The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which websitesof special schools comply with the web accessibility suggested by KoreanWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.
First, automated evaluation of the websites of 156 special schools of thenation was conducted with using KADO-WAH 4.0, an automated evaluationtool produced by National Information Society Agency in order to investigatewhether they abide by Korean Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. Second,to examine whether the compliance of the web accessibility enhances theaccessibility of website of students with disabilities, 4 students, each one ofthem has either mental retardation, visual impairment, hearing impairment,or physical disability, conducted an user assessment of two websites, ratedas excellent and as unsatisfactory respectively in the automated evaluation,carrying out 6 tasks. Based on the result of the automated evaluation of K-WAH 4.0, the average compliance rate was obtained classified by region,types of disability and assessment category. Schools that has compliance rateof over 90% rated as ‘excellent’, ‘good’ for 89~80%, and ‘unsatisfactory’for under 79%. With regard to the user assessment, the success rate of the6 tasks was calculated.
The result of the study shows that the compliance rate in web accessibilityof all special schools was 81.9% and rated as ‘good’. First, there is nosignificant difference statistically among types of disabilities. Schools forthe mental retardation was rated as the highest compliance rate in webaccessibility, and then visual impairments, emotional disorders, hearingimpairments, and physical disabilities in order. Second, there is a significant difference statistically between capital area and area group including Jeolla,Gyeongsang, and Chngcheong. Jeolla area was rated as the highest compliancerate in web accessibility, and then Gyeongsang, Chngcheong, GangwonㆍJeju,capital area follow in order. Finally, based on the result of the evaluation,one school with the high and one school with low accessibility of websiteswere selected and then user assessment was conducted. As a result of theuser assessment the website rated as excellent allowed users with disabilitiesto access the website regardless of their disabilities and to obtain informationthey want.