Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio
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Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio
Main Affiliation
Quito
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hugoarias@uti.edu.ec
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Scopus Author ID
57210802646

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Analysis of the Level of Accessibility of Scientific Online Conferences for Blind Participants

2021 , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Sanchez-Gordon S. , Calle-Jimenez T.

The change generated by the virtualization of activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way people participate in countless activities. Scientific conferences, like many other events, were forced by the circumstances to change from face-to-face to online overnight. The goal of this study is to identify the accessibility barriers that the platforms used by scientific online conferences pose for blind participants. The research methodology used was experiential introspection complemented by automated testing. Exploratory tests were conducted by a blind researcher using the JAWS screen reader. Besides, the accessibility evaluation tool WAVE was used to identify non-conformances with the web content accessibility guidelines WCAG. As a result, it was found in some cases a null level of accessibility and, in other cases, complexity was detected in the access to activities. As for no conformances with WCAG, two of the most prominent were empty links and the absence of headings for efficient screen reader navigation. The automated tool showed errors and alerts that need to be fixed in the teleconferencing platforms evaluated. It is presumed that, unfortunately, the moderately or even basic concepts for the participation of users with visual disabilities and blind are not being considered in the platforms used to host virtual scientific conferences. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Profiling of E-Learning Users with Accessibility Needs

2021 , Calle-Jimenez T. , Sanchez-Gordon S. , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio

Currently, there are millions of people who are studying professional training using e-Learning environments. A trend that has been exacerbated by the global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic. This circumstance has forced students around the world to switch to an emerging online modality in 2020. E-Learning environments has become an important option, maybe the only one, to keep studying, as long as these environments and the educational resources they host are accessible. In this context, it is relevant to have a mechanism to describe the accessibility preferences and need of students through the management of personal profiles. In this study, authors carried out a literature review regarding models designed to enable the creation of profiles in the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and presents an analysis of scientific research published by other researchers and shows the current state of the art of the research area of profiling of students with disabilities in MOOC platforms. This literature review will serve as input to propose a model that allows covering the lack of profiling of students with disabilities within e-Learning platforms to meet the needs of students who have disabilities. As far as we know, this is the first literature review of this kind. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Contributions to Improve Accessibility and Usability of Academic Journal Management Systems. Case Study: OJS

2020 , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Calle-Jimenez T. , Sanchez-Gordon S. , Nunes I.L.

Assistive technologies have allowed people with disabilities to overcome many barriers. For instance, people with visual disabilities are able to access information on the Web by using screen readers and generating different actions in their navigation, which would not be possible without assistive technology. The generation of accessible resources and understanding user behavior from the journal editorial process point of view have created changes in the editorial process itself, from the reception to the publication of the articles. In this digital age, in which information has become global and open to a diverse population, resources should be accessible. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. Resources must be made accessible to people with different conditions, including visual and hearing impairments. The goal of this study is to identify the challenges faced by a person with a visual disability during the editorial process of journals on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform. Such challenges include understanding the layout of the elements and controls on the platform interface, creating HTML versions of academic articles, configuring journal websites, and so on. The aim of addressing these challenges is to create accessible resources that can be used by all readers of OJS journals regardless of their conditions. The information presented in this study was collected over six months, and a descriptive analysis was performed. It can be noted that some accessible resources have already been implemented, such as the presentation of academic articles in MP3 format (which can be downloaded or reproduced online) and the publication of HTML versions of complete articles with navigation levels. There is also a video resource in which authors expose their research, and the articles themselves are presented in an accessible PDF format (which respects levels of accessibility that allow greater reading enjoyment for users with vision impairments). These contributions allow people with visual disabilities to better integrate into editorial teams of scientific journals. Work continues so that the resources published on the OJS platform can reach readers with disabilities at greater regional and global levels. © 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Designing Accessible Maps on Mobile Devices for Blind and Visually Impaired Users

2020 , Calle-Jimenez T. , Luján-Mora S. , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Ramos Galarza, Carlos , Nunes I.L.

Currently, there is a high percentage of people with visual disabilities worldwide. Sometimes, these people do not have access to the information of online geographic maps. A traditional map published on the Web does not provide the necessary alternative information for people with visual disabilities. This research presents a mobile application with geographic maps that provides the information in audio format to blind and visually impaired users. The application uses the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG Tiny) format that allows additional information to be stored within the map code. SVG Tiny provides to screen readers the content inside of map code to transform text to audio. The tests were carried out through accessibility assessment tools, which showed a level of accessibility greater than 90%. In addition, tests were carried out with blind people, who were satisfied with the level of accessibility of the mobile application. © 2020, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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