Accessibility and Visibility Analysis for Academic Portals of the Universities of Cartagena

Abstract

Introduction: With the growing demand for applications in the market, companies have increasingly focused on meeting the technological needs of the average user, often overlooking those with functional diversity. Consequently, accessibility has emerged as a critical challenge across various contexts, particularly within the educational sphere, where the diverse range of individuals accessing web content is particularly pronounced. Objective: This paper presents a study centered on the accessibility inspection of six university websites located in the city of Cartagena. The primary aim is to ascertain the relationship between the integration of accessibility guidelines and web positioning factors as determined by Webometrics. Methodology: The methodology comprises five distinct phases: website selection, tool selection for inspection, execution of accessibility inspection, analysis of obtained results, and formulation of conclusions and recommendations. Results: The study revealed a correlation exceeding 0.8 between the local ranking of universities according to Webometrics and the ranking of accessibility issues identified through automated inspection tools. Conclusions: It is recommended that educational institutions adopt automatic web evaluation tools to enhance the accessibility of their institutional websites. This regular review and rectification of issues represent best practices for improving both local and international visibility and usability.