Summary: | Web portals are considered “gateways” to the World Wide Web. These portals are becoming very popular entry points to the Web by offering important services such as email, news, weather reports, course notes and general information. In addition, some portal sites allow users the option of customising the site according to their personal interests. However, disabled and elderly people encounter many accessibility and usability barriers while accessing web portals. A preliminary review of a university portal was conducted to identify some of these accessibility problems. This treatise presents an overview of the processes to be followed when conducting an accessibility and usability evaluation. In addition, it mentions some guidelines to be considered when specifically designing portals for use by many different users from varying backgrounds.
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