The 15th Web for All Conference Lyon, France 2018

Session 2: Education

Architecture for Accessible Interactive Simulations

Taliesin Smith, Jesse Greenberg, Sam Reid, Emily Moore, University of Colorado, Boulder

Interactive simulations are used in classrooms around the world to support student learning. Creating accessible interactive simulations is a complex challenge that pushes the boundaries of current accessibility approaches and standards. In this work, we present a new approach to addressing accessibility needs within complex interactives. Within a custom scene graph that utilizes a model-view-controller architectural pattern, we utilize a parallel document object model (PDOM) to create interactive simulations (PhET Interactive Simulations) accessible to students through alternative input devices and descriptions accessed with screen reader software. In this paper, we describe our accessibility goals, challenges, and approach to creating robust accessible interactive simulations, and provide examples from an accessible simulation we have developed and possibilities for future extensions.

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The accessibility of administrative processes: Assessing the impacts on students in higher education

Tim Coughlan, Kate Lister, The Open University.

Administrative processes that need to be completed to maintain a basic standard of living, to study, or to attain employment, are perceived to create burdens for disabled people. The navigation of information, forms, communications, and assessments to achieve a particular goal raises diverse accessibility issues. In this paper we explore the different types of impacts these processes have on disabled university students. We begin by surveying literature that highlights the systemic characteristics of administrative burdens and barriers for disabled people. We then describe how a participatory research exercise with students led to the development of a survey on these issues. This was completed by 104 respondents with a diverse range of declared disabilities. This provides evidence for a range of impacts, and understanding of the perceived level of challenge of commonly experienced processes. The most common negative impact reported was on stress levels. Other commonly reported impacts include exacerbation of existing conditions, time lost from study, and instances where support was not available in a timely fashion. Processes to apply for disability-related support were more commonly challenging than other processes. We use this research to suggest directions for improving accessibility and empowerment in this space.

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Improving Usability of Math Editors

Neil Soiffer, Talking Cat Software.

WYSIWYG mathematical editors have existed for several decades. Recent editors have mostly been web-based. These editors often provide buttons or palettes containing hundreds of symbols used in mathematics. People who use screen readers and switch devices are restricted to semi-linear access of the buttons and must wade through a large number of buttons to find the right symbol to insert if the symbol is not present on the keyboard. This paper presents data gleaned from textbooks that shows that if the subject area is known, the number of buttons needed for special symbols is small and so usability can be greatly improved.

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A survey on accessibility awareness of Brazilian web developers

Humberto Lidio Antonelli, Sandra Souza Rodrigues, Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes, University of Sao Paulo; Willian Massami Watanabe, Federal University of Technology – Paraná.

A huge amount of content have been made available on the Web.

Although there are several initiatives to guide an accessible web development, researchers have showed that web developers are rarely aware of accessibility issues in their web projects.

In this paper, we conducted a survey to verify the evolution of web accessibility awareness in Brazil.

We have conducted an exploratory study based on web questionnaire, using a self-selected and non-probabilistic sampling method. The study had 404 valid answers, covering all regions of Brazil.

The results show that most of participants has never developed an accessible website and 33.2% of them are not worried about considering the accessibility in their future projects.

Therefore, it is important to create public policies that improve the current web accessibility scenario, raising the awareness of the people involved in web development, as well as obligating compliance with Brazilian legislation.

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On Accessibility Policies for Higher Education Institutions

Giorgio Brajnik, Sanela Graca, University of Udine

Accessibility policies are a fundamental instrument for implementing accessibility solutions, and this is true also for university websites. However writing a good accessibility

policy is not trivial. In this paper we present a brief outline of a survey we performed on twenty university policies. Drawing on these examples, we explain what should be included in a policy and how such a content should be formulated.

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Session 3: IBM Award for Students with Disabilities