Tension, what tension?: Website accessibility and visual design
Abstract
There appears to be a widespread belief within the web design community -- and possibly amongst website commissioners - that accessible sites cannot be visually pleasing. We present the results of accessibility testing of 100 websites with 51 disabled users that should dispel this belief. While there are aspects of accessibility that do affect visual design, such as visual structure, colour contrast and text size, these are aspects of design that can affect all users, not only disabled users. These design concerns must be considered if both the users' experience and business objectives are to be met.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Even Web sites that meet current accessibility requirements still create barriers for blind users.
“Web sites that comply with existing accessibility requirements still present access barriers for the blind (Correani et al. 2004;Petrie et al., 2004).”
From Understanding Blind Users' Web Accessibility and Usability Problems (2010) · cites this paper as Petrie et al., 2004
Restrictions on contrast and the use of colour are perceived as compromising the visual design.
“Often named fears refer to the restrictions on contrast and the use of colour, which are perceived as compromising the visual design (Mbipom and Harper, 2011; Petrie et al., 2004).”
From How compliance with web accessibility standards shapes the experiences of users with and without disabilities (2023) · cites this paper as Petrie et al., 2004
Cites
Barriers to use: usability and content accessibility on the Web's most popular sites
Sullivan, T., & Matson, R. (2000) · Proceedings on the 2000 conference on Universal Usability - CUU '00 · doi:10.1145/355460.355549 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Romano, N. (2003) · Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) · doi:10.1109/hicss.2002.994161 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Usability, user experience and accessibility: towards an integrative model
Sauer, J., Sonderegger, A., & Schmutz, S. (2020) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2020.1774080 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Exploring the relationship between web accessibility and user experience
Aizpurua, A., Harper, S., & Vigo, M. (2016) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.03.008 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Leuthold, S., Bargas-Avila, J. A., & Opwis, K. (2008) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2007.10.006 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Giraud, S., Thérouanne, P., & Steiner, D. D. (2017) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.10.011 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Bigham, J. P., & Ladner, R. E. (2007) · International Web for All Conference (W4A) · doi:10.1145/1243441.1243452 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Web accessibility guidelines: A lesson from the evolving Web
Harper, S., & Chen, A. Q. (2012) · World Wide Web · doi:10.1007/s11280-011-0130-8 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Vollenwyder, B., Petralito, S., Iten, G. H., Brühlmann, F., Opwis, K., & Mekler, E. D. (2023) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102956 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Schmutz, S., Sonderegger, A., & Sauer, J. (2016) · Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1177/0018720816640962 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Understanding Blind Users' Web Accessibility and Usability Problems
The University of North Carolina - Greensboro, Babu, R., Singh, R., The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, U., Ganesh, J., & Limited, I. T. (2010) · AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.17705/1thci.00015 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Enhancing web page readability for non-native readers
Yu, C.-H., & Miller, R. C. (2010) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1753326.1753709 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Schmutz, S., Sonderegger, A., & Sauer, J. (2017) · Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1177/0018720817708397 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Prejudices, memories, expectations and confidence influence experienced accessibility on the Web
Aizpurua, A., Arrue, M., & Vigo, M. (2015) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.035 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“For instance, Petrie et al. (2004) conducted a user study with 51 participants with disabilities, where the authors observed, identified and classified the difficulties that users encountered.”
BackgroundSalient beliefs influencing the intention to consider Web Accessibility
Vollenwyder, B., Iten, G. H., Brühlmann, F., Opwis, K., & Mekler, E. D. (2019) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.11.016 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Identifying Behavioral Strategies of Visually Impaired Users to Improve Access to Web Content
Lunn, D., Harper, S., & Bechhofer, S. (2011) · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/1952388.1952390 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
TypeDance: Creating Semantic Typographic Logos from Image through Personalized Generation
Xiao, S., Wang, L., Ma, X., & Zeng, W. (2024) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3613904.3642185 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Accessing Google Docs via Screen Reader
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Leporini, B., Mori, G., & Penichet, V. M. R. (2010) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-14097-6_17 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Easy-to-read language in disability-friendly web sites: Effects on nondisabled users
Schmutz, S., Sonderegger, A., & Sauer, J. (2018) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2018.08.013 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
The interplay between web aesthetics and accessibility
Mbipom, G., & Harper, S. (2011) · The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility · doi:10.1145/2049536.2049564 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Effects of accessible website design on nondisabled users: age and device as moderating factors
Schmutz, S., Sonderegger, A., & Sauer, J. (2017) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2017.1405080 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Is Facebook really "open" to all?
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Leporini, B., & Akhter, F. (2010) · IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) · doi:10.1109/istas.2010.5514621 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Sloan, D., Stratford, J., & Gregor, P. (2006) · Research in Learning Technology · doi:10.3402/rlt.v14i1.10947 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Lewandowska, A., Olejnik-Krugły, A., Jankowski, J., & Dziśko, M. (2021) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s21248502 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Designing E-Learning Collaborative Tools for Blind People
Claudia, M., Buzzi, M., & Mori, B. L. G. (2012) · InTech eBooks · doi:10.5772/31377 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
An Overview of Accessibility and Usability of Educational Games
Hersh, M. A., & Leporini, B. (2012) · Advances in game-based learning book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-1987-6.ch001 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Autonomous Selection and Printing of 3D Models for People Who Are Blind
Götzelmann, T. (2018) · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3241066 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Sloan, D., Stratford, J., & Gregor, P. (2006) · ALT-J · doi:10.1080/09687760500479936 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Accessibility of rich internet applications for blind people
Giraud, S., Colombi, T., Russo, A., & Thérouanne, P. (2011) · Biannual Conference of the Italian SIGCHI Chapter (CHItaly) · doi:10.1145/2037296.2037335 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Reading between the vines: analyzing the readability of consumer brand wine web sites
Mills, A. J., PITT, L. F., & Sattari, S. (2012) · International Journal of Wine Business Research · doi:10.1108/17511061211259170 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Empirical results from an evaluation of the accessibility of websites by dyslexic users
Freire, A. P., Petrie, H., & Power, C. (2011) · White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationAndrew, S., & Tigwell, G. W. (2022) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3555588 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Collaborative Editing for All: The Google Docs Example
Mori, G., Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Leporini, B., & Penichet, V. M. R. (2011) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-21657-2_18 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
User Trust in eCommerce Services: Perception via Screen Reader
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Leporini, B., & Akhter, F. (2009) · International Conference on New Trends in Information Science and Service Science · doi:10.1109/niss.2009.271 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Accessibility and Usability of Websites Intended for People with Disabilities: A Preliminary Study
Zitkus, E., Brigatto, A. C., Ferrari, A. L. M., Bonfim, G. H. C., Filho, I. F. P. D. C., Thaís dos, R. E. I. S., Mêdola, F. O., & Paschoarelli, L. C. (2016) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-40355-7_66 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
A Toolkit for Building More Adaptable User Interfaces for Vision-Impaired Users
Luy, C., Law, J., Ho, L., Matheson, R., Cai, T., Madugalla, A. K., & Grundy, J. (2021) · IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) · doi:10.1109/vl/hcc51201.2021.9576203 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Accessibility and Usability of Educational Gaming Environments for Disabled Students
Hersh, M. A., & Leporini, B. (2012) · IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) · doi:10.1109/icalt.2012.181 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Inclusive Process and Tool for Evaluation of Accessible User Experience (AUX)
Graham, G., & Chandrashekar, S. (2016) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-40250-5_6 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Conceptual Framework: How to Engineer Online Trust for Disabled Users
Akhter, F., Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., & Leporini, B. (2009) · IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT) · doi:10.1109/wi-iat.2009.361 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Author Reflections on Creating Accessible Academic Papers
Menzies, R., Tigwell, G. W., & Crabb, M. (2022) · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3546195 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Usability and Accessibility of eBay by Screen Reader
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Leporini, B., & Akhter, F. (2009) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-10308-7_37 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
How to make an electronic library accessible
Mátrai, R. (2018) · The Electronic Library · doi:10.1108/el-07-2017-0143 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Yeong, J. L., Thomas, P., Buller, J., & Moosajee, M. (2021) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/19151 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Nourian, L., Naikar, V. H., Shinohara, K., & Tigwell, G. W. (2025) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3706598.3714326 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
A user evaluation of the SADIe transcoder
Lunn, D. R., Bechhofer, S., & Harper, S. (2008) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/1414471.1414498 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Borwing, A. H., Bransford, J. D., & Deibel, K. (2011) · ResearchWorks at the University of Washington (University of Washington) · Cited by 9 · see citing works
A Pilot Study Examining the Online Behavior of Web Users with Visual Impairments
Brinkley, J., & Tabrizi, N. (2013) · International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications · doi:10.14569/ijacsa.2013.041121 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Gui, F., Yang, J., Wu, Q., Liu, Y., Zhou, J., & An, N. (2023) · JMIR Aging · doi:10.2196/50037 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Widen your vision: from technical accessibility to semantic intelligibility of information
Baudet, C., Medina, M. J., & Benoit, C. (2023) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-022-00963-y · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Accessibility and Usability of Web Content and Applications
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., & Leporini, B. (2010) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-61520-763-3.ch004 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Leporini, B. (2011) · ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (SIGDOC) · doi:10.1145/2038476.2038523 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Accessibility Across BordersPreprint
Tigwell, G. W., Shinohara, K., & Nourian, L. (2021) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2105.01488 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Valóságos könyvtár – könyvtári valóság: Könyvtár- és információtudományi tanulmányok 2020
unknown (2021) · Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Bölcsészettudományi Kar Könyvtár- és Információtudományi Intézet eBooks · doi:10.21862/vkkv2020 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Electronic Commerce “in the dark”
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Leporini, B., & Senette, C. (2011) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-18348-5_2 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Enabling web users and developers to script accessibility with Accessmonkey
Bigham, J. P., Brudvik, J. T., Leung, J. O., & Ladner, R. E. (2009) · Disability and Rehabilitation Assistive Technology · doi:10.1080/17483100902903549 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Kamollimsakul, S. (2016) · White Rose eTheses Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Harper, S., & Yeşilada, Y. (2011) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-60566-206-0.ch011 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Understanding Blind Users' Accessibility and Usability Problems in an Online Task
Babu, R., & Singh, R. (2009) · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Intelligent interfaces enabling blind web users to build accessibility into the web
Ladner, R. E., & Bigham, J. P. (2009) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Representing text attributes haptically on a webpage for the visually impaired
Sulaiman, S. B., Rambli, D. R. A., Mokhtahir, M. M., & Ghayas, S. (2014) · International Conference on User Science and Engineering · doi:10.1109/iuser.2014.7002693 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Fortes, R. P. D. M., Antonelli, H. L., & Watanabe, W. M. (2019) · Human-computer interaction series · doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-7440-0_21 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A new visual communication system for deaf-blind tertiary education students
Veal, D., & Stanislaw Paul, M. A. J. (2005) · Australasian Journal of Paramedicine · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Esposito, A., Lanzilotti, R., Matera, M., Piccinno, A., Piro, L., Pucci, E., & Ragone, G. (2026) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2026.2659951 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Heuristic Evaluation of Social Websites: For Blind People
Ashraf, A., & Raza, M. A. (2013) · International Journal of Computer and Communication Engineering · doi:10.7763/ijcce.2013.v2.280 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Translating Museum Visual Contents into Descriptions for Blind Users: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Leporini, B., & Norscia, I. (2009) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-84882-206-1_5 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Castillan, L., Lemarié, J., & Mojahid, M. (2020) · La nouvelle revue - Éducation et société inclusives · doi:10.3917/nresi.087.0149 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Re-framing Accessibility from Constraint to Creative Catalyst
Andrew, S., Callis, A., Ross, A. S., & Tigwell, G. W. (2025) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/3663547.3759714 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Digital Citizen Rights: Accessibility of E-Government Websites in Italy
Buzzi, M. C., Buzzi, M., Penna, G. D., Leporini, B., & Ricci, F. (2025) · Lecture notes in business information processing · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-89621-7_10 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Comparative study of accessibility evaluation methods with visual impaired
Bach, C. F., Ferreira, S. B. L., & da Silveira, D. S. (2009) · Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and the Web · doi:10.1145/1858477.1858498 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Marin-Alvarez, E., García, S. C., & Cerezo, M. G. (2024) · Societies · doi:10.3390/soc14070102 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Accessible Websites for the Visually Impaired: Guidelines for Designers
Fecke, A., Jeleniowski, S., & Joisten, M. (2015) · De Gruyter eBooks · doi:10.1515/9783110443905-060 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Web page enhancement on desktop and mobile browsers
Miller, R. C., & Yu, C.-H. (2013) · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Malvela, P. (2011) · Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen)
Julkisen hallinnon verkkosivujen saavutettavuuden tila 2000-luvulla
Nurmela, K. (2012) · Jyväskylä University Digital Archive (University of Jyväskylä)
Farhan, W. (2014) · Lu Zone Ul (Laurentian University)
Re-Presenting Text in a Website for Visually Impaired Users using Braille Line
Mokhtahir, M. M. (2013) · UTPedia (Universiti Teknologi Petronas)
Hinton, A., & Roy, T. (2024) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-61281-7_2
Balakrishnan, B., Zhou, H., & Wong, M. (2026) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-12767-9_23
Callis, A., Andrew, S., Lane, M., Tigwell, G. W., & Ross, A. S. (2026) · International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/3797867.3829058
- Authors
- Petrie, H., Hamilton, F., & King, N.
- Affiliations
- City, University of London (GB)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the international cross-disciplinary workshop on Web accessibility - W4A
- Publisher
- ACM Press
- Published
- 2004
- Pages
- 13
- OpenAlex
- W2002873388
- Cited by
- 80
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
- Type
- conference abstract
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Web for All Conference (W4A) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Digital Accessibility for Disabilities
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
- Keywords
- web accessibility, visual design, accessible websites, color contrast, font size, visual structure, disabled users, user experience, web design
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
