Web Site Accessibility Among Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs in the United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Given the impetus to improve accessibility for diverse learners seeking physical therapist education, it is critical that all entry points to access information have minimal barriers. This study identified Web site accessibility barriers among Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the United States.

Review of literature: Web site accessibility has been evaluated among many institutions of higher education, but none focused on DPT education. Individuals with disabilities may be adversely affected by Web site accessibility barriers.

Subjects: This cross-sectional study included 262 DPT programs in the United States. Doctor of Physical Therapy program characteristics collected were geographic region, institutional control type (public/private), medical school affiliation, accreditation status, total institutional enrollment, and DPT class size.

Methods: The Web Accessibility Evaluation (WAVE) Tool assessed data related to accessibility barriers among DPT program homepage Uniform Resource Locators. Three primary outcomes from the WAVE Tool included WAVE Total Errors, Error Density, and Total Alerts.

Results: Web site homepage accessibility barriers varied among programs for WAVE Total Errors (range 0-150), Error Density (range 0-14.6%), and Total Alerts (range 1-331). Median Total Errors were greater among private (9.0) versus public (5.0) institution Web sites ( P < .001). Median Total Errors were greater among those institutions not affiliated with a medical school (9.0) compared with those that had an affiliated medical school (7.0) ( P = .04). No differences in accessibility barriers were identified according to geographic region or accreditation status ( P > .05). Median Total Errors were significantly different between institutional enrollment quartiles (H[3] = 17.9, P < .001), with no differences noted between DPT class size quartiles for any outcome ( P > .05). Generally, weak-fair inverse correlations were observed between student enrollment for the institution and Web site accessibility barrier outcomes.

Discussion and conclusion: Homepage accessibility barriers varied greatly among DPT programs in the United States. Factors, including being a private institution, no medical school affiliation, and lower institutional enrollment, were related to increased accessibility barriers.