Voice Based Smart Internet Surfing for Blind using JADE Agent and HTML5 Developing Environment

Internet nowadays represents the essential nerve for knowledge and information retrieval, millions of pages are published over the web every single day and valuable information is broadcasted to the public; with this expansion, and information retrieval became a hard task due to the numerous amounts of documents that have high degree of similarity when it comes to text matching schemes. Blind people are part of the communities and part of them are collapsed a way of the revolution of information due to absence of proper tools grants them the ability to surf the internet. This paper and many other efforts are targeting the objectivity of activating blind people interaction with the environment; this paper carries out an innovation scheme by deploying mutli-agent system to provide intelligent assistance services that help blind people getting into the proper page in surfing the internet. Knowledge from other sites are transferred to central unit which holds the experience and utilize it for the behalf of blind people. Multi-agent systems have been deployed and results showed knowledge developed to help blinds. Keywords: HTML5, Web Speech API, Speech Based browser, Intelligent Agent, JADE, knowledge epistemology

Case Study in Modeling Accessibility for Online Instruction.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

Integrated Web Accessibility Guidelines for Users on the Autism Spectrum - from Specification to Implementation

This research presented a compendium of web interface design guidelines and their implementation on a transport-planning website based on the needs and preferences of users on the autism spectrum. Results highlighted the importance of having simple navigation and meaningful headings, icons, labels and text to facilitate understanding and readability; these findings offer guidelines for the design of web user interfaces to continue improving the web experience of autistic users, and therefore of the whole community

Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework - Application of Data Science in Inclusive Education

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Science and Advanced Analytics, specialization in Data ScienceBeing a disabled student the author faced higher education with a handicap which as experience studying during COVID 19 confinement periods matched the findings in recent research about the importance of digital accessibility through more e-learning intensive academic experiences. Narrative and systematic literature reviews enabled providing context in World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, legal and standards framework and information technology and communication state-of-the art. Assessing Portuguese higher education institutions’ web sites alerted to the fact that only outlying institutions implemented near perfect, accessibility-wise, websites. Therefore a gap was identified in how accessible the Portuguese higher education websites are, the needs of all students, including those with disabilities, and even the accessibility minimum legal requirements for digital products and the services provided by public or publicly funded organizations. Having identified a problem in society and exploring the scientific base of knowledge for context and state of the art was a first stage in the Design Science Research methodology, to which followed development and validation cycles of an Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework. The framework blends various Data Science study fields contributions with accessibility guidelines compliant interface design and content upload accessibility compliance assessment. Validation was provided by a focus group whose inputs were considered for the version presented in this dissertation. Not being the purpose of the research to deliver a complete implementation of the framework and lacking consistent data to put all the modules interacting with each other, the most relevant modules were tested with open data as proof of concept. The rigor cycle of DSR started with the inclusion of the previous thesis on Atlântica University Institute Scientific Repository and is to be completed with the publication of this thesis and the already started PhD’s findings in relevant journals and conferences

Implementation of Sound Workspace Awareness to Visually Impaired Users in Synchronous and Cooperative Web Applications

This paper discusses the implementation of accessibility features for visually impaired people in synchronous and cooperative systems on the Internet. Based on the sociocultural scenario of affirmation of difference and on the contexts of cooperation established by Web 2.0, we discuss the application of Sound Workspace Awareness in Groupware tools through Auditory Icons, Earcons, synthesized speech, Live Region, and Screen Readers in a Web chat system. The article presents a qualitative experimental research with internal data validation and an exploratory goal. The process of data collection and analysis was performed using protocols applied with five real users. The results of the experiments showed a satisfactory adherence of these technologies in the construction of Sound Workspace Awareness to screen reader users

A comparative study of D2L's Performance with a purpose built E-learning user interface for visual- and hearing-Impaired students

An e-learning system in an academic setting is an efficient tool for all students especially for students with physical impairments. This thesis discusses an e-learning system through the design and development of an e-learning user interface for students with visual- and hearing- impairment. In this thesis the tools and features in the user interface required to make the learning process easy and effective for students with such disabilities have been presented. Further, an integration framework is proposed to integrate the new tools and features into the existing e-learning system Desire-To-Learn (D2L). The tools and features added to the user interface were tested by the selected participants with visually-and hearing- impaired students from Laurentian University’s population. Two questionnaires were filled out to assess the usability methods for both the D2L e-learning user interface at Laurentian University and the new e-learning user interface designed for students with visual and hearing impairment. After collecting and analyzing the data, the results from different usability factors such as effectiveness, ease of use, and accessibility showed that the participants were not completely satisfied with the existing D2L e-learning system, but were satisfied with the proposed new user interface. Based on the new interface, the results showed also that the tools and features proposed for students with visual and hearing impairment can be integrated into the existing D2L e-learning system.Master of Science (MSc) in Computational Science

Towards Design Theory for Accessible IT Artefacts

Accessibility in the use of information technology (IT) artefacts, such as websites, applications, and user interfaces, means that they are designed in such a way that people with the broadest range of abilities can use them. However, although accessibility is a human right, IT artefacts often remain inaccessible. Aside from the available accessibility guidelines, we need sufficient design theories that explicitly state how accessibility should be addressed and designed to develop accessible IT artefacts for all users. This dissertation summarises four articles that address this problem. These studies are conducted with qualitative approaches that include a narrative literature review, a systematic literature review and a design science method comprising a participatory design and interviews. The first article develops an explaining theory of accessibility to gain an understanding of the construct of accessibility, showing possible variables of human abilities, tasks and contexts and their relationships in IT use. The second article illustrates the factors in management, development, user, and IT artefact features, including the roles and actions that these domains have and how they affect the realisation of accessibility. The other two articles contribute to accessibility guidance to improve and support content creators’ text production and writing process of accessible online text in the web context. The dissertation underscores three key determinants of the knowledge of accessibility: (1) assumptions of users’ abilities; (2) users’ actual needs; and (3) factors in the development chain. The foregoing factors contribute to the knowledge of accessibility and would help researchers, particularly design scientists, form prescriptive knowledge for practitioners to achieve accessible IT artefacts. Thus, researchers could better identify the variables, relationships and affecting factors in human abilities, management, development, content creation, tasks, and contexts that need to be addressed when designing IT artefacts for certain tasks and use contexts.Informaatioteknologia-artefaktien (IT-artefaktien), kuten verkkosivustojen, sovellusten ja käyttöliittymien saavutettavuus tarkoittaa sitä, että ihmiset erilaisine ominaisuuksineen ja kykyineen voivat käyttää niitä. Vaikka saavutettavuus on ihmisoikeus, IT-artefaktit eivät kuitenkaan ole aina saavutettavia. Käytettävissä olevista saavutettavuusohjeista huolimatta tarvitsemme suunnitteluteorioita, jotka ohjaavat IT-artefaktien suunnittelua, jotta niistä tulisi saavutettavia kaikille IT-artefaktin käyttäjille. Tämä väitöskirja on yhteenveto neljästä artikkelista, jotka käsittelevät tätä ongelmaa. Tutkimukset ovat tehty laadullisilla menetelmillä, joihin on sisältynyt narratiivinen kirjallisuuskatsaus, systemaattinen kirjallisuuskatsaus sekä suunnittelutieteellinen menetelmä sisältäen osallistavan suunnittelun ja haastattelut. Ensimmäisessä artikkelissa kehitetään kuvaileva saavutettavuuden teoria, jolla saadaan käsitys saavutettavuuden rakenteesta ja joka näyttää mahdolliset muuttujat ihmisen kyvyissä, tehtävissä ja konteksteissa, sekä niiden väliset suhteet. Toinen artikkeli kuvaa saavutettavuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä johtamisen, kehityksen, käyttäjän ja IT-artefaktin ominaisuuksien näkökulmista, mukaan lukien roolit ja toimenpiteet, joita näillä kohteilla on. Kaksi muuta artikkelia kehittävät ohjeistuksen sisällöntuottajien työn tueksi saavutettavan verkkotekstin tuottamiseksi. Väitöskirjassa esitetään kolme ratkaisevaa tekijää saavutettavuuden tietämyksessä: (1) olettamukset käyttäjien kyvyistä (2) käyttäjien todelliset tarpeet ja (3) tekijät kehitysketjussa. Näiden tekijöiden tuntemus auttaa erityisesti suunnittelutieteilijöitä muodostamaan ohjaavaa tietoa ammattilaisille saavutettavien IT-artefaktien saavuttamiseksi. Täten tutkijat voivat paremmin tunnistaa muuttujat, niiden väliset suhteet ja saavutettavuuteen vaikuttavat tekijät, jotka liittyvät käyttäjän kykyihin, johtamiseen, kehittämiseen, sisällöntuottamiseen, tehtäviin ja kontekstiin, kun IT-artefaktia suunnitellaan tiettyä tehtävää ja käyttökontekstia varten.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Bridging the Gap: An Exploration of Visual Design Criteria Found in the "Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005" (AODA)

Information and communication technology such as World Wide Web have gradually become implanted in every aspect of individuals life such as education and training, employment, government, health care, and more. Web provides valuable resources and information for web users including people with disabilities and help them tackle several tasks that would otherwise need much more effort to be done. Accordingly, web accessibility creates a guideline with the aim of making the content of each web page available for a wider range of people with disability, has reached a new level of importance. For this importance, the government of Ontario passed a law titled the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), 2005, in which all internet and digital services must comply with accessibility guideline by 2025. Several researchers show a gap between professional design work and technically driven accessibility design guidelines. One of the reasons for this gap is an absence of concern for visual design during the process of implementing accessibility guidelines. The aim of this paper is to bridge the existing gap between accessibility and visual design to improve the overall usability and functionality of the system. In order to achieve this, I first identify and explain the visual design related criteria of AODA guidelines, their requirements and their impact on accessibility design. Then I demonstrate my experiment with utilizing visual design elements through the implementation of visual design principles on two selected websites to create an accessible web page that is not only usable but also has an aesthetically appealing interface