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Enterprise Web Accessibility Levels Amongst the Forbes 250: Where Art Thou O Virtuous Leader?

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Abstract

The research team measured the enterprise web accessibility levels of the Forbes 250 largest enterprises using the fully automatic accessibility evaluation tool Sortsite, and presented the compliance of the evaluated websites to WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 accessibility levels. Given the recent attention to organizational leaders having ethical duties towards their dedicated employees, we propose that ‘societal citizenship behaviour’ concerns ethical duties of organizational leaders towards society in general and in particular to those who have less means to assert their needs. In effect, we found enterprise website accessibility levels to be in need of significant improvement. An interpretation of a positive path forward to better enterprise website accessibility levels is put forth based on a focus-group interaction and using BNML—a novel Business Narrative Modelling Language.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Business Ethics whose help and motivating comments guided us to shape the final manuscript as presented above: a guiding hand which will also, we are sure, lead us to the definition of new research objectives in the quest for website accessibility for all.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, GECAD/UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal

    Ramiro Gonçalves, José Martins & Jorge Pereira

  2. INESC TEC (Formerly INESC Porto), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 378, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Ramiro Gonçalves, Manuel Au-Yong Oliveira & João José P. Ferreira

  3. Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Manuel Au-Yong Oliveira

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  1. Ramiro Gonçalves
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Correspondence to Ramiro Gonçalves.

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Gonçalves, R., Martins, J., Pereira, J. et al. Enterprise Web Accessibility Levels Amongst the Forbes 250: Where Art Thou O Virtuous Leader?. J Bus Ethics 113, 363–375 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1309-3

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