User-Centered Policy Evaluations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

The author examines user-centered evaluations of e-government Web sites for compliance with a policy related to persons with disabilities: the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Although Section 508 requires that federal e-government sites offer equal access to all users, research indicates that inaccessibility is still prevalent. User-centered evaluation approaches offer a vital way to discover areas of inaccessibility on Web sites related to the requirements of Section 508. Following an overview of accessibility, Section 508, and e-government sites, the goals of evaluation and various approaches to evaluating e-government sites are analyzed. The author then focuses on methods and issues in user-centered evaluations of e-government that measure accessibility, and considerations for universal design and future studies. Sample instruments and example data from a 2006 study of e-government accessibility are included to illustrate methods and issues. Evaluating e-government Web sites can ultimately prove quite informative in ascertaining compliance with laws intended to promote accessibility.