Abstract

This paper discusses a pilot assessment of museum websites in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Fourteen cases were selected for accessibility evaluations, ranging in type of collection, size of institution, and geographic location. Multiple expert evaluators assessed each museum homepage to validate findings of violations with Section 508 guidelines for accessible web design found in the U.S. Rehabilitation Act. The findings show patterns of violations with the Section 508 guidelines across type and size. The results of this pilot study will foster a dialogue about web accessibility in the U.S. museum community to begin to fill the gap of literature about accessible web design not currently available to museum professionals or museum webmasters.