Evaluation of universal design web resources: usefulness and user experience

Abstract

When searching for information on Universal Design (UD) of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) on the internet, Universal Design Resource (UDR) websites have a larger pool of UD information. UDR websites aim to promote UD, accessibility, usability to all users. However, many users are having difficulty perceiving information from those websites. This paper focuses on ICT professionals’ and students’ perception of UDR content, as well as the usability of UDR websites. A combination of user testing, observation, and semi-structured interviews with five ICT professionals and five IT students were used to accomplishing the goal of the research. The results show that users have a positive attitude about UDRs content as a source of learning about UD of ICT. However, ICT professionals and students have faced several usability barriers in UDR websites. These barriers are due to website design, information organization, searching function, labeling, and website content. This research concludes that some adjustments are needed to make UDR websites more usable, accessible, and informative because there are several usability and content-related issues. A set of recommendations for improving UDRs content and its presentation to ICT professionals and students in the context of universal design are developed.