AN ACCESSIBILITY EVALUATION
OF THE HISTORY OF THE
CENSUS BUREAU WEB SITE
Lawrence Malakhoff
KEY WORDS: accessibility, Census Bureau history, Census Bureau web site, Internet.
ABSTRACT
Visitors to the Census Bureau web site may wish to learn about the history of the Census Bureau. Currently, the site lists key dates in the development of the decennial census. The site is being redesigned to include information about Census Bureau Directors and notable people who have worked for the Census Bureau. In order for all users to be able to access information about Census Bureau history, the application must conform to Federal accessibility regulations. This accessibility evaluation of the prototype of the Census Bureau history web site was performed in June 2007 using the Job Access With Speech (JAWS) screen-reader, software used by people with visual disabilities. According to the federal regulations, computer users who have visual and or other disabilities are entitled to have the same access as users who do not currently have any disabilities. The evaluation revealed, for example, that the left vertical navigation bar does not have a skip link for screen reader users to bypass it and access screen content quickly. Persons who cannot hear lack access to the lyrics of the Census Anthem. Both of these omissions violate the Federal regulations. This report uses screen shots to illustrate how compliance with Federal regulations can be accomplished, and it includes recommendations to improve the accessibility of the user interface.
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