The Benefits from an Accessible Web: a Case Study

Abstract: There is an explosive growth in on-line information and interactive services provided on the Web. Web accessibility refers to designing these websites so that all people, no matter disabilities, can access Web content. Recently in Sweden, laws and regulations have been imposed, requiring private corporations to ensure an accessible digital work environment. Scania is a major Swedish automotive industry manufacturer with more than 44,000 employees in 100 countries and hundreds of Web based solutions for internal communication. To ensure that all Scania co-workers can access work related Web content, this master thesis aims at providing Scania with guidelines and quality requirements for a continuous sustainable web development. The results are based on requirements from society, business value assessment and case study at Scania. The results of this research focus on Universal Design or Design for All which means combining accessibility and usability and designing websites that are functional for the end user. The concept of designing for all, no matter abilities or conditions, is what has come to be the focus of this research, resulting in accessibility quality requirements, guidelines and success factors for improving accessibility for web based applications in internal systems.