Combating e-discrimination in the North West - final report

The Combating eDiscimination in the North West project examined over 100 websites advertising job opportunities both regionally and nationally, and found the vast majority to be largely inaccessible. Professional standards, such as using valid W3C code and adhering to the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, were largely not followed. The project also conducted interviews with both public and private sector web professionals, and focus groups of disabled computer users, to draw a broader picture of the accessibility of jobs websites. Interviews with leading web development companies in the Greater Manchester region, showed that there is a view there should not be any additional cost in making websites accessible, as the expertise to create a site professionally should be in place from the start, and that accessibility will follow from applying professional standards. However, through the process of trying to create a website for the project, with such a company, it was found that following professional standards is not sufficient to catch all the potential problems, and that user testing is an essential adjunct to professional practice. The main findings of the project are, thus, that: • Most websites in the job opportunities sector are not following professional standards of web development, and are largely inaccessible • Professional standards of web development need to be augmented with user testing to ensure proper accessibility

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Australia 2003

[Excerpt] Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Australia 2003 is descriptive in nature. When the ILO commissioned the researchers for the Country Study Series, each was asked to follow the comprehensive research protocol appended to this document. The resulting report therefore includes country background information, statistics about people with disabilities and their organizations, a description of relevant legislation and policies and their official implementing structures, as well as the education, training and employment options available to people with disabilities. While few countries have all such information readily available, researchers were asked to note the existence or lack of specific data points and to report data when it did exist. Since the lack of information about people with disabilities contributes to their invisibility and social exclusion, the information itself is important. The protocol called for limited analysis and did not specifically ask for the researchers recommendations, however, researchers were asked to report on existing plans and recommendations of significant national stakeholders

Disabled people and the Internet: experiences, barriers and opportunities

The UK government aims to make all its information and transactions available electronically by 2005. General use of the Internet also continues to grow. This report investigates the Internet's barriers and benefits for disabled people, and considers whether it acts as a means to reduce their social exclusion. The study surveys the views and experiences of disabled people, both Internet users and non-users. Topics covered include: what the Internet is used for; use of and difficulties with assistive devices (special equipment and adaptations needed by some disabled people in order to use computers); how people learn to use the Internet; views of website accessibility; advantages and disadvantages of Internet usage. It also explores participants' restrictions on using the Internet, and people's reasons for not using it. There has been little previous research in this area, but the authors review the existing literature. The report finds that many practical problems - such as the cost of training, finding appropriate assistive devices, website accessibility - all inhibit Internet opportunities for many disabled people

Analytical Framework for a Comparative Analysis of Accessible Technology Law and Policy

Deliverable 7.1 poses the basis of the comparative analysis to be conducted throughout the whole WP 7 and reviews existing studies on accessible technology and accessibility law and policy in Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden and the UK. Deliverable 7.1 is divided into two main sections: an Analytical Framework and an Annotated Bibliography. The Analytical Framework discusses the interrelation between accessible technology and ‘active citizenship’, and defines the scope, the main concepts and the methodology of the research conducted under WP 7. It also positions WP7 within current legal scholarship, highlighting its innovative contribution. The Annotated Bibliography, annexed to the Analytical Framework is composed of two main complementary parts (i.e. parts A and B), each one preceded by a roadmap. Part A reviews selected sources on accessibility law and policy in Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden and the UK. Even though it cannot be regard as exhaustive, it aims to give a ‘big picture’ of current official legislation and policy on accessibility, and scholarship on accessibility. It is intended to be an immediate and easy to read bibliographic tool for scholars approaching accessibility law and policy in Europe. Part B has complements Part A: it does not list legislation or policy programmes on accessible technology, but focusses on the most recent literature on accessible technology

Accessible software development: a conceptual model proposal

Equal access to all software and digital content should be a reality in the Digital Era. This argument is something defended both by existing regulations, norms and standards, and also business organizations and governments. Despite this acknowledgement, the reality is still far from the desired equality. For certain groups of disabled or impaired citizens, such as the visually impaired, the existence of e-accessibility compliance represents an opportunity to integrate, in a more simple and straightforward manner, their societies. Despite the existing poor results on e-accessibility compliance, the mentioned citizens insist on using digital devices in their daily lives. Even though, in the last decade, multiple standards and regulations have been published towards indicating how to develop accessible digital user interfaces, there are still two major issues surrounding its implementation: the complexity and disparity of the documents containing the abovementioned norms, and also the lack of e-accessibility know-how by software experts. With this in mind, a proposal for an accessible software development model that encompasses e-accessibility incorporation as one of the development process activities has been presented. This model might represent a very interesting support tool for software development organizations and a novel resource for learning and training institutions to be able to improve their computer science and informatics students’ skills on e-accessibility.This work was supported by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the Project UID/CEC/04524/2016. This work was financed by the ERDF—European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization—COMPETE 2020 within Project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006961), and by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT— Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia as part of Project (UID/EEA/50014/2013).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Library Services for Blind and Visually Impaired People

This literature review summarizes, evaluates and compares some of the existent literature about Library Services for Blind and Visually Impaired People. It provides a critical overview of the presence and organization in different areas of Library Services for readers who cannot make use of the traditional printed material, while pointing out their strengths and weak points. It also singles out themes and critical trends regarding the subject, while suggesting ways to improve the above said services. The necessity of further studies in the field is also put forward and strongly recommended

Vendors are Undermining the Structure of U.S. Elections

As we approach the 2008 general election, the structure of elections in the United States -- once reliant on local representatives accountable to the public -- has become almost wholly dependent on large corporations, which are not accountable to the public. Most local officials charged with running elections are now unable to administer elections without the equipment, services, and trade-secret software of a small number of corporations. If the vendors withdrew their support for elections now, our election structure would collapse. Case studies presented in this report give examples of the pervasive control voting system vendors now have over election administration in almost every state, and the consequences some jurisdictions are already experiencing.However, some states and localities are recognizing the threat that vendor-dependency poses to elections. They are using ingenuity and determination to begin reversing the direction. This report examines the situation, how we got here, and steps we can take to limit corporate control of our elections in 2008 and reduce it even further in the future