35,298 research outputs found
Determination and evaluation of web accessibility
The Web is the most pervasive collaborative
technology in widespread use today; however,
access to the web and its many applications cannot
be taken for granted. Web accessibility encompasses
a variety of concerns ranging from societal,
political, and economic to individual, physical, and
intellectual through to the purely technical. Thus,
there are many perspectives from which web
accessibility can be understood and evaluated. In
order to discuss these concerns and to gain a better
understanding of web accessibility, an accessibility
framework is proposed using as its base a layered
evaluation framework from Computer Supported
Co-operative Work research and the ISO standard,
ISO/IEC 9126 on software quality. The former is
employed in recognition of the collaborative nature
of the web and its importance in facilitating
communication. The latter is employed to refine and
extend the technical issues and to highlight the need
for considering accessibility from the viewpoint of
the web developer and maintainer as well as the web
user. A technically inaccessible web is unlikely to be
evolved over time. A final goal of the accessibility
framework is to provide web developers and
maintainers with a practical basis for considering
web accessibility through the development of a set of
accessibility factors associated with each identified
layer
The Effect of Incorporating End-User Customization into Additive Manufacturing Designs
In the realm of additive manufacturing there is an increasing trend among makers to create designs that allow for end-users to alter them prior to printing an artifact. Online design repositories have tools that facilitate the creation of such artifacts. There are currently no rules for how to create a good customizable design or a way to measure the degree of customization within a design. This work defines three types of customizations found in additive manufacturing and presents three metrics to measure the degree of customization within designs based on the three types of customization. The goal of this work is to ultimately provide a consistent basis for which a customizable design can be evaluated in order to assist makers in the creation of new customizable designs that can better serve end-user. The types of customization were defined by doing a search of Thingiverseâs online data base of customizable designs and evaluating commonalities between designs. The three types of customization defined by this work are surface, structure, and personal customization. The associated metrics are used to quantify the adjustability of a set of online designs which are then plot against the daily use rate and each other on separate graphs. The use rate data used in this study is naturally biased towards hobbyists due to where the designs used to create the data resides. A preliminary analysis is done on the metrics to evaluate their correlation with design use rate as well as the dependency of the metrics in relation to each other. The trends between the metrics are examined for an idea of how best to provide customizable designs. This work provides a basis for measuring the degree of customization within additive manufacturing design and provides an initial framework for evaluating the usability of designs based on the measured degree of customization relative to the three types of defined customizations
Measuring State Compliance with the Right to Education Using Indicators: a Case Study of Colombiaâs Obligations Under the ICESCR
The right to education is often referred to as a âmultiplier rightâ because its enjoyment enhances other human rights. It is enumerated in several international instruments, but it is codified in greatest detail in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Despite its importance, the right to education has received limited attention from scholars, practitioners, and international and regional human rights bodies as compared to other economic, social and cultural rights (ECSRs). In this Article, we propose a methodology that utilizes indicators to measure treaty compliance with the right to education. Indicators are essential to measuring compliance with ECSRs because indicators are, in many cases, the only way to evaluate whether or not a State is progressively realizing its obligations to fulfill ESCRs.
Human rights scholars, professionals and intergovernmental organizations have been increasingly interested in using indicators to measure and enforce a Stateâs compliance with its obligations under international human rights treaties. However, there have been few attempts to develop a comprehensive methodology that uses human rights indicators closely tied to treaty language to measure a Stateâs compliance with the right to education. Furthermore, there are no studies of which we are aware that analyze a specific countryâs treaty compliance using indicators. This Articleâs proposed framework is used to evaluate Colombiaâs compliance with its obligations relating to the right to education under the ICESCR.
In particular, the methodology that we propose to develop a suitable framework for measuring State party fulfillment of the right to education under the ICESCR calls for: 1) analyzing the specific language of the ICESCR that pertains to ensuring the right; 2) defining the concept and scope of obligations of the right in order to identify indicators for measurement; 3) identifying appropriate indicators to measure State compliance; 4) setting benchmarks to measure progressive realization; and 5) clearly identifying what constitutes a violation of the right to education in order to improve future State party compliance with its obligations under the ICESCR. This methodology can be used by States in reports and by NGOs in shadow reports submitted to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the committee that monitors compliance with the ICESCR. From our case study of Colombia, we conclude that, although Colombia has made strides in improving educational access, it is not in compliance with its many of its obligations relating to the right to education under the ICESCR
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Ability-Based Design: Concept, Principles and Examples
Current approaches to accessible computing share a common goal of making technology accessible to users with disabilities. Perhaps because of this goal, they may also share a tendency to centralize disability rather than ability. We present a refinement to these approaches called ability-based design that consists of focusing on ability throughout the design process in an effort to create systems that leverage the full range of human potential. Just as user-centered design shifted the focus of interactive system design from systems to users, ability-based design attempts to shift the focus of accessible design from disability to ability. Although prior approaches to accessible computing may consider usersâ abilities to some extent, ability-based design makes ability its central focus. We offer seven ability-based design principles and describe the projects that inspired their formulation. We also present a research agenda for ability-based design.Engineering and Applied Science
Lifelong guidance policy and practice in the EU
A study on lifelong guidance (LLG) policy and practice in the EU focusing on trends, challenges and opportunities. Lifelong guidance aims to provide career development support for individuals of all ages, at all career stages. It includes careers information, advice, counselling, assessment of skills and mentoring
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