Experienced Barriers in Web Applications and Their Comparison to the WCAG Guidelines

Abstract

A German organization established the study “Web 2.0 Accessible” in 2008 which asked Internet users with disabilities about the barriers they experience when using websites and web applications. This paper gives some interesting facts of the study which are useful for the design and implementation of accessible web applications. Therefore it raises classifications of barriers in various dimensions we have registered in the German study regarding the use of web applications by persons with disabilities and correlate these barriers with the WCAG 2.0 Guidelines and Principles to support the facts of the study. Furthermore the results will be supported by key results of other studies regarding web accessibility. The objective of this paper is to identify in practise experienced barriers for people with disabilities using websites and applications.