AHMED ABDELGAWAD et al: EXPERIMENTATION WITH A SYSTEM DYNAMICS BASED INTERACTIVE … DOI 10.5013/IJSSST.a.17.35.29 29.1 ISSN: 1473-804x online, 1473-8031 print Experimentation with a System Dynamics Based Interactive Learning Environment: A Case Study of Accessibility of Norwegian Municipalities Websites Ahmed Abdelgawad, Jaziar Radianti, Mikael Snaprud Department of ICT University of Agder Grimstad, Norway {ahmedg|jaziar.radianti|mikael.snaprud}@uia.no John Krogstie Department of Computer and Information Science Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway krogstie@idi.ntnu.no Abstract — A System Dynamics (SD) simulation model including factors affecting the accessibility of Norwegian municipal websites was encapsulated in an Interactive Learning Environment (ILE). Accessibility is an important aspect of websites generally and public websites particularly. Many ways could be proposed to enhance accessibility, however the impact of selected actions is hard to predict due to diversification and contradiction, in addition to the existence of the time factor. As the SD model promised to be able to change how users think and take decisions, this ILE was tested by users in an experiment. We have conducted α, β, and γ change analysis on the results of this experiment. Results showed that the ILE was successful in changing 50% of its users’ under- standing and perceptions about the system’s causal relations and policy options, and helping 30% redefining the standards they use to assess or evaluate these relations and policy options. Keywords - Experimental Design; Alpha, Beta, Gamma Analysis; Accessibility; System Dynamics; Municipal Websites; Interactive Learning Environment I. INTRODUCTION Accessibility of a website refers to the ability of all peo- ple to use a website irrespective of their disabilities or the client devices they use to access the Internet [1]. Accessibil- ity is an important aspect of websites in general and of public websites in particular, to be able to serve all citizens equally. For example if a webpage is designed to retrieve user input solely via mouse clicks, people with disabilities preventing them from using a mouse, or people using mobile phones will not be able to use this webpage. Accessibility of a website can be assessed in terms of compliance with a set of accessibility metrics defined by guidelines like WCAG 2.0 [1] and ISO 9241-20 [2]. It may be evaluated quantitatively such as site score defined in [3]. For more information see [4]. Many studies and projects have addressed evaluation of public websites accessibility, for instance [5], [6]. In addition, governments carry out benchmarking and pass laws to increase public websites ac- cessibility. In Norway, the Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (DIFI) used to evaluate governmental websites annually [7]. For a long period, accessibility was one of three indicators used to be measured by DIFI to en- courage governmental agencies to enhance the accessibility of their websites. A public website, as an Information System, consists of people (like web-masters, editors, developers, etc.) and pro- cedures, besides telecommunications, hardware, software, and data [8]–[10]. When considering the management pro- cess and the people component, many ways could be pro- posed to enhance its accessibility like consulting experts, replace the Content Management System (CMS), recruiting, and training. The expected impact of these measures ranges from slow to fast, cheap to expensive, and short-term to long-term. These diversifications and contradictions, in addi- tion to the existence of the time factor make the decision of adopting only one way to do the task a challenge. More chal- lenging is how to prioritise limited resources to achieve the best effect on accessibility. A simulation model is a very efficient tool that can be employed to deal with such a situa- tion [11]–[15]. Based on the results retrieved from a set of semi- structured personal interviews with web-masters and editors from different Norwegian municipalities, Abdelgawad, Snaprud, and Krogstie [16] identified various factors and causal relations governing the processes having an impact on accessibility of Norwegian municipal websites, and compiled these relations into a System Dynamics (SD) simulation model titled “eAccessibility of Norwegian Municipalities Websites”. 1 This model is intended to work as a decision support tool by helping eGovernment websites’ managers to take informed decisions, and decision-makers to find policies that enable governmental organisations to enhance their websites’ accessibility. From another angle, the model is supposed to be able to change how its users think and take decisions. It is allegedly capable of changing their understanding and perceptions about the system’s causal relations and policy options, in 1 The model is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license, and available at: http://forio.com/simulate/ahmedg/accessibility-of-norwegian- municipalities-websites-a-decision-support-tool/model/