132,141 research outputs found
Using multimedia to enhance the accessibility of the learning environment for disabled students: reflections from the Skills for Access project
As educators' awareness of their responsibilities towards ensuring the accessibility of the learning environment to disabled students increases, significant debate surrounds the implications of accessibility requirements on educational multimedia. There would appear to be widespread concern that the fundamental principles of creating accessible webâbased materials seem at odds with the creative and innovative use of multimedia to support learning and teaching, as well as concerns over the time and cost of providing accessibility features that can hold back resource development and application. Yet, effective use of multimedia offers a way of enhancing the accessibility of the learning environment for many groups of disabled students. Using the development of âSkills for Accessâ, a web resource supporting the dual aims of creating optimally accessible multimedia for learning, as an example, the attitudinal, practical and technical challenges facing the effective use of multimedia as an accessibility aid in a learning environment will be explored. Reasons why a holistic approach to accessibility may be the most effective in ensuring that multimedia reaches its full potential in enabling and supporting students in learning, regardless of any disability they may have, will be outlined and discussed
A Story About Digitalization and Those Left Out : A quantitative study exploring the effect of digitalization on web accessibility.
This thesis examines the influence of digitalization on web accessibility for people with
disabilities (PwD). The central research question addressed is: "How does digitalization
affect web accessibility for people with disabilities?" The hypothesis proposed in this study
is that web accessibility decreases as digitalization advances, irrespective of legislation and
awareness regarding the accessibility gap. The hypothesis is grounded in the observation that
visual aspects are prioritized during web development, potentially overlooking the
importance of web accessibility. This is an important topic of research since nearly 20% of
the world's population (World Health Organization 2023), have a disability and almost
everyone will experience disability at some point in their life (World Health Organization
n.d.).
Utilizing quantitative methods to conduct an empirical test this research evaluated the web
accessibility of 49 Canadian Universities over a 15-year time period, from 2008 to 2022.
Data collection utilized online sources such as the Wayback Machine.
The research findings reveal that during periods of web advancements, there is an initial
increase in web accessibility issues, validating the negative impact of digitalization on web
accessibility. However, over time, there is a noticeable reduction in these issues, indicating
an overall improvement in web accessibility. One significant factor negatively impacting
web accessibility identified in this study is, the visual advancements brought about by
digitalization. The effectiveness of legislation in enhancing web accessibility was
investigated, focusing on compliance deadlines. The study demonstrates that compliance
deadlines do not lead to increased accessibility on the web, meaning legislation fails to
effectively improve web accessibility.
Overall, this research highlights the immediate inaccessibility of the web resulting from
digitalization. These findings emphasize the ongoing need to prioritize web accessibility
amidst digital advancements. From these findings, stakeholders can work towards a more
inclusive and accessible web environment for PwD.nhhma
Toward an integration of Web accessibility into testing processes
Proceedings of: 5th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion, DSAI 2013. Took place in November 13-15, 2013, in Vigo, Spain. The event web site is http://dsai2013.utad.pt/The goal of this paper is to review the literature in order to understand the implications of accessibility testing processes with the objective to detect potential improvements and developments in the field. Thus, a brief review is presented of the fundamental test processes proposed by the International Software Testing Qualification Board (ISTQB) and the currently available literature about testing processes for evaluating the accessibility of web applications. The result of the review reflects an array of proposals to incorporate accessibility requirements and evaluation tools, but they do not describe a comprehensive testing process at each phase of the development lifecycle of accessible web applications.This research work is supported by the Research Network MAVIR (S2009/TIC-1542) and MULTIMEDICA
project (TIN2010-20644-C03-01).Publicad
WCAG 2.1 Meets STEM: Application, Interpretation, and Opportunities for Further Standard Development
This paper offers an overview of changes introduced in the recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 standard that have implications for the accessibility of content in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In reviewing new provisions of WCAG 2.1, interpretive questions are raised regarding their application to mathematical and scientific materials. The paper is concluded with a brief discussion of opportunities for further enhancing accessibility of STEM materials in future revisions of the Guidelines
Making Scientific and Technical Materials Pervasively Accessible
In this paper, the question is explored of what policies, standards and practices are desirable to ensure that hardware, software and publications in the sciences and associated disciplines are created from the outset to be accessible to people with disabilities. Insight into this question can be obtained by considering the unique accessibility challenges that these materials pose, including complexities of notation, language, and graphical representation.
Having analyzed what sets this problem apart from broader issues of accessibility, the advantages and limitations of current international standards are reviewed, and contemporary developments in standards and policies are considered from a strategic perspective. These developments include the establishment of accessibility requirements for e-books and e-readers under the European Accessibility Act, the potential role of process-oriented accessibility standards such as ISO/IEC 30071-1:2019, and opportunities for enhancing the standards applicable to scientific materials via future revisions of the World Wide Web Consortiumâs Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The accessibility of scientific and technical content is ultimately supported by several interrelated human rights recognized in international disability rights law, which constitute a foundation for further evaluation and development of policies. It is argued that attaining pervasive accessibility in scientific and technical fields requires an unprecedented level of commitment and collaboration among educators, scientists, content and software producers, regulators, and people with disabilities
An Approach to User Interface Design of an Accessible User Agent
Proceeding of: Conference on Software Development for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion (DSAI 2012), took place 19-22 July, 2012, in Douro Region, Portugal. The event web site is http://dsai2012.utad.pt/The increase in rich and interactive content on the web has allowed the growth of the number and type of users that access them. This implies that such content should be accessible to anyone, including people with disabilities. Therefore, it should be accompanied with media alternatives (captions, audio description), which should be handled by an accessible user agent that provides support for them. This paper presents: 1) an approach with accessibility requirements following standards to include accessibility in a user agent for delivering accessible multimedia content, and based on it, 2) a conceptualization that provides an abstract user interface model with the ability to be integrated into the development process.This research work is supported by the Research Network MAVIR (S2009/TIC-1542 (www.mavir.net/)). We thank the European project ITEA
UsiXML to provide the documentation of the UsiXML specification.Publicad
Digital accessibility in multinational enterprises: A meta study
Ever since the ratification of Directive 2016/2102 (Web Accessibility Directive) and EU Directive 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act), digital accessibility has been gaining in importance for public administration and business within the European Union. Furthermore, the role of companies has changed during the last decades and the concept of corporate social responsibility has become increasingly relevant for multinational enterprises. As one aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility, digital accessibility can bring a lot of advantages, for example by driving innovation or by enhancing a company's brand. Therefore, even companies that do not have to meet legal requirements should act with digital accessibility in mind as one part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy. In the current literature and legal regulations, digital accessibility is mostly described as a technical issue, while organizational, structural aspects, and managerial tasks within the implementation of digital accessibility are ignored. By reviewing current literature, this meta-study shows the relevance of digital accessibility for multinational companies, explains why the implementation of digital accessibility cannot only be considered from a technical point of view and discusses initial approaches to examine the integration of digital accessibility into company-wide processes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Are all Chats suitable for learning purposes? A study of the required characteristics
Proceedings of: 5th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion, DSAI 2013. Took place in November 13-15, 2013, in Vigo, Spain. The web site is http://dsai2013.utad.pt/The Chat is being used for more than one decade in learning environments as a useful Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)Tool. However, nowadays some students still usually face accessibility barriers when using Chats and, as a result, they cannot learn in the same way as their classmates. Thus, some of the equality principles of education are not accomplished. This paper shows a study of chat's characteristics and analyzes if commercial Chats with general purposes can be used for learning environments in an accessible way. This study has been carried out from the point of view of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines 2.0. The study analyzes fifteen commercial chats (desktop, mobile and web chats) and provides some recommendations in order to improve the accessibility of chats in learning environments.This research work has been partially supported by the research project MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) and by the project MULTIMEDICA (TIN2010-20644-C03-01).Publicad
Challenges in the delivery of e-government through kiosks
Kiosks are increasingly being heralded as a technology through which governments, government departments and local authorities or municipalities can engage with citizens. In particular, they have attractions in their potential to bridge the digital divide. There is some evidence to suggest that the citizen uptake of kiosks and indeed other channels for e-government, such as web sites, is slow, although studies on the use of kiosks for health information provision offer some interesting perspectives on user behaviour with kiosk technology. This article argues that the delivery of e-government through kiosks presents a number of strategic challenges, which will need to be negotiated over the next few years in order that kiosk applications are successful in enhancing accessibility to and engagement with e-government. The article suggests that this involves consideration of: the applications to be delivered through a kiosk; one stop shop service and knowledge architectures; mechanisms for citizen identification; and, the integration of kiosks within the total interface between public bodies and their communities. The article concludes by outlining development and research agendas in each of these areas.</p
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