The Perception of Website Accessibility: A Survey of Turkish Software Professionals

Öz

Websites become main information dissemination mechanism to a variety of audiences for a wide spectrum of organizations from commercial to governmental context. The universal design of this communication medium, which enables them to be accessible for all people, becomes an important issue. However, currently websites are still not accessible. One of the reason for this situation can be based on the lack of awareness and understanding of software professionals who develop them since they have the greatest influence. In this study, the aim was to reveal the current situation among software professionals who contributed in any stage of the website development in Turkey by mainly focusing on their perceptions of website accessibility and related issues. A web-based questionnaire was implemented with 108 participants from academy, industry and government to reveal the perceptions regarding the relationship between accessibility, user experience (UX) and usability as well as professionals’ perspectives on related issues such as the need of a standard accessibility definition, accessibility evaluation methods, and accessibility drivers. The results showed that software professionals prefer inclusive definitions for website accessibility by relating it to all people. They think that accessibility, usability and UX are all related concepts and user-centered practices should be applied to enable the website accessibility. In addition, they think that legislations should be enabled to ensure web accessibility. Although the findings provides the snapshot of the Turkish situation regarding website accessibility perceptions, these perceptions are critical since they provide guidance on shared understanding for the accessibility community.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• web accessibility
• usability
• user experience (UX)
• software professionals’ perceptions
• universal design

Web Sitelerinde Erişilebilirlik Algısı: Türk Yazılım Uzmanları Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Öz

Web siteleri, ticari alandan devlet kuruluşlarına kadar geniş bir yelpazede çeşitli kitlelere temel bilgi yayma mekanizması haline gelmiştir. Bu iletişim ortamının tüm insanlar için erişilebilir olmasını sağlayan evrensel tasarım önemli bir konu haline gelmektedir. Ancak, şu anda web sitelerinde halen erişilebilirlik problemleri mevcuttur. Bu durumun nedenlerinden biri, web sitelerini geliştiren ve üzerlerinde en büyük etkiye sahip oldukları düşünülen yazılım uzmanlarının farkındalık ve anlayış eksikliğine dayanabilir. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye'deki web sitesi geliştirmenin herhangi bir aşamasında katkıda bulunan yazılım uzmanları arasındaki mevcut durumu, esas olarak web sitesi erişilebilirliği ve ilgili konulardaki algılarına odaklanarak ortaya koymak amaçlanmıştır. Erişilebilirlik, kullanıcı deneyimi ve kullanılabilirlik arasındaki ilişkinin yanı sıra uzmanların standart erişilebilirlik tanımı, erişilebilirlik değerlendirme yöntemleri ve erişilebilirlik faktörleri gibi ilgili konulara ilişkin bakış açılarını ortaya çıkarmak için akademi, endüstri ve devlet kurumlarından 108 katılımcıyla web tabanlı bir anket uygulanmıştır. Sonuçlar, yazılım profesyonellerinin web sitesi erişilebilirliği için kapsayıcı tanımları tüm insanlarla ilişkilendirerek tercih ettiklerini göstermiştir. Erişilebilirlik, kullanılabilirlik ve kullanıcı deneyimi kavramlarının birbirleriyle ilişkili kavramlar olduğunu ve web sitesi erişilebilirliğini sağlamak için kullanıcı merkezli yaklaşımların uygulanması gerektiğini düşünmektedirler. Ayrıca, web erişilebilirliğini sağlamak için mevzuatların etkinleştirilmesi gerektiğini belirtmektedirler. Her ne kadar bulgular, Türkiye'nin web sitesi erişilebilirlik algıları ile ilgili durumunun anlık bir görüntüsünü sunsa da, erişilebilirlik topluluğu için paylaşılan anlayış konusunda rehberlik sağladığı için de bu algılar kritik önem taşımaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• web erişilebilirliği
• kullanılabilirlik
• kullanıcı deneyimi
• yazılım uzmanlarının algıları
• evrensel tasarım

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