A report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found that almost a third of the most popular federal websites failed an automated web accessibility test for their homepages, and almost half failed the test on at least one of their three most popular pages.
ITIF scanned 72 websites, looking for audio and visual content that would create difficulty for disabled people.
Current Section 508 standards require agencies to meet the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 , published in 2008.
The Internal Revenue Service, Census Bureau, and Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid, for example, all landed failing scores, based on ITIF’s metrics.
DHS’ strong performance can be attributed to the agency’s Office of Accessible Systems and Technology, which features a testing lab to ensure its websites adhere to accessibility standards.
But accountability for upholding Section 508 standards falls on a range of different federal players, from the Justice Department to agencies themselves.
In the report, ITIF issued a number of recommendations to remedy these website flaws.
Artificial intelligence has a role to play in web accessibility, too, especially as government services continue to shift toward digital environments.