1. Guidelines, Icons and
Marketable Skills: An
Accessibility Evaluation of 100
Web Development Company
Homepages
Teresa Gilbertson and C.H.C. Machin
Loughborough University

2. Research questions
1. Do web development companies view
accessibility as a selling point?
2. Does the mention of accessibility on
developers’ site have an effect on the
accessibility of their own site?
3. Do conformance logos/icons and
accessibility statements have any bearing
on the accessibility of the website?

3. Methodology
• 100 websites checked
• Accessibility as a service or skill
• Accessibility statements
• Homepage conformance icons/logos
• Homepage validation

4. Results – selling points
• Accessibility as a selling point is common
• Mention of WCAG conformance is not
• No association with automated homepage
accessibility

5. Results – accessibility
conformance icons
• Conformance icons not prevalent
• Some icons more common than others
• Conformance icons do not guarantee
validation
Images from: w3.org

6. Results – accessibility statements
• Accessibility statements not widespread
• No association between accessibility
statement and automated homepage
accessibility

7. Results – automated checks
• Language of page – missing attribute
• ALT tags and link context – Banner
slideshows
• Labels for forms

8. Future work
• Exploration of developer attitudes
• Views on conformance icons
• Self assessment of developer skills
• Full manual evaluation of homepages

9. Summary
• Accessibility seen as a desirable skill
• Conformance icons do not necessarily
reflect current validation
• Accessibility errors still common

10. Thank you
Questions?