This dissertation examined the implementation of the standards of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act on federal electronic government websites. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that federal e-government websites be accessible to persons with disabilities. These accessibility standards were designed to ensure that e-government websites: 1) provide equal or equivalent access to all users, and 2) work compatibly with assistive technologies, such as narrators, scanners, enlargement, voice-activated technologies, and many other devices that persons with disabilities may employ. Section 508 was passed in 1998 and was to have been implemented by 2001. While some studies have been conducted to assess the accessibility of federal e-government sites, the breadth and depth of issues related to e-government website accessibility has not been adequately examined. This dissertation was a multi-method study of the accessibility of e-government sites in terms of the Section 508 standards that addresses the complexities of accessibility and the reasons for continued inaccessibility on e-government sites. The methods in this study included a law and policy analysis of the standards of Section 508, user testing involving persons with disabilities interacting with e-government websites, expert testing of e-government websites, testing of e-government websites with automated testing software, and a survey of federal web developers regarding their perceptions about accessibility. The key findings from the dissertation include: 1. Compliance with Section 508 standards varies widely between websites; 2. The level of importance accorded to website accessibility varies between agencies; 3. Agencies oriented toward issues of disability are more likely to have accessible websites; 4. Agencies lack a standardized approach to Section 508; 5. Some e-government websites focus on certain aspects of accessibility; 6. The channels of communication between e-government websites and users need improvement. 7. Agencies' perceptions about the accessibility of their sites are not entirely accurate; 8. Compliance with Section 508 could be increased with funding and education for web developers; and 9. Commonly accessible e-government sites are still an unfulfilled goal. Ultimately, this dissertation provided a robust, user-centered portrait of the levels of accessibility of e-government websites, reasons for the current levels of accessibility, and perceptions about accessibility. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2006. / February 7, 2006. / Rehabilitation Act, Section 508, E-government, Electronic government, Accessibility, Persons with Disabilities, Disability, Usability, Websites / Includes bibliographical references. / Charles R. McClure, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen D. McDowell, Outside Committee Member; John Carlo Bertot, Committee Member; John N. Gathegi, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_181944 |
| Contributors | Jaeger, Paul T., 1974- (authoraut), McClure, Charles R. (professor directing dissertation), McDowell, Stephen D. (outside committee member), Bertot, John Carlo (committee member), Gathegi, John N. (committee member), School of Library and Information Studies (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
Page generated in 0.0028 seconds