Testing the accessibility of websites

Abstract

The current development of the internet and its growing use makes it necessary to satisfy the needs of all users including those with disabilities having accessibility problems. We developed a new validator software (XValid) based on the WCAG 2.0. We tested 18 countries' sites in 15 categories approximately 500 sites, with XValid. We made a statistical analysis based on our test. We determined the most frequently occurring errors based on these statistics. We took into account these typical errors, when we determined our minimal guidelines in ten points. People with disabilities could reach the internet barrier free if the web designer would test his/her design using our recommendations. The problem will be more and more important because the population of Europe will become older and older. This population needs accessible internet. Therefore it is very important to be prepared to cope with this problem now!