Assessment of web accessibility and technical specifications conformance of web sites from four EU member states

The Internet is playing an important part in our day to day life, through its power of making information universally available. Provided that web content is designed with accessibility in mind, the Internet can bring immense benefits to people with restricted access to different aspects of life due to various types of disability. An important source for accessible web design resources is the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WAI published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0)[1] in May 1999, which is now a reference point in web accessibility related policies in many different jurisdictions. An automated web accessibility surveying system investigating W3C WCAG 1.0 and HTML technical conformance of large samples of web sites, was implemented at the eAccess laboratory at RINCE, D.C.U.,Dublin, Ireland. In order to evaluate the practical results of the efforts invested in promoting web accessibility in Ireland, the conformance level of a sample of subjectively selected Irish web sites was monitored between April 2002 and December 2004. In order to place the web accessibility conformance level of Irish web sites at EU level, conformance levels of samples of randomly selected Irish, UK, French and German web sites were also monitored between May 2003 and December 2004. The findings of the study show that the general level of web accessibility guidelines and HTML standards conformance in all the web samples studied is very poor and there were no clearly distinguishable improvements in the time interval considered. More than that, although the web samples differ greatly through the number of web sites considered, the results show a high similarity in the failures detected in the five web samples, over the entire time interval in which the investigations were carried out. These findings show that the efforts invested in promoting web accessibility until now have had a small impact in reality. The findings also suggest the need for a different, more firm, approach in promoting web accessibility guidelines compliance on the web

A comparative assessment of Web accessibility and technical standards conformance in four EU states

The Internet is playing a progressively more important part in our day–to–day life, through its power of making information universally available. People with disabilities have particular opportunities to benefit. Using the Internet in conjunction with dedicated assistive technologies, tasks that were very difficult if not impossible to achieve for people with various types of disability can now be made fully accessible — at least, in principle. However, in practice, many online resources and services are still poorly accessible to those with disability due to unsatisfactory Web content design. Design of accessible Web content is codified in standards and guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Conformance with W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG) (and/or similar, derivative guidelines) is now the subject of considerable activity, both legal and technical, in many different jurisdictions. This paper presents results of a comparative survey of Web accessibility guidelines and HTML standards conformance for samples of Web sites drawn from Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. It also gives some recommendations on how to improve the accessibility level of Web content. A particular conclusion of the study is that the general level of Web accessibility guidelines and HTML standards conformance in all of the samples studied is very poor; and that the pattern of failure is strikingly consistent in the four samples. Although considerable efforts are being made to promote Web accessibility for users with disabilities, this is certainly not yet manifesting itself in improving Web accessibility and HTML validity

Human trichinellosis in children from Timis County, Romania: epidemiological features from a retrospective study conducted between 1990 and 2006

Trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonosis caused by the ingestion of inadequately cooked pork containing Trichinella larvae, has been a serious health problem in Timis, the largest of the Romanian counties. The authors conducted a survey on trichinellosis in children from Timis County, emphasising epidemiological aspects. Medical records from 106 children who were hospitalised at the Victor Babes Infectious Diseases Hospital in Timisoara from 1990 to 2006 were investigated. Children affected by trichinellosis were predominantly in the 10- to 14-year-old age group (34.9%). Most patients (59.43%) were inhabitants of urban areas and 59.43% of cases were males. Winter was the season when the number of cases peaked (76.42%). The highest prevalence of disease (18.87%) was recorded in 1994. For 38.68% of the patients, eosinophilia ranged between 10% and 20%. The length of hospitalisation ranged from 8 to 14 days in 50.94% of cases. In recent years, human trichinellosis has decreased in Timis County as a result of an improvement in the implementation of hygiene measures. The highest prevalence of the disease recorded in 1994 can be explained by an economic transition period when national pig farms began to close. Winter was the season with the highest prevalence because people eat a lot of pork during the traditional holidays

Long-Term Effects of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Therapy on Obesity and Cardiovascular Comorbidities in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Resistant Hypertension—An Observational Study

Background: We sought to investigate whether long-term continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and resistant hypertension (RHTN) could attenuate the cardiovascular disease risk by lowering their body-mass index (BMI). Methods: This was a long-term observational study of RHTN patients diagnosed with OSA. Patients were evaluated with polysomnography initially and after a mean follow-up period of four years. The patients were divided into two groups based on their compliance to CPAP therapy. Results: 33 patients (aged 54.67 ± 7.5, 18 men, 54.5%) were included in the study, of which 12 were compliant to CPAP therapy. A significant reduction in BMI at follow-up was noted in patients compliant to CPAP therapy (1.4 ± 3.5 vs. −1.6 ± 2.5, p = 0.006). We also noted a large effect size reduction in abdominal circumference at follow-up in the CPAP group. At follow-up evaluation, the mean heart rate (b/min) was lower in the CPAP group (58.6 ± 9.5 vs. 67.8 ± 7.8), while arrhythmia prevalence increased between initial (28.6%) and follow-up (42.9%) evaluation with an intermediate effect size in non-compliant patients. Conclusions: In our cohort of OSA patients with RHTN, long-term adherence to CPAP therapy was associated with weight loss and improvement in cardiac rhythm outcomes

Characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients with left‐sided infective endocarditis complicated by heart failure: a substudy of the ESC‐EORP EURO‐ENDO (European infective endocarditis) registry

International audienc

Predictors of embolism and death in left-sided infective endocarditis: the European Society of Cardiology EURObservational Research Programme European Infective Endocarditis registry

International audienceBackground and Aims Even though vegetation size in infective endocarditis (IE) has been associated with embolic events (EEs) and mortality risk, it is unclear whether vegetation size associated with these potential outcomes is different in left-sided IE (LSIE). This study aimed to seek assessing the vegetation cut-off size as predictor of EE or 30-day mortality for LSIE and to determine risk predictors of these outcomes. Methods The European Society of Cardiology EURObservational Research Programme European Infective Endocarditis is a prospective, multicentre registry including patients with definite or possible IE throughout 2016–18. Cox multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess variables associated with EE or 30-day mortality. Results There were 2171 patients with LSIE (women 31.5%). Among these affected patients, 459 (21.1%) had a new EE or died in 30 days. The cut-off value of vegetation size for predicting EEs or 30-day mortality was >10 mm [hazard ratio (HR) 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.69, P = .0015]. Other adjusted predictors of risk of EE or death were as follows: EE on admission (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.54–2.33, P < .0001), history of heart failure (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.21–1.93, P = .0004), creatinine >2 mg/dL (HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.25–2.03, P = .0002), Staphylococcus aureus (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.08–1.70, P = .008), congestive heart failure (HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.12–1.75, P = .003), presence of haemorrhagic stroke (HR 4.57, 95% CI 3.08–6.79, P < .0001), alcohol abuse (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.04–2.03, P = .03), presence of cardiogenic shock (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.29–3.34, P = .003), and not performing left surgery (HR 1.30 95% CI 1.05–1.61, P = .016) (C-statistic = .68). Conclusions Prognosis after LSIE is determined by multiple factors, including vegetation size