Frontiers of Web site evolution

Large-scale software systems must continuously evolve to respond to shifting business requirements. Many Web sites can already be classified as legacy systems, given their age, size, and complexity. As with older legacy systems, these ldquonewrdquo legacy systems represent significant institutional value. However, leveraging this value is challenging. In many ways, a Web site contains many of the features of a traditional software system, and yet possesses several unique features of its own. Consequently, Web site evolution represents a rich research area that builds upon traditional software maintenance & evolution, but extends it in new directions as well. This paper presents an overview of the field of Web site evolution, its unique challenges, and discusses selected research frontiers in the area, focusing on accessibility issues in particular.