title: Accessibility of health information on the internet to the visually impaired user.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Web sites containing health information should be accessible to visually impaired persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  139 web sites containing medical information addressing laymen or patients were evaluated with respect to their accessibility. A quantitative checklist which is based upon the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 18% (15 sites) achieved WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) level A or AA. WAI level AA was reached by only 1% (1 site) of the web sites. None of the web sites reached level AAA; 82% of the assessed web sites offering consumer health information are not fully accessible to visually impaired persons.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The accessibility of web-based health content to visually impaired users should be improved. Health information on the web should at least meet the requirements of priority 1 (level A), preferably priority 2 (level AA) of the W3C guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lüchtenberg
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuhli-Hattenbach
authors.forename: Yesim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sinangin
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ohrloff
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schalnus
mesh_terms: D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D005858:Germany; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities