Accessibility evaluation of websites using WCAG tools and Cambridge Simulator

Abstract: There is plethora of tools available for automatic evaluation of web accessibility with respect to WCAG. This paper compares a set of WCAG tools and their results in terms of ease of comprehension and implementation by web developers. The paper highlights accessibility issues that cannot be captured only through conformance to WCAG tools and propose additional methods to evaluate accessibility through an Inclusive User Model. We initially selected ten WCAG tools from W3 website and used a set of these tools on the landing pages of BBC and WHO websites. We compared their outcome in terms of commonality, differences, amount of details and usability. Finally, we briefly introduced the Inclusive User Model and demonstrated how simulation of user interaction can capture usability and accessibility issues that are not detected through WCAG analysis. The paper concludes with a proposal on a Common User Profile format that can be used to compare and contrast accessibility systems and services, and to simulate and personalize interaction for users with different range of abilities.