Employing Universal Design in an Internet City Guide – Case Study of an Evaluation and Retrofitting Process

A case study on evaluating an internet city guide for accessibility and Design for All is presented, and retrofitting considerations are reported. The study can serve as an early example for the processes to come according to the new German legislation demanding equal access to information systems for people with disabilities. Some conclusions on further standardization needs are added. 1 Universal Design or Accessibility? Bringing the information society to life while avoiding a digital gap takes a lot of activities, one of which is to make user interfaces usable for all people – which means fostering universal design, or Design for All. Where universality fails, some groups of people may feel that they are denied access to information systems. Consequently, the access problem should be addressed and fixed – which means caring for accessibility. Most effectively, accessibility is employed in a way that enhances the universality of the user interface. Not very effective are special accessible areas “for the disabled” like the text-only-pages found in some internet sites, which most often cannot provide for equivalent, up to date information. In short: while accessibility refers to addressing problems, universal design is the solution. In the evaluation work reported here, we most often are talking in terms of accessibility, while universal design is the leading idea for recommended developments. 2 Accessibility History of the Hamburg Homepage The Hamburg Homepage www.hamburg.de is a virtual marketplace for the region, containing a city guide, a directory to regional businesses and the official homepage of the state, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The site is run by a company in public-private partnership. The target group includes all citizens – the perfect object for a design for all study. In the past, accessibility for blind and visually impaired computer users had been a goal for some singular parts of the information system. DiBIS, the official citizens' online information service offered by the state administration of Hamburg, was originally designed to include braille bar users to their audience. The DiBIS management was very aware of accessibility concerns since the time when the system was being ported from BTX to internet in 1996. Fromthis times, BIT GmbH, a local competence center for disabled computer users, got involved as an accessibility consultancy. In spring 2001, the new hamburg.de homepage was released (see figure 1), which would integrate all the up to then separate parts of the information system. Accessibility concerns had not been included in first place, but were continually put on the agenda by different interest groups. By fall 2001, when the federal legislation on equal rights for people with disabilities was approaching, an evaluation for accessibility was commissioned. As a result we can present here an early example of the procedures to come, accomplished ahead of obligation by law. 3 Evaluation for General Accessibility The evaluation was aimed to detect general accessibility problems concerning the main user interface of www.hamburg.de, as been in October 2001. It should comprise a weak points analysis as well as pragmatic suggestions for retrofitting. A certification procedure was not included.