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Final Project: Identifying 5 Major Accessibility Problems in a Website

Subject: POEA Website

Title: Philippine Overseas Employment Association
URL: http://www.poea.gov.ph

The POEA website is one of the most visited websites of a Philippine government agency. It
offers various services including job advisories, providing list of accredited/licensed agencies, and
scheduling of job fairs. But despite the important role of POEA website in providing useful information
for overseas employment, there are several accessibility issues that can be encountered in it.

1. Perceivable: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships Level A

Information, structure, and relationships between contents should always be intact and should preserve
meaning. In the case of the POEA website, it appears that different kinds of information are being
presented randomly on its main page.
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Notice that different kinds of information are being displayed on the website’s main page; and there are
no specific classifications for each content. It is confusing to users who are not used to website
navigation or individuals who have learning disabilities or impairments. Also, notice that there are
logos displayed on the side. The purpose of these logos are also not well-defined in the website. It adds
more confusion into the mix. In order to resolve this, the developers should employ headings and
subsections and categorize similar information in order to make the website more organize and not
confusing to navigate.

1. Perceivable: 1.4.1 Use of Color Level A

Using the same images above, I am particularly concerned about the font color of the text. Texts
with larger fonts are colored blue while the smaller font texts are colored grey. In regards to the smaller
texts colored grey, they seem difficult to read because of poor contrasting against the background.
Although the background is white, the type of grey color used for smaller fonts is not strong or clear
enough to make it visible for people with visual problems. In order to resolve this, the developers
should change the color to black or other darker shades to make the words more visible. Also, it would
help also to minimize the number of color combos used in the website as there are users who might
find it irritating or disturbing to the eyes. I would like to specifically point out the background color of
the lower portions of the website. The background is grey and the font color is also grey. This further
reduces contrast between the background and the text, which makes information difficult to perceive.
See image below:
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1. Perceivable: 1.4.4 Resize Text Level AA

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One of the most obvious accessibility issue of the POEA website is the size of its texts. From its
main sections down to the body content, the text size is not big enough to make them easily visible for
all types of readers/users. This clearly does not think of people with visual difficulties or impairments
such as people with poor or dysfunctional vision or older people. While the text can be magnified, the
only mechanism to do it is by sliding out your fingers on a track pad or by using short cut keys for
Windows computers. However, not all users are equipped with the skills to do this. Also, users who
have tremors or are temporary disabled to perform hand movements may experience difficulty in
maneuvering the site. In order to resolve this, it would really help if the website would integrate
mechanisms for magnifying texts such as screen-based magnifying tool or a voice recognition
magnifying feature for people who cannot use their hands temporarily.

2. Operable: 2.4.6 Headings and Labels Level AA

Headings and labels are important because they keep track of the description of a web page and
they also serve as guides for the user. Although the POEA website has some pages that have headings
and labels, there are some sections that do not have these. For instance, take a look at the image below:

This is the image that I got when I clicked on Verification of Agency’s Job Orders. Although the page
mentions ‘job orders’, it is not described in its rightful context because there are no headings and labels
to provide explanation. The POEA website is almost good in this aspect because most of its pages are
labeled and have headings; but there are still some pages that do not have. It would greatly improve the
website if its headings and labels are present in all pages. Consistency is key in this regard.

2. Operable: 2.4.5 Multiple Ways Level AA

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Like many highly accessible websites, there should be more than one way to locate a web page
within a set of web pages. However, in the case of POEA website, there seems to be no alternative
route to locate a web page but you need to follow a linear, singular process in order to access web
pages. This can be frustrating for some, especially for people who are not well-oriented with website
navigation because sometimes users can get lost in their search for information within a website.
Therefore, it would really help if the POEA website would have multiple ways in order to access
different sections and web pages. This will also help individuals who have learning disabilities. One
way of doing this is to have a consistent set of main tabs or sections that can be access on any
convenient part of the website through which specific web pages can be located alternatively.

Reference

W3C Website Accessibility Initiative (2018). How to meet WCAG (quick reference). Retrieved from
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/