Physics webpages create barriers to participation for people with disabilities: Five steps to increase digital accessibility

TL;DR

This study assesses the digital accessibility of physics program webpages at postsecondary institutions, revealing significant barriers for students with disabilities and proposing five steps to improve inclusivity.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of webpage accessibility issues in physics education and offers practical solutions to enhance digital inclusivity for students with disabilities.

Findings

Only one webpage was fully accessible.

Five common accessibility errors were identified.

Proposed five steps to improve digital accessibility.

Abstract

While there have been numerous calls to increase the participation of people with disabilities in STEM, many postsecondary institutions are not equipped to support students with disabilities. We examined the digital accessibility of 139 webpages from 73 postsecondary institutions that contained information about the undergraduate physics curriculum and graduate research programs. We selected these webpages as they are common entry points for students interested in pursuing a physics degree. We used Tenon and Mac OS X's Voiceover software to assess the accessibility of these webpages as measured by alignment with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. We found only one webpage was accessible for students with disabilities. We present five common accessibility errors we identified in the webpages in our sample, suggested solutions for these errors, and implications for students with disabilities, instructors and staff, institutional administration, and the broader physics community.