A conceptual framework for better understanding of factors influencing accessibility to a website and its acceptance by university students with visual impairments

Abstract

Information and communication technology have been developed and widely used nowadays. A good website should be readily accessible to every group of users. General users or users with disability should be able to access and understand the messages in a website equally well. However at the present, many people with visual impairment cannot access a website readily: they cannot search for information, in particular. Specifically, some university students in Thailand have problems accessing a website and understanding its content due to the website was developed by developers and associated personnel that lacked the knowledge and understanding of the principles that affect universal website accessibility and acceptance. This study, therefore, propose a conceptual framework based on the UTAUT theory of website acceptance. In addition to the main variables in the original theory which are applicable only to general users, two more main variables were included in this framework: perceived convenience and perceived reliability. Two new moderators were added to it as well: web accessibility and vision impairment level. These extra variables and moderators were added in order to incorporate users' intention to use a website and their usage behavior in this framework. This framework would be of value to developers and associated personnel to help them understand the valid website design requirements for university students with visual impairment.