ADA Digital Accessibility on Academic Library Websites
Open accessAbstract
Studying ADA accessibility at library websites of top universities selected from the U.S. News and World Report , the authors used WAVE and AChecker to assess data in compliance with WCAG 2.0 standards. Almost 8 out of 10 public university academic libraries reported accessibility errors as one of the major findings. Low color contrast was becoming a more commonly occurring accessibility issue, making it difficult for people with vision impairments to perceive the color of the image. The outcomes of the study suggest that academic libraries around the world should continue improving their website accessibility.
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Academic libraries commonly rely on automated evaluation tools to identify accessibility errors at scale.
“Academic libraries commonly rely on automated evaluation tools to identify accessibility errors at scale.”
From From Compliance to Inclusion (2026) · cites this paper as Liu et al., 2024
The Research Design and Methodologies section (page unavailable) says the authors ran academic library homepages through WAVE and AChecker and recorded accessibility errors; it also mentions other studies using these tools. This supports automated evaluation across multiple sites, but does not establish that academic libraries themselves commonly rely on the tools. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredStudies of library websites and accessibility pages demonstrate that technical issues, communication practices, and organisational assumptions all shape access.
“Studies of library websites and accessibility pages (Liu et al., 2024;Ezell et al., 2021;Brunskill, 2020) demonstrate that technical issues, communication practices, and organisational assumptions all shape access.”
From From Compliance to Inclusion (2026) · cites this paper as Liu et al., 2024
The Introduction identifies technical barriers such as missing alt text and unlabeled inputs, and the Research Findings report accessibility errors on most sampled academic library websites. The paper does not establish that communication practices or organisational assumptions shape access; those parts of the multi-citation sentence are not supported by this source. Page numbers were not provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLiu, Bielefield, and Beckwith (2024) reported prevalent accessibility errors, including low colour contrast and missing labels, on top U.S. university library websites.
“For example, Liu, Bielefield, and Beckwith (2024) assessed academic library websites at top U.S. universities using automated tools and reported that accessibility errors were prevalent, including low colour contrast and missing labels.”
From From Compliance to Inclusion (2026) · cites this paper as Liu, Bielefield, and Beckwith (2024)
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Cites
Accessibility of Indian universities’ homepages: An exploratory study
Ismail, A., & Kuppusamy, K. S. (2018) · Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.jksuci.2016.06.006 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- Patricia Acosta-Vargas, Tania Acosta, Sergio Lujan-Mora, "Challenges to Assess Accessibility in Higher Education Websites: A Comparative Study of Latin American Universities," IEEE Access, vol. 6 (2018), https:// ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8388714.
- Mary Cassner, Charlene Maxey-Harris, Toni Anaya, "Differently Able: A Review of Academic Library Websites for People with Disabilities" Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, vol. 30, no. 1, (March 2011): 33-51, https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639269.2011.548722. 9. Ibid. · DOI
- Wenfang Yang, Bin Zhao, Yan Quan Liu, and Arlene Bielefield "Are Ivy League Libraries' Websites ADA Compliant?" Information Technology and Libraries, vol. 39, no. 2 (2020); https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i2.11577. · DOI
- Yan Quan Liu, Arlene Bielefield, and Peter McKay, "Are Urban Public Libraries' Websites Accessible to Americans with Disabilities?" Universal Access in the Information Society 18 (2019): 191-206. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10209-017-0571-7. · DOI
- Susan B. Asselin, "Learning and Assistive Technologies for College Transition," Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 40, no. 3 (January 2014): 223-230, https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-vocational- rehabilitation/jvr687. 13. Ibid.
- Trevor Crowley, "Wheelchair Ramps in Cyberspace: Bringing the Americans with Disabilities Act into the 21st Century" Brigham Young University Law Review, vol. 2013 issue 3, no. 11, (2013): 651-690, https://digitalc- ommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol2013/iss3/11/.
- Kimberlieanne Podlas, "Website Accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act" Journal of Internet Law, vol 19 no. 5 (2015): 3-16. 19. Ibid.
- Amanda Robert, "Disability Law, SCOTUS Rejects Pizza Delivery Company's Appeal Over Web and Mobile App Accessibility," ABA Journal. American Bar Association (October 7, 2019), http://www.abajournal.com/ news/article/supreme-court-rejects-dominos-appeal-over-web-and-app-accessibility.
- Stephanie J. Graves and Elizabeth German, "Evidence of Our Values: Disability Inclusion on Library Instruction Websites," portal: Libraries and the Academy 18 no. 3 (July 2018): 559-574 https://doi.org/10.1353/ pla.2018.0033. · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Arya Asok, A. R., & Rekha, R. V. (2025) · The Journal of Academic Librarianship · doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2025.103120 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Ehikioya, E. E. (2026) · International Journal of Librarianship · doi:10.23974/ijol.2026.vol11.2.595
- Authors
- Liu, Y., Bielefield, A., & Beckwith, J.
- Affiliations
- Southern Connecticut State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bielefield, Arlene
- ORCID
- Liu, Yan
- Venue
- College & Research Libraries
- Publisher
- American Library Association
- Published
- 2024
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 0010-0870 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6701
- OpenAlex
- W4392476843
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 25.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- College & Research Libraries (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- University of Missouri
- University of Minnesota
- State University of New York
- University of Michigan
- University of Connecticut
- Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families
- University of Central Florida
- University of Louisville
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- University of Maine
- University of Idaho
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan
- Graduate School, University of Maryland
- University at Buffalo
- UC Berkeley College of Chemistry
- University at Albany
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Digital Accessibility for Disabilities
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Web and Library Services
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Keywords
- web accessibility, academic libraries, library websites, Americans with Disabilities Act, WCAG 2.0, color contrast, visual impairment, accessibility errors, waves, AChecker, public universities
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