Abstract
Accessibility, i.e. the possibility for users with specific disabilities to access Web resources, has received specific attention by the W3C consortium that has produced guidelines for web developers. These guidelines are, mostly, technical recommendations and a few very generic tips about how to design for accessibility. The main thesis of this paper, which focuses on blind users, is that technical recommendations (as those of the W3C) are not sufficient to guarantee actual accessibility, that we define as the possibility for the users of “reading” the website and “navigating through it” in an effective manner. A consequence of our approach is the emphasis on design, as a way to achieve actual accessibility, and on usability (by blind users,) as the main evaluation criterion. The paper presents a framework, “AURA”, which encompasses issues from design, to architecture, and proposes a solution for blind users based on reading strategies, i.e. a planned way of “listening to” web pages.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Colazzo, S.: Communication technologies and applications: vocal interaction with nets and informative systems, Politecnico di Milano (2006)
Martin, A., Cechich, A., Gordillo, S., Rossi, G.: A Three-Layered Approach to Model Web Accessibility for Blind Users. In: Proceedings of the 2007 Latin American Web Conference (LA-WEB 2007) (2007)
Cesarano, C., Fasolino, A.R., Tramontana, P.: In: WSE 2007 The 9th IEEE International Symposium on Web Site Evolution, Paris, France, October 5-6 (2007)
Bolchini, D., Paolini, P.: Interactive dialogue model: a design technique for multi-channel applictions. IEEE Transactions on Multimedia (2006)
Di Blas, N., Paolini, P., Speroni, M., Capodieci, A.: Enhancing accessibility for visually impaired users: the Munch exhibition. In: Workshop, Museum & the Web 2004 International Conference, Arlington (VA), USA (2004)
Bolchini, D., et al.: Web as Dialogue: Interpreting Navigational Artifacts as Dialogic Structures, TR02.3, USI TEC-lab (September 2002)
Di Blas, N., Paolini, P., Speroni, M.: Web Accessibility for Blind Users Towards Advanced Guidelines. In: UI4ALL Conference (User Interfaces for All), Vienna (2004)
Di Blas, N., Paolini, P., Speroni, M.: Usable accessibility" to the Web for blind users. In: Proceedings of 8th ERCIM Workshop: User Interfaces for All, Vienna (2004)
Petrie, H., King, N.: The accessibility of museum Web sites: results from an English investigation and international comparisons. In: Trant, J., Bearman, D. (eds.) Museums and the Web 2005: Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics, March 31 (2005), http://www.archimuse.com/mw2005/papers/petrie/petrie.html
Borodin, Y.: Multi-layer dialog generation for non-visual web access. SIGACCESS Access. Comput. 86, 20–23 (2006)
Blenkhom, P., Evans, G.: Architecture and requirements for a Windows screen reader. CRESST, IEE Seminar on Speech and Language Processing for Disabled and Elderly People (2000)
Harris, K.: Challenges and Solutions for Screen Reader / I.T. Interoperability. IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
Liu, S., Ma, W., Schalow, D., Spruill, K.: Improving Web Access for Visually Impaired Users. IT Professional 6(4), 28–33 (2004)
Fairweather, P.G., Hanson, V.L., Detweiler, S.R., Schwerdtfeger, R.S.: From Assistive Technology to a Web Accessibility Service. In: Proceedings of the fifth international ACM conference on Assistive technologies, Edinburgh, Scotland, July 08-10 (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Rubegni, E., Paolini, P., Terragni, A., Vaghi, S. (2008). Accessibility for Blind Users: An Innovative Framework. In: Miesenberger, K., Klaus, J., Zagler, W., Karshmer, A. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5105. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70540-6_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70540-6_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-70539-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-70540-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)