Techniques for the Publication of Accessible Multimedia Content on the Web
Author(s) Tania Acosta ; Jose Zambrano-Miranda ; Sergio Lujan-Mora
Abstract: Multimedia has become one of the most important sources of information and communication on the web. However, despite recent technological progress, people with disabilities and the elderly face difficulties accessing multimedia on the web. In some cases, these difficulties are impossible to overcome and are a fundamental cause of digital exclusion. Given the importance of this topic, several investigations on the problems of accessing multimedia resources have been carried out. Some organizations have also proposed certain standards to guide the creation and publication of accessible web content. Nevertheless, the authoring tools used in the process of publishing multimedia on the web do not offer all the accessibility features required. Authoring tools can also be used by people who do not have knowledge about web accessibility or programming, resulting in web publications lacking accessibility. This research proposes 278 novel techniques to guide authors, designers, programmers, and testers in the publication of accessible and inclusive multimedia on the web. These techniques are designed to guarantee the compliance with the recommended success criteria of Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 of the World Wide Web Consortium. Moreover, these techniques can be used to evaluate the accessibility of the existing authoring tools used to create multimedia for the web. Additionally, we present 80 possible failures that can cause the non-fulfillment of ATAG 2.0. These failures can help authors discern what to avoid and help evaluators check whether particular multimedia is accessible.
Date of Publication: 17 March 2020 Electronic ISSN: 2169-3536
DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2981326 Publisher: IEEE
Empirical Studies on Web Accessibility of Educational Websites: A Systematic Literature Review
Author(s) Milton Campoverde-Molina ; Sergio Luján-Mora ; Llorenç Valverde Garcia
Abstract: Web accessibility means that people with some type of disability can make use of the Web in the same conditions as the rest of the people. When we talk about web accessibility, we refer to a web design and development that allows these people to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web. Web accessibility also benefits other people, including elderly people whose abilities have declined as a result of age. The Web is an essential resource in human activity: education, employment, government, commerce, health, entertainment and many others benefit of the power of the Web. The aim of this systematic literature review is to analyze the empirical methods of evaluating accessibility to educational websites, disabilities and their errors described in a total of 25 selected studies. The results show that in 20 of the 25 papers, web accessibility was evaluated with automatic tools, in 2 papers it was evaluated with real users and in the other 3 papers with automatic tools, real users and experts. There is also evidence that all the educational websites analyzed in the papers need to correct errors. In conclusion, educational websites do not meet any version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and their conformance levels. According to the results, the empirical evaluation methods used for web accessibility could be improved by adopting automatic evaluation tools for website construction and manual mechanisms with web accessibility experts. The challenge for educational institutions is to carry out web accessibility projects to comply with WCAG and other web accessibility standards and current laws of educational inclusion.
Date of Publication: 14 May 2020 Electronic ISSN: 2169-3536
DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2994288 Publisher: IEEE
Web Accessibility Evaluation of Videos Published on YouTube by Worldwide Top-Ranking Universities
Author(s) Tania Acosta; Patricia Acosta-Vargas; Jose Zambrano-Miranda; Sergio Lujan-Mora
Video consumption on the web has increased markedly in recent years. Universities use videos in different teaching-learning modalities, as well as on their websites, to publish information aimed at their stakeholders. Access to education and information has been recognized as a human right in several international conventions and the constitutions of most countries. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that videos published on the web can be accessed by people with disabilities. The universality of the web is so important that some organizations worldwide have contributed to the development of standards and recommendations focused on web accessibility. Despite these efforts, the rights of millions of people are currently violated, as they are excluded from access to both education and information published on the web. Regarding videos, the reasons are a lack of captions, sign language, audio descriptions, and transcriptions, among others. The objective of this study is to evaluate the accessibility of videos published on YouTube by the best universities in the world based on compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 of the World Wide Web Consortium. We carry out a manual evaluation of 91,421 videos, which were all published on YouTube by 113 universities taken from the Shanghai Ranking. Our purpose is to highlight the urgent need to change the current low level of accessibility that their educational videos show. Consequently, statistical results are presented regarding the compliance with video accessibility according to the regions and positions of the universities in the ranking.
Date of Publication: 12 June 2020 Electronic ISSN: 2169-3536
DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3002175 Publisher: IEEE Access
A Method to Develop Accessible Online Serious Games for People with Disabilities: A Case Study
Author(s) Angel Jaramillo-Alcázar, Paz Cortez-Silva, Marco Galarza-Castillo and Sergio Luján-Mora
Video games that are used as teaching tools are called serious games. However, there is an important factor that is not usually considered in the design of serious games— the inclusion of people with disabilities. Inclusion can be reached only if accessibility takes on an important role for all. On the other hand, new trends have resulted in different smart devices being used in classrooms. These devices also allow for applications, such as serious games, to be used to support people's learning process. Despite this, these applications are generally not multi-platform and do not usually consider accessibility features for people with disabilities. This paper proposes a method to develop accessible online serious games that consider people with disabilities as potential users. The method is applied in the case study of an online serious game that teaches about the architecture of a computer in a fun and entertaining way. The method also presents and describes several guidelines to improve online serious game accessibility for people with disabilities. Finally, tests are conducted with some users to gather information about the online serious game and the accessibility features included. This study has important implications for the development of learning tools that consider people with disabilities.
Date of Publication: 17 Nov 2020 Electronic ISSN: 2169-3536
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229584 Publisher: MDPI
Exploring the Impact of Accessibility in Mooc and Oer: A Multivocal Literature Review
Author(s) Paola Ingavélez-Guerra, Salvador Otón-Tortosa, António Teixeira, Vladimir Robles-Bykbaev, Angel Pérez-Muñoz
This report presents a review of the accessibility models in Learning Resources and MOOCs with the aim of establishing common terms in the research of the EduTech project and other projects associated with virtual accessibility in member HEIs. This study is based on the search and analysis of articles and publications related to the subject following the MLR format. The results showed a lack of applicability and data that support the current situation in Latin America, however, the experiences of European projects and regulations that support their sustainability, establish guidelines that could guide implementation processes in higher education institutions in partner countries.
Date of Publication: 23 Oct 2020 Electronic ISSN: 2707-2819
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38069/edenconf-2020-rw-0011 Publisher: EDEN
Sensorised Low-Cost Pencils for Developing Countries: A Quantitative Analysis of Handwriting Learning Progress in Children
Author(s) Luis Javier Serpa-Andrade, José Juan Pazos-Arias, Martín López-Nores and Vladimir Espartaco Robles-Bykbaev
Learning to write is a demanding endeavour that requires a combination of linguistic, motor and cognitive skills. Some children suffer from delay or inability to acquire those skills, which often hampers their performance at school and brings about serious consequences for self-esteem, personal expectations and social relationships. The situation worsens in developing countries, due to the lack of resources and specialised personnel. With this background, this paper describes an experiment with a newly-developed sensorised pencil with triangular prism shape, which is shown to yield substantial improvements in children with/without special education needs. A team of experts in the areas of speech therapy, occupational therapy, educational psychology, physiotherapy and pedagogy have expressed very positive opinions about the sensorised pencil and the accompanying software for the acquisition and analysis of quantitative data about handwriting. Furthermore, the device stands out for its low cost in comparison with similar developments, which is a key factor to aid children from low-income families. This fact is explained with a success story of manufacturing and delivering sensorised pencils in the Ecuadorian province of Azuay, framed in a multi-layer sustainable development perspective based on collaboration of several institutions and individuals.
Date of Publication: 21 Dec 2020 Electronic ISSN: 2071-1050
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410682 Publisher: MDPI – Sustainability
