Abstract

This literature illustrates the lack of use of WCAG standards in web development. This study focuses on improving user experience regardless of their visual disabilities. We learn that regardless of the multitude of regulations and standards at an international and national level, web content is mostly unusable for the visually impaired. This dissertation presents the evaluation and results for 11 websites, including 4 of the most used websites in the United Kingdom (UK). A handy extension called “AXE coconut web-accessible” will be used to access each website. Overall, the findings show low usage of WCAG 2.0 standards and numerous accessibility and usability issues, even for sighted people. Adopting a user-centred approach during web design can eliminate many accessibility barriers, according to the assessment data analysis.

Further to this, we learn how the WCAG standards can be used to increase user experience. Web developers have modern options such as Chrome extensions and CSS injections to counter pre-existing web accessibility issues. Thereby, leading this study to create a Chrome extension that will help combat the disregard of “WCAG” standards by web developers. The extension altered the website to fit the “WCAG standard” more. Then the extension was further tested with surveys and found that the users found it very useful, especial if they had a visual impairment.

Interrelation of user experience and web development