Users, in different capabilities, should have the opportunity to interact with important resources in many aspects of life such as education, employment, government, e-commerce and health care. It is critical that the Web be available to everyone especially when there are more than 750 million people with disabilities around the world . This number, according to World Health Organization (WHO), is increasing due to population growth, ageing, the emergence of chronic diseases and medical advances that preserve and prolong life . Therefore, assistive and universal design becomes an important aspect of corporate social responsibility and is required by laws and policies in some cases. In addition, accessibility and usability has important benefits for all users, not only for disabled people such as elderly people, those with low literacy or not fluent in the language, and new and infrequent web users . The aim of this paper is to evaluate two software applications and two web 2.0 applications for accessibility and usability.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a disabled person as “someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities” . For the purpose of this paper, ‘Disability’ is defined as an obstruction that affects the normal use of web and software applications such as visual, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological impairment.
Accessibility means having equal access to information and services regardless of physical or developmental abilities or impairments . Therefore, people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web and software, which enable them to contribute to these technologies.
The ISO 9241 defines ‘usability’ as “The extent to which a product can be used
by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction in a specified context of use” . Universal design means that the
design of products and environments are usable by all users, to the furthermost
extent possible, without the need for individual accommodation .
 (W3C). W3C Launches International Web Accessibility Initiative. Retrieved December 20, 2009, from World Wide Web Consortium: http://www.w3.org.
 World Health Organization. (2006). Promoting access to healthcare services for persons with disabilities.
 Henry, S. L. Understanding Web Accessibility. Retrieved December 20, 2009, from Universal Interface Design,: www.uiaccess.com.
 (DDA). Definition of 'disability' under the Disability Discrimination Act. Retrieved December 20, 2009, from The UK Government: http://www.direct.gov.uk.
 Johns Hopkins University. (2008). What is accessibility? Retrieved December 22, 2009, from Web Accessibility: http://webaccessibility.jhu.edu.
 (ISO). (1998). ISO 9241: Ergonomics Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminal (VDT).
 Zaphiris, P., & Ellis, R. D. (2001, October 23-27). Website Usability and Content Accessibility of the top USA Universities, In Proceedings of WebNet 2001 Conference.