After accessing the Cahokia Mounds website I found it to be pretty accessible and all encompassing of the history of the location. The depth of my knowledge is as far as visiting once at a younger age however there were plenty of avenues on the website to learn even more. I then plugged the website into a tool for accessibility evaluation and found that it was less accessible then I believed. It was reported with five errors and 24 alerts. This surprised me but then I considered that I seldom use any accessibility features when it comes to research websites such as this one. Overall I think the most treacherous of the errors comes in the form of the footer of the page, which has unnamed links and invalid ones as well. This could possibly impact those who want to access the links that lead to Illinois Resource protection and Great River websites. On the other hand the website succeeds at condensing information that is shown to you if you’d like to see it, hidden under drop down menus and internal links. In my opinion this helps with accessibility by simplifying the amount of information shown to the user which can be especially helpful to those who have comprehension issues or other underlying conditions.
Page 12 of 17
The Cahokia app is a good start that would/will benefit from being purchased by a bigger player to take it to its full potential. It could also benefit by being open source and letting graphical enthusiast beautify it. At a base level it helps those without imagination/vision compromised (figurative and literal) visualize the scope and space of a past civilization at a very basic level. The app also succeeds at collaboration since there is no limit on how many people can view the area and they all see the same thing. This is great for collaboration purposes for a project or seeking to answer a question. The app doesn’t seek to exclude anyone purposefully but by it’s design those that are blind or lacking the physical technology requirements will be unable to utilize it at this time.
There are several things that the app does well. Starting with the layout of the webpage. All the title headings are listed at the top of the page and make this easier for new users to located the different categories of information. Next the page provides a augmented reality tour of the civilization. Offering you a inside look at what life could look like if you were there during this time period. This enhances access to people who may have a tighter schedule and less time compared to other who are able to physically go see the remains. They even provide a brief video going over the history of Cahokia. This more excludes people who may want to see the ruins of this civilization for what it is today. Many people find more enjoyment in seeing what remains now than a mirrored projection of what it could have been. On the plus side the webpage provides you with a way to schedule a visit to see this wonderful place. Overall the webpage has more positives than negatives, and provides the user with well formatted information. I would give this page a 9/10 in terms of having user friendly interphase and containing interesting and valued info.
SIUE Academics page
- Issues include, 3 redundant links, 1 skipped heading level, 2 sets of small text, and 1 tab-index.
- Students, Instructors, and Counselors.
- Issues like small text and redundant links can make it difficult for students to find the requirement for certain criteria.
- By keeping things organized. Meaning don’t add several links that lead to the same information. This makes navigation difficult. As well as organizing information or instructions to find said info easier.
Choose at least three events from the history of computing that you think constitute significant moments. You may use any source you like, so long as you cite it. Write a brief description (a couple sentences) for each event noting why you think it’s a milestone worth noting.
Add your events (one per line) to this spreadsheet.
If your event duplicates someone else’s event, that’s ok! But your description of it should be your own.
The SIUE page used is the application page: https://www.siue.edu/apply/
The issues that crop up for this page are:
- Very small text
- Very low contrast
- Image has the same alternative text (redundant link)
Students who chose to apply to SIUE are most likely to view this page.
The issues listed earlier may impede those with poor vision or color blindness.
The accessibility of this site may be improved by;
- Increasing the font of the text (to make it readable)
- Using colors that stands out, like bright colors to make it easier for people (especially those with impaired vision) to read.
- Remove redundant links.
I chose the Campus Recreation page. For accessibility issues listed from WAVE, there is an empty link, some contrast errors, and a decent amount of redundant links. Many students or people looking into applying would want to access this page. I think the accessibility of actually getting to this page or knowing that this is where certain things are located is a bit of an issue. Student Life doesn’t have a drop down list to show what the contents are like some other things, and then you have to click on that, Recreation and Healthy Living, and then Campus Recreation. Some of the contents also seem like they could belong under club activities, like eSports. I didn’t know this page was there or that we had some of these things. I think having a drop down list under Student Life or clearer categories and ways to find them could help.
One advantage of the app is that it makes the site more accessible for users who may have difficulty visualizing the size and complexity of the city of Cahokia based only on viewing the mound structures. The immersive 3D graphics and multiple interactive information points located throughout the site allow for users of all ages to interact with and learn about history in a manner that traditional static information boards cannot provide. The auditory narrative components and the 3D reconstructed images contain valuable information that provides additional context to the Mississippian culture and layout of the ancient city, especially to visual and auditory learners.
Although the app provides an improved option for many, it also limits access to some communities. The app is designed to exclusively work on-site at Cahokia Mounds with a smartphone or tablet, leaving out individuals without smartphones or tablets from being able to use that experience. The price of the download, as well as having to have headphones, could also create a barrier to those who may not have a limited income. To further add to these barriers, some of the content is only presented in English, thus making it inaccessible to people who do not speak English or may rely on some subtitles or an alternative way of experiencing the app due to being hard of hearing.
Overall, the Cahokia AR app is a great start toward making the archaeological history more engaging and accessible, but it still has room for growth in how it represents and includes a more diverse audience.
I did an evaluation of SIUE Men’s Soccer Archive page with WAVE Accessibility Tool. WAVE did not discover major errors, but that does not mean that the page is entirely accessible. One major accessibility issue is that the headings are not consistently used. This creates a challenge for individuals who use screen reader programs and need to navigate through this page and find information.
Some other common accessibility issues (such as keyboard navigation, confusing hyperlinks, etc.) are not detected by WAVE’s automatic tools.
Individuals who will most likely use the SIUE Men’s Soccer Archive page include: current students, current student athletes, fans of men’s soccer, and former students (alumni) who wish to view historical content related to men’s soccer. There may be other individuals who may also be reliant on this content and use a type of assistive technology or screen reader.
Also, because of the poor structure of this page, it could be difficult for individuals with cognitive disabilities and/or visual impairments to easily find information. If an individual is using a screen reader, they would have to listen to the entire page from top/bottom, which could create frustration for this type of user.
One potential way to resolve the accessibility issues related to the SIUE Men’s Soccer Archive would be to use better headings as a way of organizing the page. Additionally, all images should have meaningful alternative text for individuals who use screen reader software.
GK.
Running the SIUE Engineering Board website through WAVE, I found several issues that were detected. There’s an Empty Link Error, 2 Contrast Errors, and 10 Alerts where very low contrast, small text and redundant links are the biggest issues. Engineering students, staff, or alumni are most likely to use the content on this page in order to contact Advisory Board members. The most impacted would be anyone trying to use it and trying to reach a contact link for a member but it’s an empty link. Redundant links seem to be prominent so compacting them all into one spot would help.