In recent years the internet has changed from being a tool used by scientists and experts into the most important global medium of communication. It is hard to imagine the modern world without it.
The internet offers an overwhelming amount of information. Specific guidelines must be observed as regards the preparation of web content in order to make this information accessible to everyone, particularly to persons with disabilities. The W3C has defined the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0 [1]) specifically for this purpose. These guidelines define the ways in which web content must be structured so that websites contain the fewest possible barriers for persons with disabilities.
The WCAG 1.0 standard is specifically oriented toward HTML/CSS. However, the internet, and especially the World Wide Web, continues to develop apace. Technologies such as Ajax, Flash, Silverlight, PDF and multimedia content uch as audio and video have become part of our everyday life. Therefore, the WCAG 1.0 standard no longer corresponds to the internet as it exists today. The accessibility of websites can therefore be monitored only to a very limited extent. The W3C recognized this and is currently publishing new guidelines, the so-called WCAG 2.0, that have been adapted to meet the progress in technology. Compared with the forerunner, WCAG 1.0, the newguidelines have a decisive advantage. They were designed to be technology-neutral so that future technologies may also be monitored for compliance with WCAG 2.0.
The European Union has developed a software project with the European Internet Accessibility Observatory (EIAO). This software automatically tests websites for accessibility and reviews 26 WCAG 1.0 criteria that can be automated. The focus is on the websites of European countries as well as municipalities and other important institutions.
The work undertaken for this dissertation succeeded in realizing an initial specification for and the implementation of an expansion of the EIAO to encompass the WCAG 2.0 guidelines. The individual technologies that are defined in WCAG 2.0 were analyzed and reviewed for their ability to be automated, and subsequently implemented in accordance with the specifications. The specifications were created on the basis of UWEM (Unified Web Evaluation Methodology).
The specifications and implementation generated by this work make it possible for websites to be comprehensively reviewed according to WCAG 2.0. The hope is that websites will be increasingly developed with barrier-free features and be in full compliance with the available guidelines.