Challenges to Assess Accessibility in Higher Education Websites: A Comparative Study of Latin America Universities (dataset)

Abstract

Currently, the Web has revolutionized our daily life, has become a source of information, knowledge, source of consultation and provision of services in various areas. On the other hand, through the Internet, you easily get information from any type of institution, and the first impression you have about an organization is almost always based on your website. The digitization of education-related services is increasingly frequent, related to educational resources, guides, books, online courses and various services that allow the improvement and continuous updating of teachers and students. Therefore, it is important that users, regardless of their disabilities, access these websites and university services in an effective, efficient and satisfactory manner. However, websites of universities in Latin America, still do not meet the criteria of web accessibility. This study describes the web accessibility problems identified in 348 websites of the main universities in Latin America according to the Webometrics ranking. The results showed that the websites of the universities of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador have frequent errors related to the criterion of success 1.1.1 that refers to the “Non-text Content” of Level A, in which there is a lack of alternative text in the images. It was found that the websites of the universities included in this study violate the web accessibility requirements in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. In the evaluation process, the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology was applied, to identify the ease with which a website can be accessed in accordance with WCAG 2.0 standards. This study presents several barriers to accessibility, which is why it is necessary to strengthen the legislation in each country and to share best web accessibility practices so that websites are more accessible and inclusive.