Accessibility levels of Portuguese Enterprise websites: Equal opportunities for all?

Artigo revisto disponível online 18 Maio, 2011 (iFirst)Web accessibility is growing in importance as time goes by. Alongside this growth we find an increasing need for access to Web resources by those with some sort of disability. The Web is very important for spreading information and for promoting interaction between the various elements in society. Given this, it is essential that the Web presents itself as a totally accessible resource, so that it can help disabled citizens and their integration in society. This obligation should be even greater for enterprises as primarily the Web is used as a marketing and business platform. With this document we present indicators regarding the [lack of] accessibility levels of Portuguese websites. This article is divided into eight parts containing theoretical and background considerations leading up to two different studies which the research team undertook. In the first study (considering WCAG 1.0) we make a comparison between the 1,000 largest Portuguese enterprises (annual sales volume) and the 1,000 best Portuguese SMEs1 using a specialized software tool. In the second study a group of recommendations towards accessibility are made; these recommendations were achieved through a focus group interaction. We do also, however, present an insight into the WCAG 2.0 influence on existent accessibility levels

Using a common accessibility profile to improve accessibility

People have difficulties using computers. Some have more difficulties than others. There is a need for guidance in how to evaluate and improve the accessibility of systems for users. Since different users have considerably different accessibility needs, accessibility is a very complex issue.ISO 9241-171 defines accessibility as the "usability of a product, service, environment or facility by people with the widest range of capabilities." While this definition can help manufacturers make their products more accessible to more people, it does not ensure that a given product is accessible to a particular individual.A reference model is presented to act as a theoretical foundation. This Universal Access Reference Model (UARM) focuses on the accessibility of the interaction between users and systems, and provides a mechanism to share knowledge and abilities between users and systems. The UARM also suggests the role assistive technologies (ATs) can play in this interaction. The Common Accessibility Profile (CAP), which is based on the UARM, can be used to describe accessibility.The CAP is a framework for identifying the accessibility issues of individual users with particular systems configurations. It profiles the capabilities of systems and users to communicate. The CAP can also profile environmental interference to this communication and the use of ATs to transform communication abilities. The CAP model can be extended as further general or domain specific requirements are standardized.The CAP provides a model that can be used to structure various specifications in a manner that, in the future, will allow computational combination and comparison of profiles.Recognizing its potential impact, the CAP is now being standardized by the User Interface subcommittee the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission

from Issue Investigation to Design Solutions

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 공과대학 산업공학과, 2021.8. 윤명환.가전제품을 포함한 현대 기술은 사용자의 삶에 혜택을 제공하지만 제조업체와 설계자의 접근성 지원 부족으로 인해 장애인 및 고령 사용자는 그 혜택으로부터 소외되었다. 여러 신 기능의 개발 및 발전은 비장애인 사용자의 삶의 질을 풍요롭게 한 것과는 반대로 이러한 기능들은 복잡도가 상향되어 장애인 및 고령 사용자의 접근성과 독립적 사용을 저해하고 이내 사용자 경험을 저하시켰을 뿐이다. 이와 같이 접근성 지원이 필요한 상용자의 사용자 경험을 수집하는 것은 생각보다 번거로운 일이다. 대상 사용자들은 민감한 개인정보상의 이유로 사용자 경험 제공을 꺼릴 수도 있고, 인터뷰나 설문조사를 수행하기에 적합한 조건이 아닐 수도 있으며, 더 나아가 소통에 어려움이 있을 수도 있다. 이와 같은 문제는 제조업체나 설계자와 같은 이해당사자와 대상 사용자 간에 장벽을 만들고, 이러한 장벽은 사용자들이 일상 제품을 사용하며 겪게 되는 문제를 온전히 이해하고 정의하는 것을 어렵게 만들어 공감의 형성이 불가능해진다. 이해당사자들은 장애가 있다는 것, 고령이 된다는 것을 경험해 보지 못 했기 때문에 그들의 사용자 경험을 잘못 해석할 수 있고, 이러한 공감의 부족은 장애인 및 고령 사용자에 대한 편견과 오해로 이어진다. 결국, 접근 가능한 제품 개발을 목표로 하는 제조사나 설계자가 이들의 불편사항 및 요구를 인지한다 해도 대상 사용자의 이러한 문제를 해결하기는 어렵거나 심지어 불가능하기도 하다. 이러한 문제로, 본 연구의 3장에서는 인터뷰와 관찰 데이터를 기반으로 가전제품 사용 맥락에 따른 네 가지 사용자 유형에 대한 여덟 종류의 퍼소나를 개발하였다. 시각장애(전맹, 저시력), 청각장애(농아, 인공 와우), 척수장애(주먹 쥔 손, 펴진 손), 고령자(할머니, 할아버지) 퍼소나는 각각 퍼소나 카드의 시나리오와 같은 형식으로 접근성 이슈를 제공하여 실 사용자와 면대면으로 만나기 어려운 이해당사자로 하여금 대상 사용자의 접근성 이슈를 파악하고 공감할 수 있도록 하는 것을 목표로 한다. 또한, 이해당사자들은 사용자 인터랙션 관점에서 장애인 및 고령 사용자의 다른 행태를 파악하고 이해할 도구가 필요하다. 본 연구의 4장에서는 위계적 작업분석(Hierarchical Task Analysis; HTA)을 수행하여 가전제품 사용 시 시간 순서에 따른 일반적 작업 구조를 제시하여 사용자의 작업 행태를 시각화 하였다. 이 구조와 함께 서블릭(Therblig)을 통해 사용자의 작업을 미시적으로 표현하였다. 서블릭은 가전제품 맥락에 맞도록 재정의하고 사용자군 별로 문제가 있는 서블릭이 파악된 경우 동작경제 원칙에 의한 설계 가이드에 따라 개선안을 제시하도록 하였다. 동작경제원칙은 사용자의 작업측면에서의 문제점과 설계측면에서의 해결안을 연관 지어 해석하는 짐을 덜어주는 역할을 해, 제안하는 접근성 도구는 접근성 평가 도구로서 큰 가치를 가진다. 마지막으로 본 연구의 5장에서는 기존 표준과 가이드라인을 수집해 설계 가이드라인을 개발하였다. 기존 표준 및 가이드라인은 여러 수치를 제공하고는 있지만 장애인 및 고령 사용자의 사용 맥락을 충분히 반영하지 못 하고 사용자의 신체 능력, 환경, 제품의 형태에 따라 적용이 어려워 실제적 활용도가 낮은 문제가 있다. 또한 접근성과 인간공학적 전문성이 부족할수록 실 적용이 어려워져 이러한 문서의 가치는 더욱 낮아질 수밖에 없다. 이에 장애인과 고령자의 사용 맥락을 반영해 가이드라인을 재정립하고 이를 기반으로 총 일곱가지의 프로토타입을 개발하였다. 총 14명의 참가자가 프로토타입을 평가하여 대상 가전제품의 접근성 향상 여부를 평가하였다. 대부분의 프로토타입은 성공적으로 접근성에 향상을 보여 설계 가이드라인의 유효성 또한 반증하였다. 또한, 본 논문에서 사용된 절차를 따라 접근성 보장 제품 설계 시 각 가이드라인의 수치를 어떤 식으로 설계에 적용하는지를 참고할 수도 있다. 본 논문의 의의는 다음과 같다. 첫 째, 본 논문은 시각장애, 청각장애, 척수장애인을 대상으로 사용자 조사를 진행하고 이를 기반으로 사용자들의 접근성 이슈를 퍼소나 형식으로 구체화하여 이해당사자가 대상 사용자와 보다 쉽게 공감할 수 있도록 하였다. 둘째, 본 논문은 접근성 연구분야에서 부족한 접근성 평가 도구를 제안하여 접근성 연구의 연구장벽을 낮추는데 기여하였다. 마지막으로 실제 접근성 향상 제품을 개발을 위한 가이드라인과 이를 기반으로 제작된 프로토타입을 실제 사용자들이 평가하도록 해 가이드라인의 실효성을 검증하였다. 전반적으로, 본 연구는 접근성 문제의 장벽을 돌파하기 위해 전반적인 제품 개발 프로세스를 적용하였으며 유니버설 디자인 관점에서 접근성 문제 해결을 위한 일련의 새로운 접근 방식으로 제안하여 사용자가 본인의 장애나 연령과 상관없이 제품 – 특히 가전제품 – 을 자유롭고 안전하게 사용하도록 하였다.Modern-day technologies - including home appliances - deliver benefits to our lives yet the lack of accessibility supports from the manufacturers and designers have forsaken a considerable number of elderly and disabled people. Unlike how the development and advancement with a variety of new functions and features enriched the quality of life for non-disabled users, it only degraded the user experience for the elderlies and disabled users since such functions and features come along with the increased complexity, which hinders not only the accessible use but also the independent use of a disabled or elderly user. Collecting user experience from the users in need of accessibility support is much more troublesome than one might think. The users may be reluctant to provide their user experience for sensitive privacy reasons, may not be in the appropriate physical conditions for interviews or surveys, or even have communication problems. Such barriers between the stakeholder and the target users do not allow the stakeholders to fully understand and define the problems these users confront every day; simply, impossible to build empathy. The lack of empathy breeds misconceptions on the elderly and disabled users, created by misinterpretation of the users’ experiences since the stakeholders have never experienced what it is like to be a disabled or elderly user. Even if manufacturers and designers who oversee developing accessible products recognize the needs and frustrations of the disabled population, it is challenging or even inaccessible for them to address these issues of their target customers. In Chapter 3, based on the interview and observation data, this study developed eight personas for four different types of disabled users under the context of home appliance usage: visually impaired (blind and low-vision), hearing impaired (deaf and cochlear implemented), spinal cord injured (opened palm and closed fist), and elderly (grandma and grandpa). Each persona provides their accessibility issues through a persona card and scenario-like explanation. Personas created in this study will help manufacturers and designers empathize with their users although they did not meet the real users face-to-face. Moreover, stakeholders need a tool to investigate how their users in need of accessibility support behave differently from non-disabled users, which provides a deeper understanding of the users’ perspectives in terms of “interaction.” In Chapter 4, this study conducted Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) and created general task structures of home appliances based on their product compartment and chronological usage phase. This task structure visualizes the user behavior. Combined with the task structure, therbligs expressed the user task on a micro-scale. Therbligs were redefined to fit the home appliance context and, if found problematic, there was the principle of motion economy to provide design guidance to solve the problems of corresponding therbligs. Moreover, the principle of motion economy is valuable because it reduces the burden of a researcher to convert a task-oriented problem found in terms of user behavior into a design-oriented solution. Lastly, in Chapter 5, a design guideline is developed by collecting existing standards and guidelines. Existing standards and documents related to accessibility lack a detailed explanation of real-world application, although the documentations provide various numerical values related to designs. The numbers are not directly implementable since the context-of-use of elderly or disabled users may vary by their capability, environment, and basically by the form factor of the products they use. Lower the expertise in ergonomics and accessibility less valuable the standards and guidelines will be to implement in a product design. With the design guideline developed and ideas collected from an ideation workshop, a total of seven prototypes were built. A total of 14 participants evaluated the prototype whether it enhanced the accessibility of target home appliances or not. As a result, most prototypes successfully improved the accessibility and approved the validity of design guidelines. This procedure as a case study will provide how to implement the principles and dimensional values found in the existing standards and guidelines when developing an accessible product. Overall, this study applied a whole product development cycle to breakthrough the barriers of accessibility problems and proposes it as a set of novel approaches for accessibility issues resolution based on the perspectives of universal design so that a user can freely and safely use their products – especially home appliances – regardless of their disability or age.Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Accessibility Barriers 1 1.1.1 Barriers for Users 1 1.1.2 Barriers for Stakeholders 3 1.2 Research Objectives and Study Outline 12 Chapter 2 Background 15 2.1 Target Users and Products 15 2.1.1 Target Users 15 2.1.2 Target Home Appliances and Compartments 19 2.2 Definition of Accessibility 29 2.3 Design Approach 33 2.3.1 Accessible and Universal Design 33 Chapter 3 Persona to Investigate the Accessibility Issues of Disabled and Elderly Users Under the Context of Home Appliances Usage 35 3.1 Overview 35 3.2 Methods 38 3.2.1 User Data Collection 38 3.2.2 Data Analysis for Personas 42 3.2.3 Persona Creation for Identifying Accessibility Issue 45 3.3 Persona Development 48 3.3.1 User Behaviors and Characteristics 48 3.3.2 Created Personas 53 3.4 Results and Discussion 59 3.4.1 Behaviors and Characteristics of Personas 60 3.4.2 Accessibility Issues from Personas 67 3.5 Probable Applications and Future Studies 77 Chapter 4 TAT: Therbligs as Accessibility Tool 82 4.1 Overview 82 4.1.1 Task Analysis 84 4.1.2 Therbligs and Motion Studies 86 4.1.3 Redefining Therbligs 89 4.1.4 Changes in the Principles of Motion Economy 95 4.2 Methods 102 4.2.1 Therblig-based Task Analysis 103 4.2.2 Task Evaluation 107 4.3 Results 109 4.3.1 General Task Structures 109 4.3.2 Accessibility Evaluation Results 116 4.4 Discussions 122 4.4.1 Problematic Therbligs and Related Principles of Motion Economy for Improvements 125 4.4.2 The Final Set of Therbligs for Accessibility Evaluation 133 4.4.3 New Task Design for Disabled and Elderly Users 139 4.5 Conclusion 142 Chapter 5 Accessible Home Appliance Designs : Prototyping and Design Guidelines 145 5.1 Overview 145 5.2 Ideation for accessible home appliances 148 5.2.1 Ideation Workshop 148 5.2.2 Ideation Result 153 5.3 Development of Design Guidelines and Prototypes 156 5.3.1 Design Guideline Principles 161 5.3.2 Prototyping 173 5.4 Experiment for validation 186 5.4.1 Evaluation Results 188 5.5 Discussion 197 5.6 Conclusion 201 Chapter 6 Conclusion 203 Bibliography 206 국문 초록 222 감사의 글 225 Acknowledgment 226 APPENDICES 227박

A framework for Adaptive Capability Profiling

This thesis documents research providing improvements in the field of accessibility modelling, which will be of particular interest as computing becomes increasingly ubiquitous. It is argued that a new approach is required that takes into account the dynamic relationship between users, their technology (both hardware and software) and any additional Assistive Technologies (ATs) that may be required. In addition, the approach must find a balance between fidelity and transportability. A theoretical framework has been developed that is able to represent both users and technology in symmetrical (hierarchical) recursive profiles, using a vocabulary that moves from device-specific to device-agnostic capabilities. The research has resulted in the development of a single unified solution that is able to functionally assess the accessibility of interactions through the use of pattern matching between graph-based profiles. A self-efficacy study was also conducted, which identified the inability of older people to provide the data necessary to drive a system based on the framework. Subsequently, the ethical considerations surrounding the use of automated data collection agents were discussed and a mechanism for representing contextual information was also included. Finally, real user data was collected and processed using a practically implemented prototype to provide an evaluation of the approach. The thesis represents a contribution through its ability to both: (1) accommodate the collection of data from a wide variety of sources, and (2) support accessibility assessments at varying levels of abstraction in order to identify if/where assistance may be necessary. The resulting approach has contributed to a work-package of the Sus-IT project, under the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) programme of research in the UK. It has also been presented to a W3C Research and Development Working Group symposium on User Modelling for Accessibility (UM4A). Finally, dissemination has been taken forward through its inclusion as an invited paper presented during a subsequent parallel session within the 8th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction

HISTOLOGICAL STUDIES OF BREWERY SPENT GRAINS IN DIETARY PROTEIN FORMULATION IN DONRYU RATS

The increasing production of large tonnage of products in brewing industries continually generates lots of solid waste which includes spent grains, surplus yeast, malt sprout and cullet. The disposal of spent grains is often a problem and poses major health and environmental challenges, thereby making it imminently necessary to explore alternatives for its management. This paper focuses on investigating the effects of Brewery Spent Grain formulated diet on haematological, biochemical, histological and growth performance of Donryu rats. The rats were allocated into six dietary treatment groups and fed on a short-term study with diet containing graded levels of spent grains from 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 100% weight/weight. The outcome demonstrated that formulated diet had a positive effect on the growth performance of the rats up to levels of 6% inclusions, while the haematological and biochemical evaluation revealed that threshold limit should not exceed 9% of the grain. However, the histological study on the liver indicated a limit of 3% inclusion in feed without serious adverse effect. Thus invariably showing that blend between ranges 1-3% is appropriate for the utilization of the waste in human food without adverse effect on the liver organ. The economic advantage accruing from this waste conversion process not only solves problem of waste disposal but also handle issues of malnutrition in feeding ration

Interactive maps for visually impaired people : design, usability and spatial cognition

Connaître la géographie de son environnement urbain est un enjeu important pour les personnes déficientes visuelles. Des cartes tactiles en relief sont généralement utilisées mais elles présentent des limitations importantes (nombre limité d'informations, recours à une légende braille). Les nouvelles technologies permettent d'envisager des solutions innovantes. Nous avons conçu et développé une carte interactive accessible, en suivant un processus de conception participative. Cette carte est basée sur un dispositif multi-touch, une carte tactile en relief et une sortie sonore. Ce dispositif permet au sujet de recueillir des informations en double-cliquant sur certains objets de la carte. Nous avons démontré expérimentalement que ce prototype était plus efficace et plus satisfaisant pour des utilisateurs déficients visuels qu'une carte tactile simple. Nous avons également exploré et testé différents types d'interactions avancées accessibles pour explorer la carte. Cette thèse démontre l'importance des cartes tactiles interactives pour les déficients visuels et leur cognition spatiale.Knowing the geography of an urban environment is crucial for visually impaired people. Tactile relief maps are generally used, but they retain significant limitations (limited amount of information, use of braille legend, etc.). Recent technological progress allows the development of innovative solutions which overcome these limitations. In this thesis, we present the design of an accessible interactive map through a participatory design process. This map is composed by a multi-touch screen with tactile map overlay and speech output. It provides auditory information when tapping on map elements. We have demonstrated in an experiment that our prototype was more effective and satisfactory for visually impaired users than a simple raised-line map. We also explored and tested different types of advanced non-visual interaction for exploring the map. This thesis demonstrates the importance of interactive tactile maps for visually impaired people and their spatial cognition

Metal Hydride Based Materials for Advanced Lithium Storage Applications

The state of the art, commercial used graphite anode materials are far from meeting the increasing demand for high-energy density devices. It is necessary to develop anode materials with high energy density, low-cost and superior safety. Generally, compared with classical intercalation anodes, conversion type anodes display higher theoretical capacity have been paid widely attention. Some of the emerging metal hydrides demonstrate high specific capacity, small polarization and suitable working potential. This thesis focusing on two metal hydrides both with relatively high specific capacity, sodium alanate (NaAlH4) and mageneisum hydride (MgH2) as anodes materials in LIBs. In order to enhance the electronic conductivity of the material and relieve the volume variation, four methods of carbon doping, nano crystallization, surface modification and process modification were used to raise the lithium storage performance of metal hydride-based anode materials (NaAlH4 and MgH2). By way of self-assembly, gas-solid reaction and other synthesis methods, the multi nanostructure of metal hydride-based anode materials (NaAlH4 and MgH2) were designed, and a variety of composite materials of metal hydride and graphene with different structures were successfully prepared. Through a facile solvent evaporation induced deposition method, NaAlH4 nanoparticles with an average size of ~ 12 nm encapsulated in graphene nanosheets has been developed. The SAH@G-50 electrode exhibits an discharge capacity about 1995 mAh g-1 at 100 mAh g−1 at first cycle, with a coulombic efficiency (CE) of 85.7%. The specific discharge capacity slowly decayed and then was stabilized at ~698 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles. It has been founded in this thesis, graphene could act as an effective platform to tailor the metal-hydrogen bonds of NaAlH4 through their favorable molecular interaction. Theoretical and experimental results confirm that graphene is capable of weakening the Al-H bonds of NaAlH4, thus facilitating the breaking and recombination of Al-H bonds towards advanced lithium storage performance. In addition, The synergistic effects of the favorable molecular interaction between graphene and NaAlH4, and the noticeable decrease in particle size significantly boost the lithium storage performances of NaAlH4

The effectiveness of the web accessibility audit as a motivational and educational tool in inclusive web design

The importance of Web sites that can be accessed and used regardless of an individual?s disability is critical. One barrier to improved accessibility of Web sites relates to the gap between Web authors? technical knowledge of Web accessibility guidelines and a broader understanding of the challenges facing disabled people when interacting with Web sites.This thesis describes the development and evaluation of a Web accessibility auditing methodology with the dual aims of accurately identifying accessibility barriers present in a Web site, and presenting the audit findings and recommended actions in a way that informs, educates and engenders an improved understanding of accessibility amongst the audience.The methodology was piloted amongst a sample of Web sites, validated against other published accessibility evaluation methodologies, and adopted for subsequent audits carried out on a commercial basis. The impact on recipient organisations and individuals of a sample of 14 commercially commissioned audits was then evaluated. Audit recipients were surveyed, and each Web site audited evaluated to identify any changes to accessibility, and the presence of evidence of changes or improvements to accessibility strategy.Strong indications were found that the audits had a positive impact both on individuals and on the commissioning organisations. The audits were identified as having a particularly positive educational and motivational impact on recipients who did not identify themselves as having expertise in Web accessibility. There was also evidence that the design approach promoted by the audits had been adopted and applied by some of the commissioning organisations. The majority of respondents cited the recommendations for improvement as the most valuable feature of the audit. This illustrates a tension between the importance of presenting specific recommendations for actions and providing richer narrative accounts of evaluation stages to encourage a more holistic appreciation of accessibility.The particular benefits of the study are found in the identification of evidence of impact of commercially-commissioned Web accessibility audits over a period of time to recipients of varying characteristics. A number of areas for further investigation have been identified, focusing on investigating the potential value of the accessibility audit in providing more ?experiential? evaluation stages.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo