Analysis of the usability and accessibility of websites in view of their universal design principles

Universal design is a strategic approach for planning and designing both the products and their environment, aimed at making a given product available to the widest number of possible users. It ensures equality for all of them and the opportunity to participate in society. This concept is also crucial in the process of designing and developing software. The research was conducted with the use of four services, three of them were implemented for the purpose of this study.  Two  of them took into consideration the principles of universal design,  while the others did not.  The aim of the study was the verification of the level of usability and accessibility of services by means of three independent methods:  the  LUT  (Lublin  University of  Technology) checklist,  an assessment taking into account  WCAG  2.0  (Web  Content  Accessibility  Guidelines) standards using the automatic  WAVE  evaluation tool (Web  Accessibility  Evaluation Tool) and a device allowing to track the movement of the eye while performing various tasks on websites. The websites were assessed by twenty experts in the field of creating web application interfaces,  using the  LUT checklist.  The time to the first fixation (TTFF)  that it took respondents to look at specific website elements was measured using the eye tracker device and iMotions software. All websites were checked by means of the  WAVE  tool to detect irregularities and non-compliance with universal design standards.The analysis performed clearly indicated that websites that follow the universal design guidelines were more useful,  intuitive, and accessible for users. It might be concluded that interfaces allow one to find necessary information and perform desired actions in a shorter time when prepared in accordance with the principles of universal design