Examination of the electronic educational resources accessibility on the university Moodle platform

The purpose of the article is to assess the accessibility of electronic educational resources (EER) published in the university Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). The analysis involved 22 EERs in mathematical and information technology disciplines, located in the Moodle LMS of the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. The examination algorithm included analysis using the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE) and expert analysis of web accessibility using visual, auditory and manual methods based on 89 checklist attributes. In the result of the analysis, multiple accessibility errors of the Moodle platform and the EERs hosted on it were found. The most serious platform problems include: lack of compatibility with text browsers; errors of reproduction by screen readers; errors of content reproduction on mobile devices. The list of accessibility errors made by the authors of EERs includes: incorrect design of hyperlinks (22.7 % of the EERs); lack of subtitles (13.6 %), transcripts (22.7 %), synopses of video lectures (27.3 %); lack of alternative descriptions for figures (68.2 %); time limit for tests (9.1 %); lack of special markup for mathematical notation (36.4 %) and program code (13.6 %), etc. Results of the survey show need in training of EERs’ authors in technologies for developing accessible educational web content. It is advisable to familiarize web developers deploying an LMS at universities with the basics of web accessibility, LMS accessibility functions and modules in order to select the most suitable platform, determine and install the required set of accessibility tools. Before launching all EERs should be subject to mandatory examination for compliance with the web accessibility guidelines.

Establishing Information Seeking Behavior on Access to Digital Resources by Students with Visual Impairment: A Case Study of Nairobi University Library Services, Kenya

Information is power, very important and valuable commodity in everyday human activity as evidenced with the current digital divide that equal access to information is essential to the development of information society which also applies to people with disability. The aim of the study was to establish the information seeking behavior of visually impaired (VI) students at University of Nairobi library services. The total population of the study comprised of two units of analysis which were 32 visually impaired students and 6 librarians in charge of the visually impaired students. The study carried out a survey by means of questionnaires. The study employed Wilson’s (1999) theory of information behavior model which provided a framework in mapping the student’s information patterns. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel 2016 were used to analyze the data. The response rate was 78.95% from all the units of analysis. The findings indicated that majority of the respondents 72% were female. The findings further revealed that most Visually impaired students were getting assistance from a sighted person or by use of computers, speech synthesizers, screen readers, brail prints, and audio books. A smaller number of the respondents (2.44%) used mobile app called tap tap. The study indicated that majority 68.3% of the Visually impaired students relied on aiding tools.

The Relevance of the CRPD and the Marrakesh Treaty to the Global South’s Book Famine

Coupled with the expansion of low-cost screen readers, digital format e-books have made worldwide reading equality an achievable dream. Nevertheless, copyright laws, industry practices, and lack of political will have resulted in a book famine that prevents persons with print disabilities across the globe from reading. The book famine is serious in the Global North, and even more critical in the Global South. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), in combination with the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty), have transformed international law so that the print disabled have equal rights to access books and attendant enabling implementation schemes. But will the human right to reading quality manifest in practice, especially in the resource-challenged Global South? This chapter analyzes the new sharing model and reflects on its potential impact.

Internet Accessibility for Blind and Visually-Impaired Users: An Evaluation of Official U.S. State and Territory COVID-19 Websites

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most health information was moved to an online format for easier dissemination. However, many of these health websites may not be accessible to users who are visually impaired, such as people who use screen readers and magnifiers. This study aimed to test the accessibility of 55 U.S. state and territory COVID-19 websites using 3 automated accessibility checker tools (MAUVE++, CynthiaSays, and AChecker). The homepage, testing, and vaccine pages for each state/territory were tested. Accessibility violations were categorized based on their relevance to visual impairment and compared between categories. Individuals who have vision loss but still access the websites visually are the most likely to be affected, with relevant accessibility violations detected in 81% of the checked cases. In addition, states/territories were ranked by their accessibility ratings. Our findings emphasize the need to improve the accessibility of public-facing health informational websites and provide suggestions for remedies.

Blind Electronic Mail System

Web has gotten one of the essential civilities for everyday living. Each individual is generally getting to the information specially E-mail and data through Web. Nonetheless, daze individuals face challenges in getting to these content materials, likewise in utilizing any help given through Web. The progression in PC based available frameworks has opened up numerous roads for the outwardly debilitated over the globe in a wide manner. Sound input based virtual climate like, the screen readers have helped Blind individuals to get to Web applications colossally. We depict the Voice-mail framework design that can be utilized by a Blind individual to get to messages effectively and productively. The commitment built by this examination has empowered the visually impaired public to deliver and get voice-based e-mail messages in their local language with the assistance of a PC (Ingle, P., Kanade, H., & Lanke, A. 2016).

Web 2.0 Tools: awareness and extent of use among visually impaired students

The article discusses a study conducted at Aligarh Muslim University to identify the awareness and use of Web 2.0 Tools by visually impaired students. The survey technique was employed in which structured interview method was followed to collect data from 83 visually impaired students and analysed using SPSS (Version 23). Findings of the study reveal that these students were aware about Web 2.0 Tools. Among these, 32.5% students possessed membership of these tools for more than 3 years and majority were using WhatsApp (89.2%), YouTube (87.9%), and Facebook (85.5%) on daily basis. These tools were used by students for different purposes, for instance 91.6% students utilized these tools for academic purposes, 84.3% for seeking job opportunities, and 81.9% for sharing knowledge. It also came to light that the major problem faced by visually impaired users was in the form of compatibility issues with screen readers (85.5%) and non-availability of JAWS software in all languages (66.3%). Further, the study also put forth certain suggestions for enhancing the use of Web 2.0 Tools among visually impaired students.

Creating a serious game for people with visual impairment with an emphasis on adopting the smartphone

A great number of benefits that technology provides are accessed by a smartphone, in order to use it, it is necessary to know how to use the screen readers. However, the use of technology should not be limited by not seeing, not hearing or not being able to touch any technological device. There is currently a gap between people with visual impairment and technology. Despite the existence of a large number of projects that aim to reduce this gap in Mexico, it has not been consistently reduced. This motivates us to develop contributions in this area, so that people with visual disabilities enjoy the same benefits as sighted people. This paper aims to provide a literature review derived from the study phase and an outline of the design phase in the application of the User-Centered Design methodology. This methodology guides the development of a serious game project that will support visually impaired children in their first contact with a smartphone. The bibliographic review that is presented here has allowed us to contextualize and understand the impact of technological contributions and projects for the visually impaired.

Accessibility Evaluation of Saudi E-Government Systems for Teachers: A Visually Impaired User’s Perspective

The Saudi government pays great attention to the usability and accessibility issues of e-government systems. E-government educational systems, such as Noor, Faris, and iEN systems, are some of the most rapidly developing e-government systems. In this study, we used a mixed-methods approach (usability testing and automated tools evaluation) to investigate the degree of difficulty faced by teachers with visual impairment while accessing such systems. The usability testing was done on four visually impaired teachers. In addition, four automated tools, namely, AChecker, HTML_CodeSniffer, SortSite, and Total Validator, were utilized in this study. The results showed that all three systems failed to support screen readers effectively as it was the main issue reported by the participants. On the other hand, the automated evaluation tools helped with identifying the most prominent accessibility issues of these systems. The perceivable principle was the principle most violated by the three systems, followed by operable, and then robust. The errors corresponding to the perceivable principle alone represented around 73% of the total errors. Moreover, further analysis revealed that most of the detected errors violated even the lowest level of accessibility conformance, which reflected the failure of these systems to pass the accessibility evaluation.