An Investigation of Online Job Application Accessibility and Usability

The purpose of this one-year study was to evaluate the accessibility and usability of job application websites of Fortune 500 companies for screen reader users. The use of online application sites is almost ubiquitous today, and inaccessible online applications are considered a major barrier to employment for people who are blind or have low vision. The most recent research on the accessibility of these sites is dated, and technology has changed substantially since then, so additional research in this area is needed.<br><br>Our sample consists of 30 companies from the Fortune 500 list across five industry sectors: (a) financial; (b) healthcare; (c) retail; (d) technology; and (e) hotels, restaurants, and leisure. Three experienced screen reader users tested the usability of all websites (for a total of 90 tests). Each tester used a different screen reader-web browser combination. An expert accessibility engineer monitored data collection, captured real-time feedback from the testers, and recorded the length of time taken to complete each application. The following research questions were investigated:<br>What is the current state of accessibility and usability of online job-application sites of national companies?What are the most common accessibility and usability issues on companies’ online job-application sites?What is the user experience for blind or low vision (B/LV) screen reader users when applying for jobs through companies’ online applications?