Accessibility of Norwegian Public Web Sites

Article
Id:
2007

This paper discusses the methods and results from the evaluations of public web sites (portals)  in Norway from 2001 to 2006 with a special emphasize on the results from 2004 to 2006 and a special emphasize on accessibility.

The project of quality assessment of public web sites started in 2001 and has been carried out annually with an increase in number of web sites from ca. 550 to 700. The project has had quite an impact on eGovernment development in Norway and is used by the Government to check the fulfilling of objectives stated in the national e-Government plan eNorway 2009.

The results from the project show that the overall quality of the portals, as measured by the indicators, has increased. The area of accessibility is where the portals show most progress. But the results also show that the objective stated in the national eNorway 2009 plan is be-yond reach. Less than 1 % of the web sites fulfilled the accessibility objectives in 2006, and the plan states that more than 80 % of the web sites should meet these criteria by 2007.

The question for the Ministry of Reform and Administration is therefore whether the formula-tion if the accessibility objectives is wrong and thus should be reformulated or if public web sites must do something radically in order to improve the situation. The paper tries to advice in this question. [Published at NOKOBIT 2007]