JUCS - Journal of Universal Computer Science 19(18): 2639-2655, doi: 10.3217/jucs-019-18-2639
Can I Access my School Website? Auditing Accessibility of the Portuguese Teaching Institutions Websites
expand article infoRamiro Gonçalves, José Martins, Jorge Pereira, Vitor Santos§, Manuel Pérez Cota
‡ University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal§ Nova School of Statistics and Information Management, Lisbon, Portugal
Open Access
Abstract
Web accessibility is becoming a current topic in social and scientific discussions. With the advances in technology, a need for access to all Web resources is becoming more and more recurrent due to the several advantages that the Web brings to those with some sort of disability, allowing them accessing and integrating in society. With this document we aim to present indicators regarding the lower accessibility levels of the Portuguese teaching institutions websites. A set of background and theoretical considerations is made alongside the article, as well as the results of an accessibility evaluation made to the Portuguese secondary schools websites using a specialized software tool and according to WCAG 2.0. The present document also contains a proposal for a model that aims on improving Web accessibility Levels in Portugal by fostering the creation of relations and group activities between the actors that, in our opinion, are those with the most relevance in the Web content accessibility issue.
Keywords
Web accessibility, Portugal, schools, ICT, model, ethics, accessibility issue