A Comparative Study of Accessibility and Usability of Norwegian University Websites for Screen Reader Users Based on User Experience and Automated Assessment

Websites are essential for learners’ access to information. However, due to the lack of accessibility and usability of websites, students with disabili-ties who solely rely on screen readers face challenges accessing webpage con-tents. This study explores accessibility and usability issues frequently encoun-tered by screen reader students while interacting with Norwegian university webpages. An evaluation using automated tools showed that none of the univer-sity websites met the minimum WCAG 2.1 guidelines. Sixteen visually im-paired participants were recruited and assigned five usability tasks on four dif-ferent university websites. The results show that participants encountered usa-bility and accessibility issues on all four websites. Recommendations for in-creased accessibility are proposed based on the findings