear design key pointsregarding HTML to form a total of 65 checklists (Web AccessibilityInitiative, 1999). These checklists are further divided into 3 prioritylevels based on importance and completeness (Kuzma, 2009; Latif& Masrek, 2010). Level 1 contains 17 design key points, and levels 2and 3 contain 17 and 30 design key points, respectively (Latif &

Table 2List of disabilities-related websites.

Category/website Conformance level of web contentaccessibility

Number of website conforming toWCAG in TW

Government Websites1. Division of Welfare for Disabled People, Department of Social Affairs, Ministry of

InteriorA+ 1

2. Special Education Unit, Ministry of Education A+ 23. Special Education Transmit Net AA 34. International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment AAA 45. Chinese-based e-Library for the Visually Impaired AAA 56. www.batol.net AAA 67. National Special Education Information Network AAA 78. National Institute of Educational Resources and Research (special education) ⁄

9. www.aide.gov.tw A+ 810. Taipei City East Special Education Resource Center AA 911. Taipei City West Special Education Resource Center A+ 1012. Taipei City North Special Education Resource Center A+ 1113. Taipei City Early Intervention Service Network ⁄

14. Taipei Multimeida Resource Center A+ 1215. Kaohsiung Special Education Network ⁄

16. Taipei County Special Education Network ⁄

17. Taipei County Potential Development Center for Autism ⁄

18. Taoyuan County South Special Education Resource Center ⁄

19. Special Education Unit, Education Department, Taoyuan County ⁄

20. Hsinchu County Special Education Resource Center ⁄

21. Hsinchu County Special Education Information Network ⁄

22. Miaoli County Special Education Network ⁄

23. Taichung County Special Education Resource Network ⁄

24. Taichung City Special Education Network ⁄

25. Changhwa County Special Education Resource Center ⁄

26. Nantou County Special Education Resource Center ⁄

27. Yunlin County Special Education Network ⁄

28. Chiayi City Special Education Transmit Network ⁄

29. Tainan County Special Education Resource Network ⁄

30. Tainan City Special Education Center ⁄

31. Pintung County Special Education Resource Center ⁄

32. Yilan County Special Education Resource Center A+ 1333. Special Education Unit, Education Department, Yilan County Government ⁄

34. Hualien County North Special Education Resource Center AA 1435. Taitung County Special Education Resource Center ⁄

Training Institutes for Teachers in Special Education and Special Education Centers36. Visually Impaired Center, Tamkang University ⁄

37. Department of Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University A+ 1538. Special Education Center, National Taiwan Normal University ⁄

39. Department of Special Education, National Changhua University of Education A+ 1640. Special Education Center, National Changhua University of Education ⁄

41. Department of Special Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University ⁄

42. Special Education Center, National Kaohsiung Normal University ⁄

43. Department of Special Education, National Taipei University of Education ⁄

44. Special Education Center, National Taipei University of Education ⁄

45. Department of Special Education, Taipei Municipal University of Education ⁄

46. Special Education Center, Taipei Municipal University of Education ⁄

47. Department of Special Education, Chung Yuan Christian University ⁄

48. Special Education Center, Chung Yuan Christian University ⁄

49. Department of Special Education, National Hsinchu University of Education ⁄

50. Special Education Center, National Hsinchu University of Education ⁄

51. Department of Special Education, National Taichung University ⁄

52. Special Education Center, National Taichung University ⁄

53. Department of Special Education, National Chiayi University (including specialeducation center)

AAA 17

54. Department of Special Education, National University of Tainan AA 1855. Special Education Center, National University of Tainan A+ 1956. Department of Special Education, National Pingtung University of Education A+ 2057. Special Education Center, National Pingtung University of Education ⁄

58. Department of Special Education, National Dong Hwa University ⁄

59. Special Education Center, National Dong Hwa University ⁄

60. Department of Special Education, National Taitung University ⁄

61. Special Education Center, National Taitung University ⁄

62. Department of Special Education, National Hualien University of Education ⁄

63. Special Education Center, National Hualien University of Education ⁄

Special Education Schools and Classes64. Taipei School of Special Education A+ 2165. Taipei School for the Visually Impaired A+ 2266. Taipei School for the Hearing Impaired ⁄

67. Kaohsiung County Special Education School A+ 23

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Table 2 (continued)

Category/website Conformance level of web contentaccessibility

Number of website conforming toWCAG in TW

68. Yilan Special Education School ⁄

69. Hualien School of Special Education ⁄

70. Taoyuan School for the Visually Impaired ⁄

71. Lin Kou Special Education School AA 2472. National Miaoli Special Education School A+ 2573. Taichung Special Education School ⁄

74. National Taichung Special Education for the Visually Impaired A+ 2675. National Taichung Special Education for the Hearing Impaired ⁄

76. National Changhua School for Student with Special Needs ⁄

77. Changhua Hemei Experimental School ⁄

78. Yunlin Special Education Network ⁄

79. National Chiayi School for the Mentally Retarded ⁄

80. National Tainan Special Education School A 2781. Special Education Class of Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School ⁄

82. Kaohsiung Municipal Nanzih Special School A+ 28

Associations and Organizations83. Association of Learning Disabilities ⁄

84. Department of Service and Development in Visual Impairment, Eden SocialWelfare Foundation

AA 29

85. Eden Social Welfare Foundation ⁄

86. Taiwan Foundation for the Blind A+ 3087. Institute for the Blind of Taiwan ⁄

88. Parents’ Association for the Visually Impaired ⁄

89. Taichung City Parents’ Association for the Visually Impaired A+ 3190. Taipei Blind Massage Service ⁄

91. APAD ⁄

92. Blind’s Welfare Association ROC ⁄

93. Association of Retinitis Pigmentosa ROC ⁄

94. Chinese National Association of the Deaf ROC A+ 3295. Chinese Deaf Association ⁄

96. Technology Development Association for the Disabled in Taiwan A 3397. Association of Special Education ROC ⁄

98. Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Taiwan. ⁄

99. Occupational Therapy Association of Taiwan ⁄

100. Disability Information Network ⁄

101. The NWL Foundation for the Hearing Impaired, ROC A+ 34102. Light and Salt Association (Visually impaired) ⁄

103. Taiwan Gump Mental Development Association ⁄

104. Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation ⁄

105. The First Children’s Development Centre A+ 35106. Children’s Hearing Foundation(hearing impaired) ⁄

107. Taichung City Learning Disability Association ⁄

108. Taipei Blind Welfare Association(visually impaired) A+ 36

90 S.-H. Li et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 87–96

Masrek, 2010). WCAG 1.0 is widely accepted around the world asthe major standard for accessible web content development (Aba-numy et al., 2005).

2. WCAG in Taiwan. To provide clear assessment methods andconsistent benchmarking to web developers and users in Taiwan,the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in Taiwan wasformulated following WCAG 1.0 standard established by WAI.The WCAG in Taiwan regulates accessible web design in 4 prioritylevels with 14 guidelines, corresponding checkpoints, and confor-mance logos. The 4 levels are described in the following (RDEC,2006, 2007):

(1) Level A. Satisfying the checkpoints at this level is a basicrequirement for groups using HTML documents. The websites con-forming to all checkpoints of this level (29 in total) can claim LevelA conformance.

(2) Level A+. Under Level A conformance, websites providing 3additional browsing convenience functions: access key, sitemap,and keyboard, in addition to conforming to all checkpoints in LevelA and Level A+ (34 in total) can claim Level A+ conformance.

(3) Level AA. Level AA requires the removal of certain significantbarriers from the webpage. Websites conforming to all checkpointsof Level A and Level AA (69 in total) can claim Level AAconformance.

(4) Level AAA. Checkpoints in this level further require improve-ment of reachability of webpage documents. Websites that

conform to all checkpoints of Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA(90 in total) can claim Level AAA conformance.

While both WCAG 1.0 and WCAG in Taiwan contain 14 guide-lines, the numbers of checkpoints under each guideline are differ-ent in the two standards. Table 1 compares the numbers ofcheckpoints of WCAG in Taiwan and WCAG 1.0.

3. WCAG 2.0. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0(WCAG 2.0) was announced as a W3C standard in December 11,2008. Based on WCAG 1.0, in contrast to the 14 guidelines and65 checkpoints in WCAG 1.0, the WCAG 2.0 standard provides fourprincipal guidelines and 18 checkpoints to webpage designers asreferences (Liu & Song, 2005). The goals of WCAG 2.0 may includethe following items (Brewer, 2003):

(1) Updating WCAG 1.0 to match with/adapt to advanced webtechnologies to make it more current;

(2) Making WCAG to be easily understandable and moreapproachable by different audience;

(3) Having it easier to be implemented;(4) Making it to be tested more precisely.

In addition, WCAG 2.0 is backwards compatible with WCAG 1.0to facilitate/assist the websites already conforming to WCAG 1.0 tomigrate to WCAG 2.0 without any significant changes (Brewer,2003; Kuzma, 2009). In addition, in order to respond to the

Table 3Human check of WCAG 2.0 on the disabilities-related websites conforming to WCAG 1.0.

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Table 4Summary of unconfirmed WCAG 2.0 checkpoints with respect to different conformance levels of WCAG in Taiwan (A, A+, AA, AAA).

Checkpoints unconfirmed by disabilities-related websites with conformance level A1.1.1 Non-text Content: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text substitution that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed

below. (Level A)Sensory: If non-text content is primarily intended to create a specific sensory experience, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.

Decoration, Formatting, and Invisible: If non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in away that can be ignored by assistive technology.

Time-Based Media: If non-text content is time-based media, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer toGuideline 1.2 for additional requirements for media.)

2.4.1 Bypass Blocks: A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages. (Level A)2.4.2 Page Titled: Web pages have titles that describe topic or purpose. (Level A)3.1.1 Language of Page: The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined. (Level A)Checkpoints unconfirmed by disabilities-related websites with conformance level A+1.1.1 Non-text Content: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text substitution that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed

below. (Level A)Controls, Input: If non-text content is a control or accepts user input, then it has a name that describes its purpose. (Refer to Guideline 4.1 for additional requirementsfor controls and content that accepts user input.)

Time-Based Media: If non-text content is time-based media, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer toGuideline 1.2 for additional requirements for media.)

Sensory: If non-text content is primarily intended to create a specific sensory experience, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.

CAPTCHA: If the purpose of non-text content is to confirm that content is being accessed by a person rather than a computer, then text substitutions that identify anddescribe the purpose of the non-text content are provided, and alternative forms of CAPTCHA using output modes for different types of sensory perception areprovided to accommodate different disabilities.

Decoration, Formatting, and Invisible: If non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in away that it can be ignored by assistive technology.

2.1 Keyboard Accessible: Make all functionality available from a keyboard.2.1.1 Keyboard: All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes, except where the

underlying function requires input that depends on the path of the user’s movement and not just the endpoints. (Level A)2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap: If keyboard focus can be moved to a component of the page using a keyboard interface, then focus can be moved away from that component

using only a keyboard interface, and, if it requires more than unmodified arrow or tab keys or other standard exit methods, the user is advised of the method formoving focus away. (Level A)

(2.2.2)�Moving, blinking, scrolling: For any moving, blinking or scrolling information that (1) starts automatically, (2) lasts more than five seconds, and (3) is presentedin parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it unless the movement, blinking, or scrolling is part of an activity where it isessential; and

(2.2.2)�Auto-updating: For any auto-updating information that (1) starts automatically and (2) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for theuser to pause, stop, or hide it or to control the frequency of the update unless the auto-updating is part of an activity where it is essential.

2.4.1 Bypass Blocks: A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages. (Level A)2.4.2 Page Titled: Web pages have titles that describe topic or purpose. (Level A)

3.1.1 Language of Page: The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined. (Level A)3.2 Predictable: Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.3.3 Input Assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role

can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to theseitems is available to user agents, including assistive technologies. (Level A)

Checkpoints unconfirmed by disabilities-related websites with conformance level AA1.1.1 Non-text Content: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text substitution that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed

below. (Level A)Time-Based Media: If non-text content is time-based media, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer to

Guideline 1.2 for additional requirements for media.)Sensory: If non-text content is primarily intended to create a specific sensory experience, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-

text content.Decoration, Formatting, Invisible: If non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in a way

that it can be ignored by assistive technology.1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence: When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined.

(Level A)1.4.4 Resize text: Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality.

(Level AA)2.1 Keyboard Accessible: Make all functionality available from a keyboard.(2.2.2)�Moving, blinking, scrolling: For any moving, blinking or scrolling information that (1) starts automatically, (2) lasts more than five seconds, and (3) is presented

in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it unless the movement, blinking, or scrolling is part of an activity where it isessential; and

(2.2.2)�Auto-updating: For any auto-updating information that (1) starts automatically and (2) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for theuser to pause, stop, or hide it or to control the frequency of the update unless the auto-updating is part of an activity where it is essential.

2.4.1 Bypass Blocks: A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages. (Level A)2.4.2 Page Titled: Web pages have titles that describe topic or purpose. (Level A)2.4.5 Multiple Ways: More than one way is available to locate a Web page within a set of Web pages except where the Web Page is the result of, or a step in, a process.

(Level AA)3.3 Input Assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.4.1.1 Parsing: In content implemented using markup languages, elements have complete start and end tags, elements are nested according to their specifications,

elements do not contain duplicate attributes, and any IDs are unique, except where the specifications allow these features. (Level A)

Checkpoints unconfirmed by disabilities-related websites with conformance level AAA1.1.1 Non-text Content: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text substitution that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed

below. (Level A)

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Table 4 (continued)

Sensory: If non-text content is primarily intended to create a specific sensory experience, then text substitutions at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.

Decoration, Formatting, Invisible: If non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in a waythat it can be ignored by assistive technology.

1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence: When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined.(Level A)

1.4.2 Audio Control: If any audio on a Web page plays automatically for more than 3 s, either a mechanism is available to pause or stop the audio, or a mechanism isavailable to control audio volume independently from the overall system volume level. (Level A)

1.4.4 Resize text: Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality.(Level AA)

(1.4.7)�Turn Off: The background sounds can be turned off.2.4.1 Bypass Blocks: A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages. (Level A)2.4.5 Multiple Ways: More than one way is available to locate a Web page within a set of Web pages except where the Web Page is the result of, or a step in, a process.

(Level AA)3.3 Input Assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.3.3.3 Error Suggestion: If an input error is automatically detected and suggestions for correction are known, then the suggestions are provided to the user, unless it

would jeopardize the security or purpose of the content. (Level AA)4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role

can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to theseitems is available to user agents, including assistive technologies. (Level A)

94 S.-H. Li et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 87–96

rapid-evolving webpage design technologies, WCAG 2.0 tries tosupport various technologies instead of limiting to HTML. The fourprincipal guidelines in WCAG 2.0 are (Web Accessibility Initiative,2008; RDEC, 2009):

(1) Clear and distinguishable web content: emphasizing thatnon-text multimedia web contents should provide text sub-stitutions, background and text should have clear distinc-tion, and information delivery should be independent ofwebpage structure.

(2) Operable interface element: emphasizing that keyboardoperation on web content should be enabled, and perfectbrowsing and error prevention mechanism should be pro-vided, in order to increase website usability.

(3) Understandable web content and control: emphasizing thatweb content and layout should be easy to read, and consis-tent browsing functions should be provided.

(4) Accessible web content by assistive tools: emphasizing thatwebpage design should support functions of assistive tools.

3. Analysis on the disabilities-related websites in Taiwan

3.1. The disabilities-related websites

This study collects data from 108 disabilities-related websites.The content of these websites actually cover different categoriesof disability welfare, and special education and various associa-tions for the disabled. Either governmental or non-governmentalones by nature, these websites provide useful information to peo-ple interested in helping these physically and mentally disabled orpeople with disability. While these websites are supposed to be themost informative for people with disabilities accessing the internetenvironment, they are the ones that require the highest level ofweb accessibility. Among the 108 websites, only 36 websites havebeen granted official conformance levels of web accessibility, andmerely 34% of the websites provide web accessibility services. De-tailed information about the 108 disabilities-related websites islisted in Table 2.

3.2. Human check of disabilities-related websites under WCAG 2.0standard

As the machine check system of WCAG in Taiwan follows theWCAG 1.0 standard, human check was applied to assess the con-formance of local disabilities-related websites to the WCAG 2.0standard. This study followed WCAG 2.0 to apply human check

on the aforementioned (Table 2) 36 disabilities-related websitesconforming to WCAG 1.0. Table 3 lists the human check resultsin a matrix format. The horizontal axis is represented by row 1and row 2. Corresponding to the column 3 and 2 in Table 2, respec-tively, row 1 in Table 3 lists the numbers of websites conforming toWCAG in Taiwan, and row 2 lists the conformance level of thesewebsites to WCAG in Taiwan. The left most column of Table 3 liststhe WCAG 2.0 checkpoints that are different from or new to thecheckpoints in WCAG in Taiwan and forms the vertical axis ofthe matrix. Within the matrix, an empty mesh indicates that thecorresponding website in the horizontal axis conforms to the cor-responding checkpoint in the vertical axis, while an ‘‘X’’ mark rep-resents the non-conforming condition. In a specific rowcorresponding to one checkpoint criteria, meshes correspondingto websites having conformance levels lower than the accessibilitylevel of that specific checkpoint are filled by slashed patterns.

Due to the complexity of Table 3, brief summary analyses ofhuman check results on disabilities-related websites are given inTable 4 and Table 5. Table 4 summarizes the WCAG 2.0 checkpointsthat are not conformed by websites with different conformancelevels of WCAG in Taiwan. Table 5 lists the statistics of conformanceconditions to WCAG 2.0 of the 36 disabilities-related websites listedin Table 3. It can be seen from Table 5 that disabilities-relatedwebsites with higher conformance level in web accessibility showlower ratio of unconfirmed checkpoints in WCAG 2.0.

3.3. Suggestions to disabilities-related websites with conformancelogos for changing conformance basis to WCAG 2.0

Based on the results shown in the previous section, this studypresents the following suggestions to disabilities-related websitesthat have already been granted conformance logos under the cur-rent WCAG in Taiwan for adjustment to WCAG 2.0 standards.

1. The content required to be improved for websites with con-formance level A to satisfy Level A conformance in WCAG2.0:(1) Provide text substitutions to all non-text contents.(2) Provide hyperlink design for bypassing repetitive

groups.(3) Improve title description of webpage.(4) Provide natural language declaration.

2. The content required to be improved for websites with con-formance level A+ to satisfy Level A conformance in WCAG2.0:

(1) Provide text substitutions to all non-text contents.

Table 5Analysis on human check results of disabilities-related websites based on WCAG2.0.

Website Name Conformancelevel

Number of checkpoints shallconform to WCAG2.0

Number ofcheckpointsunconfirmed

Ratio ofunconformity(%)

1. Division of Welfare for Disabled People, Department of Social Affairs,Ministry of Interior

A+ 35 5 14.29

2. Special Education Unit, Ministry of Education A+ 35 5 14.293. Special Education Transmit Net AA 52 8 15.384. Learning Tools and Assistive Technology Center for the Visually Impaired

of Colleges and Universities, Ministry of EducationAAA 84 1 1.19

5. Chinese-based e-Library for the Visually Impaired AAA 84 4 4.766. www.batol.net AAA 84 1 1.197. National Special Education Information Network AAA 84 5 5.958. www.aide.gov.tw A+ 35 6 17.149. Taipei City East Special Education Resource Center AA 52 8 15.3810. Taipei City West Special Education Resource Center A+ 35 5 14.2911. Taipei City North Special Education Resource Center A+ 35 5 14.2912. Taipei Multimedia Resource Center A+ 35 5 14.2913. Yilan County Special Education Resource Center A+ 35 5 14.2914. Hualien County North Special Education Resource Center AA 52 5 9.6215. Department of Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University A+ 35 4 11.4316. Department of Special Education, National Changhua University of

EducationA+ 35 6 17.14

17. Department of Special Education, National Chiayi University (includingspecial education center)

AAA 84 2 2.38

18. Department of Special Education, National University of Tainan AA 52 3 5.7719. Special Education Center, National University of Tainan A+ 35 5 14.2920. Department of Special Education, National Pintung University of

EducationA+ 35 2 5.71

21. Taipei School of Special Education A+ 35 3 8.5722. Taipei School for the Visually Impaired A+ 35 1 2.8623. Kaohsiung County School of Special Education A+ 35 2 5.7124. Taipei School of Special Education AA 52 6 11.5425. Miao School of Special Education A+ 35 5 14.2926. Taichung School for the Visually Impaired A+ 35 3 8.5727. Tinan School for the Hearing Impaired A 35 5 14.2928. Nanzi School of Special Education A+ 35 5 14.2929. Department of Service and Development in Visual Impairment, Eden

Social Welfare FoundationAA 52 6 11.54

30. Taiwan Foundation for the Blind A+ 35 5 14.2931. Taichung City Parents’ Association for the Visually Impaired A+ 35 3 8.5732. Chinese National Association of the Deaf, ROC A+ 35 3 8.5733. Technology Development Association for the Disabled in Taiwan A 35 5 14.2934. The NWL Foundation for the Hearing Impaired, ROC A+ 35 4 11.4335. The First Children’s Development Centre A+ 35 7 20.0036. Taipei Blind Welfare Association(visually impaired) A+ 35 4 11.43

S.-H. Li et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 87–96 95

(2) Add accessible keyboard design.(3) Provide user-controlled automatic update mechanism.(4) Provide hyperlink design for bypassing repetitive groups.(5) Improve title description of webpage.(6) Provide natural language declaration.(7) Improve the predictability of webpage operation.(8) Provide input assistance.

3. The content required to be improved for websites with confor-mance level AA to satisfy Level AA conformance in WCAG 2.0:(1) Provide text substitutions to all non-text contents.(2) Provide layered reading order.(3) Provide font size adjustment function.(4) Add accessible keyboard design.(5) Provide user-controlled automatic update mechanism.(6) Provide pausing function to flashed messages.(7) Provide hyperlink design for bypassing repetitive

groups.(8) Improve title description of webpage.(9) Provide input assistance.

(10) Improve webpage substitution function.4. The content required to be improved for websites with con-

formance level AAA to satisfy Level AAA conformance inWCAG 2.0:

(1) Provide text substitutions to all non-text contents.

(2) Provide layered reading order.(3) Provide user-controlled voice adjustment function.(4) Provide font size adjustment function.(5) Provide hyperlink design for bypassing repetitive groups.(6) Improve webpage substitution function.(7) Provide input assistance.(8) Improve input error suggestions.

4. Conclusions and suggestions

According to the results in this study, migrating from WCAG inTaiwan (based on WCAG 1.0) to WCAG 2.0 does not require a fullrevision of webpage design. In fact, WCAG 2.0 provides only prin-cipal guidelines instead of detailed guidelines as described inWCAG 1.0 to webpage designers as reference. With reasonable ef-forts, webpage designers can make their websites more accessibleto users with disabilities.

For websites that have not included any accessibility design ele-ments, direct use designs conforming to WCAG 2.0 can reduce thefuture work load of webpage design and maintenance. For web-sites that have already conformed to WCAG in Taiwan, a minormodification based on the difference between WCAG in Taiwanand WCAG 2.0 is enough.

96 S.-H. Li et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 87–96

WCAG 2.0 has been published for 2 years. The plan for revisingWCAG standard in Taiwan based on WCAG 2.0 is underway. It issuggested that, in the future, promotion of web accessibility shouldinclude all educational institutions and related associations/orga-nizations to truly realize the spirit of web accessibility.

Due to the fact that automated machine checks of accessibilityof websites in Taiwan are still following the WCAG 1.0-based stan-dards, this study applies human check to assess the conformanceconditions of disabilities-related websites to the WCAG 2.0 stan-dard. Human check inevitably involves subjective opinions andmisjudgment, and forms the limitation of this study.

For the future studies, whether web resources available to thedisabled increase after the new WCAG standard based on WCAG2.0 is implemented, and whether the government achievement inweb accessibility shows significant improvement are topics worthof investigation. It is suggested that expert opinions and user feed-back should be included to better reflect the real needs of peoplewith disabilities.

Acknowledgments

This work is partially supported by the National Science Coun-cil, Taiwan (NSC 100-2221-E-036-036) and Tatung University(B99-N05-067).

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