Det har sedan 2019 varit lagkrav att offentliga webbplatser i Sverige skall uppfylla viss nivå av digital tillgänglighet. När den här studien publiceras ska ytterligare EU-direktiv bli nationell lag, vilket kommer att innebära att även privata aktörer berörs av motsvarande krav, däribland banktjänster och e-handeln. Detta kommer att innebära ökade krav som leverantörer och deras utvecklare behöver kunna möta.  Målen med studien är att skapa en medvetenhet om digital tillgänglighet och tydliggöra, utifrån utvecklarens perspektiv, hur man arbetar för att uppnå denna grad av tillgänglighet och vad som behövs för att mer effektivt tillämpa digital tillgänglighet.  För att åstadkomma detta har en kvalitativ intervjustudie genomförts. Totalt åtta intervjuer har genomförts, som sedan har transkriberats och tematiserats i resultatavsnittet. En induktiv tematisk analys är genomförd utifrån forskningsfrågorna. Den jämför tidigare resultat mot utfall från undersökningen och visar tydligt på likheter men även skillnader och nya upptäckter. Av undersökningen framgår att utvecklare har tillgång till utvärderingsverktyg och riktlinjer som ger ett gott stöd i arbetet, men att ansvaret ofta ligger på enskilda utvecklare snarare än på verksamheten som helhet. Detta är en av de största utmaningarna, tillsammans med att det fortfarande utvecklas otillgängligt parallellt och att tidspress gör att tillgänglighet kan prioriteras ned. Respondenterna är dock överens om att det inte tar längre tid att utveckla tillgängligt än otillgängligt, förutsatt att det tas i beaktande från början. Framgångsfaktorer i arbetet är att sälja in tillgänglighet till kunden, att arbeta strukturerat med kunskapsdelning och att dokumentera lösningar för att spara tid. Utöver detta framgår att tillgänglighetsfrågan skulle vinna på att ägarskapet lyfts till en högre beslutsnivå och kompetensen breddas i leverantörens organisation, samt att utvecklare får tillgång till specialistkompetens och användartester som stöd i arbetet. En grundkunskap om tillgänglighet skulle kunna inkluderas i webbutvecklingsutbildningar i större utsträckning, och en utökning av lagkraven skulle kunna skapa ytterligare incitament hos kunden. / Since 2019, all public websites in Sweden are legally bound to meet a certain degree of digital accessibility. An additional EU directive is being transposed into national law at the time of publication of this thesis, which will impose corresponding requirements on part of the private sector, such as banking services and e-commerce. This will likely cause increased demand which suppliers of web development and, in turn, their developers must be able to meet.  The aims of this study are to create an increased awareness of digital accessibility as well as to clarify, from the developer’s perspective, how this degree of accessibility is achieved and what could make application of digital accessibility more efficient.  In order to achieve this, eight qualitative interviews were conducted, transcribed and thematized in the results section. An inductive thematic analysis has been carried out related to the research questions. It compares the results of previous studies with the outcomes from this study, and shows clear similarities but also differences and new discoveries.  The study shows that developers have access to evaluation tools and guidelines that provide good support in their work, but that the responsibility often lies with individual developers rather than with the business as a whole. This is one of the main challenges, together with the fact that inaccessible development is still being carried out in parallel, and that time pressure leads to deprioritization of accessibility. However, the respondents agree that it does not take any more time to develop accessible rather than inaccessible websites, provided that this is taken into account from the outset. Success factors for digital accessibility are to sell the idea to the customer, to work in a structured way with knowledge sharing and to document solutions in order to save time. In addition to this, it appears that the implementation of accessibility would benefit from the ownership being raised to a higher decision level and the competence being broadened in the supplier's organization, and that developers gain access to specialist competence and user tests to support their work. A basic knowledge of accessibility could be included in web development training to a greater extent, and an extension of the legal requirements could also create additional incentives for the customer.

Due to the increasing prevalence of laws, standards, and ethical discussions about web accessibility, developing websites and apps that are usable to everyone—regardless of disability and impairment—is more important than ever. In spite of this, most of the web is still inaccessible and accessibility is commonly treated as an afterthought. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how to implement web accessibility as a cornerstone of software development processes, and more specifically what motivates accessibility adoption and how to implement it successfully. The main part of the research consists of an extensive analysis of the literature to identify common themes. Although legislation and financial concerns play a role in why organizations adopt accessibility, the most frequently cited factors are social and ethical aspects as well as reaching a wider audience. The success of accessibility implementation is largely dependent on how knowledge is created, maintained, and disseminated in organizations. Prioritizing it and integrating it as much as any other basic requirement is also a key to success. Moreover, WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the recommended accessibility standard and compliance level, as informed by a law review and insights from literature. In addition, semi-structured interviews and a workshop were conducted with participants across three projects of a Swedish IT company with the aim of applying the findings in a real-life context and bringing about change in the organization. Final suggestions were based on the thematic analysis, and adapted to the case company through the insights from interviews and the workshop, as well as process documentation and corporate policies. Although not generalizable to all organizations, the suggestions provide understanding of enterprises sharing the case company's characteristics. Furthermore, the thematic analysis and law review have relevance for all types of private organizations.

For the past few years, Sweden has worked towards digitalisation of the public sector, however without any legislated requirements for accessibility. In order to make public sector body websites and applications accessible to all users a new Swedish law, based on the Web Accessibility Directive, has been implemented. This new law dictates that public sector websites and applications need to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in September of 2020. This study explores factors influencing web practitioners when developing accessible websites, applications and services for the public sector. This is done through a survey and semi-structured interviews, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The new law does not provide guidance on methods or evaluations to develop products and services accessible for all users. Instead it has a main focus on compliance with WCAG 2.1. The result show that the close connection between the law and the guidelines removes the focus from the users in evaluations. Instead the focus is on measurable compliance with the law through the use of static checklists or automatic testing tools. As long as the method of using a checklist or automatic tool is presented as equally sufficient as user testing in terms of reaching compliance with the law, clients requesting accessible solutions will not change their priorities or allocate resources towards user testing. The findings are presented in a model representing the factors influencing web development and accessibility evaluation and how these factors are connected and dependent on each other.

This work deals with handicapped users' issues caused by limitations of their handicap and their ability of reading and text understanding. It reports on a summary of basic rules of accessible web pages' creation. It also introduces a solution with help of automatic transformation of inaccessible web pages to their accessible version.

Farmers markets (FM) have become increasingly popular almost tripling over the past two decades due to the rising interest in local and/or organic foods. Within this same time period, notable farmers market foodborne illness outbreaks; such as E. coli O157:H7 and strawberries and Salmonella and peas; have occurred, and emphasize the importance of food safety practices at farmers markets. Some farmers may be encouraged to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to limit the contamination of fresh produce; however, GAPs programs are complex and also very driven by wholesale buyers. Furthermore, many FM growers are unfamiliar with GAPs or do not believe it is applicable to them. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was passed in 2011, and shifted the food safety paradigm from a reactive to proactive approach introducing seven different rules including the Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCHFR) and the Produce Safety Rule (PSR). Each FSMA rule does contain exemptions for smaller-scale operations (e.g., farms, facilities) that allows them to be excluded from the rule, or excluded from certain aspects of the rule. Generally, most FM vendors may satisfy exemptions from the FSMA regulations (e.g., be exempt from the FSMA Produce Safety Rule because of commodities); however, to our knowledge, no studies have assessed the regulatory compliance requirements of FM vendors to the FSMA regulations. This dissertation explored the regulatory requirements of FM vendors, and the accessibility of FSMA materials for these audiences. Additionally, due to the sudden and unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic, an objective was added that explored how COVID-19 influenced behavior changes among this audience. Interviews were conducted and found that all vendors (100%) were exempt from the PCHFR and that most vendors (67%) were exempt from the PSR, some were qualified exempt (28%), and a few (5%) were covered. This study also found that farmers market vendors received information mainly from University Cooperative Extension sources. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted hygiene and health practices at FMs. Market personnel (managers and vendors) implemented many different hygiene and health practices at their markets. The major source of COVID-19 food safety information for market personnel was local and federal government; as well as University Cooperative Extension. Accessibility analyses showed that many FM or COVID-19 resources were not accessible due to populations that rely on produce safety resources generated by Cooperative Extension due to (i) navigation or web accessibility errors, (ii) high literacy level requirements, and (iii) lack of keep (i.e., resources were not up-to-date, or continuously managed or monitored). These findings will inform the development of FM targeted resources, that are also, accessible to a more diverse and inclusive audience. One example is a produce safety resource on the updated agricultural water requirements that is developed to an 8th grade reading level, with no broken links or additional navigations errors, and if a PDF version is available, proper headers and titles. / Doctor of Philosophy / Farmers markets (FMs) have increased in popularity over the two decades with because of interest by consumers to support local agriculture, buy organic products, or because they believe these foods to be safer from bacteria and viruses. Shopping at a FMs does not necessarily make the products any safer compared to buying it from a grocery store. It is important that farmers markets follow proper food safety practices during the growing, harvesting, and preparation of produce for sale. One example is the prevention of animal feces from getting on the produce or in a water source that would be used. Another would be to follow proper hygiene practices such as handwashing after using the bathroom. These two examples and others are detailed in a law passed by President Obama in 2011 called the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which allows the Food and Drug Administration to begin its proactive instead of reactive food safety approach. FSMA does not have to be followed by all food entities. Depending on how much a farm makes in revenue (<$25,000) or if they grow products deemed as "not risky,", they may be exempt. These types of products such as potatoes, beets, and corn are safer because they will be cooked before consumption killing any bacteria or viruses that may exist. Other products such as romaine lettuce and tomatoes are usually consumed fresh without cooking and are thus riskier if there are any bacteria or viruses on it. Interviews were conducted to understand if farmers market vendors need to comply with FSMA. Most vendors are not required to follow FSMA because they gross less than $25,000 or their products were already covered by other food safety regulations such as meat being covered by the USDA. Additionally, how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced FMs was explored. Two surveys, one for vendors and one for managers, were distributed to stakeholders. FMs adapted really well to the challenging COVID-19 landscape and implemented COVID-19 preventive measures such as social distancing, mask wearing, and providing hand sanitizer and handwashing stations to continue to operate and keep their customers and employees safe. After understanding the characteristics and the unique challenges to food safety implementation that these market personnel may face, additional research was done to understand if currently available resources were accessible. Accessibility was evaluated using website and PDF accessibility checkers and a readability level checker. Resources should be easy to navigate and written to around a 8th grade level to make it easy to understand. There is a lack of well-crafted, accessible resources that address the unique challenges that farmers market personnel may face. These considerations should be considered when creating these materials.

Was bedeutet Barrierefreiheit im Internet? Welche Elemente auf einer Website werden zur Barriere für Menschen mit Sehbehinderungen oder Blindheit? Was sind Barrieren für gehörlose Menschen und was sind Barrieren für körperlich eingeschränkte Menschen? Und wie können diese Barrieren erkannt und abgebaut werden? Welche Lösungsmöglichkeiten gibt es und mit welchem Aufwand sind diese umzusetzen? Die Arbeit zeigt am Beispiel einer Plattform für Studierende mit Behinderungen an der TU Dresden Barrieren im täglichen Umgang mit elektronischen Dienstleistungen für betroffene Nutzer auf. Dafür wird die Anwendung verschiedener anerkannter Evaluationsmethoden am Praxisobjekt demonstriert und mit echten Nutzer-Interviews ergänzt. Auf der Grundlage der erhobenen Daten wird das der Plattform zugrundeliegende Kontextszenario qualifiziert und erweitert und ein Redesign durchgeführt. Die erfolgreiche Anwendung und Umsetzung der Richtlinien für Barrierefreiheit und Gebrauchstauglichkeit wird anschließend dokumentiert und demonstriert.

Com o aumento do uso das atividades de modelagem em processos de desenvolvimento de software, a participação de pessoas com deficiência visual em tais processos requer esforços dedicados para que os modelos sejam passíveis de entendimento, caso contrário essa participação fica comprometida. Os modelos são em sua maioria visuais e, portanto, seu processo de construção requer o posicionamento de elementos no espaço do documento por meio de um dispositivo de apontar, como o mouse, e sua leitura requer o uso da visão, uma vez que os diagramas são compostos não apenas por textos, mas também por elementos visuais como retângulos e arcos conectando-os. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste projeto foi desenvolver uma técnica textual para representação e interação com diagramas que possibilite que pessoas com deficiência visual sejam capazes de colaborar em projetos de software, tanto utilizando uma abordagem de desenvolvimento orientado a modelos, quanto em uma abordagem de desenvolvimento tradicional. Para atingir o objetivo proposto foi desenvolvido um protótipo de uma ferramenta Web, a AWMo (lê-se letra a letra: A-W-M-O), a partir da qual a edição de modelos pode ser realizada por meio de duas visões equivalentes: uma visão gráfica, na qual o engenheiro de software poderá inserir novos elementos no diagrama, posicioná-los e definir suas propriedades de modo visual; e uma visão textual, na qual o engenheiro de software pode inserir novos elementos, propriedades e relacioná-los utilizando uma gramática textual. Um estudo de caso foi conduzido para avaliar sua eficácia e os resultados mostraram que a linguagem textual desenvolvida não representa uma barreira para a utilização da abordagem proposta pela AWMo. Os resultados sugerem que a AWMo é uma opção viável para facilitar o acesso de deficientes visuais a modelos de software, ajudando a promover a colaboração e comunicação efetiva e de maneira independente entre usuários com e sem visão para atividades de modelagem de software / With the growth of modeling activities in software development processes, the participation of visually impaired users requires dedicated efforts so that the models are capable to be understood, otherwise this participation is compromised. The models are mostly visuals and, therefore, their construction process requires the positioning of elements in the document space with a pointing device, like the mouse, and their reading requires the use of vision, since the diagrams are composed not only by text, but also by visual elements such as rectangles and arcs connecting them. In this context, the goal of this project was to develop a textual technique to represent and interact with diagrams to allow visually disabled people to collaborate in software development projects, either using an model driven development approach or a tradicional development approach. To achieve the proposed goal, a prototype Web tool called AWMo was developed. The prototype allows the edition of models to be done in two distinct views: a graphical view, where the software engineer is able to insert new elements and define their position in a visual and traditional way; and a textual view, where the software engineer is able to insert new elements, their properties and relationships using a textual grammar. A case study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the approach and the results show that the textual language developed did not posed itself as a barrier to the use of the AWMo. The results suggest that AWMo is a viable option to allow the access of the visually impaired to software models, promoting collaboration and effective communication between sighted and blind users in software modeling activities, but most importantly, in an independent way

A acessibilidade, como um conceito geral, se refere à capacidade de produtos, meios, serviços e dispositivos em alcançar o uso por pessoas com deficiência. A acessibilidade naWeb diz respeito à capacidade destas pessoas em utilizá-la, acessar os conteúdos e poder participar ativamente dela, interagindo e gerando novos conteúdos. A Web de hoje em dia oferece ricas experiências aos usuários, porém muitas barreiras são enfrentadas por usuários com deficiências visuais, devido à falta de atenção dada pelos desenvolvedores às questões de acessibilidade das páginas. A construção de uma página que atenda adequadamente aos requisitos de acessibilidade é uma tarefa técnica complicada. Diversos padrões e recomendações foram criadas para tal, mas o domínio desses padrões e a compreensão de como eles ajudarão na experiência de usuários com deficiências não é simples. Ferramentas existentes validam detalhes técnicos da implementação das páginas, geralmente seguindo uma lista de itens ou recomendações a serem verificadas, mas essas ferramentas não expõem ao desenvolvedor o efeito final na experiência que um usuário cego terá ao visitá-la, ou evidenciam a importância relativa de cada problema encontrado. Neste trabalho, estudou-se a viabilidade e o potencial de um simulador de leitor de tela, cujo público alvo são os próprios desenvolvedores, de forma a auxiliar a análise de acessibilidade de uma página para usuários com deficiência visual. Dois protótipos foram desenvolvidos e avaliados, buscando verificar as lacunas existentes em outras abordagens que ele possa alcançar. / Accessibility, as a general concept, refers to the capacity of products, services and environments to be used by people with disabilities. Web accessibility, therefore, constitutes the ability of the web to be any person, including people with disabilities. The web nowadays offers rich experiences to its users, but there are many barriers that a person with visual disabilities faces while browsing the web. Building a web page that is well adapted to accessibility requirements is a complicated technical task. Several standards and guidelines have been created to achieve this, but mastering these standards and understanding how they will help these users experiences isnt simple. There are existing tools to validate technical details of a web pages implementation, usually referring back to the standards or a list of items to be verified, but these tools dont tell the web developer the effects that each problem will have in the final experience, or the relative importance of each existing problem. In this research, we studied the viability and potential of a screen reader simulator, targeting web developers as its main user group, in order to support the accessibility analysis of a webpage for blind users. Two prototype versions were developed and evaluated, in order to verify the gaps from other types of tools that this approach can reach.

A acessibilidade, como um conceito geral, se refere à capacidade de produtos, meios, serviços e dispositivos em alcançar o uso por pessoas com deficiência. A acessibilidade naWeb diz respeito à capacidade destas pessoas em utilizá-la, acessar os conteúdos e poder participar ativamente dela, interagindo e gerando novos conteúdos. A Web de hoje em dia oferece ricas experiências aos usuários, porém muitas barreiras são enfrentadas por usuários com deficiências visuais, devido à falta de atenção dada pelos desenvolvedores às questões de acessibilidade das páginas. A construção de uma página que atenda adequadamente aos requisitos de acessibilidade é uma tarefa técnica complicada. Diversos padrões e recomendações foram criadas para tal, mas o domínio desses padrões e a compreensão de como eles ajudarão na experiência de usuários com deficiências não é simples. Ferramentas existentes validam detalhes técnicos da implementação das páginas, geralmente seguindo uma lista de itens ou recomendações a serem verificadas, mas essas ferramentas não expõem ao desenvolvedor o efeito final na experiência que um usuário cego terá ao visitá-la, ou evidenciam a importância relativa de cada problema encontrado. Neste trabalho, estudou-se a viabilidade e o potencial de um simulador de leitor de tela, cujo público alvo são os próprios desenvolvedores, de forma a auxiliar a análise de acessibilidade de uma página para usuários com deficiência visual. Dois protótipos foram desenvolvidos e avaliados, buscando verificar as lacunas existentes em outras abordagens que ele possa alcançar. / Accessibility, as a general concept, refers to the capacity of products, services and environments to be used by people with disabilities. Web accessibility, therefore, constitutes the ability of the web to be any person, including people with disabilities. The web nowadays offers rich experiences to its users, but there are many barriers that a person with visual disabilities faces while browsing the web. Building a web page that is well adapted to accessibility requirements is a complicated technical task. Several standards and guidelines have been created to achieve this, but mastering these standards and understanding how they will help these users experiences isnt simple. There are existing tools to validate technical details of a web pages implementation, usually referring back to the standards or a list of items to be verified, but these tools dont tell the web developer the effects that each problem will have in the final experience, or the relative importance of each existing problem. In this research, we studied the viability and potential of a screen reader simulator, targeting web developers as its main user group, in order to support the accessibility analysis of a webpage for blind users. Two prototype versions were developed and evaluated, in order to verify the gaps from other types of tools that this approach can reach.

A Lei nº 13.146 - Lei Brasileira de Inclusão da Pessoa com Deficiência (Estatuto da Pessoa com Deficiência) – que passou a vigorar a partir de janeiro de 2016 reforça a obrigatoriedade de acessibilidade nos websites mantidos pelo governo, estabelecida há mais de dez anos através do Decreto nº 5296/2004. Através do e-Gov, o governo tem empreendido várias ações no sentido de impulsionar o desenvolvimento de websites que atendam os mais diversos cidadãos, permitindo assim, o acesso às informações e serviços públicos com igualdade e sem discriminação. Dentre essas ações destacam-se as recomendações do Modelo de Acessibilidade em Governo Eletrônico (e-MAG) e o projeto Padrões Web em Governo Eletrônico (e-PWG). Neste contexto, os portais web das Universidade Federais têm grande responsabilidade de tornar acessível o seu conteúdo e informações a toda a comunidade. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados da avaliação da acessibilidade das páginas iniciais das 63 Universidades Federais Brasileiras. Como o uso de Sistemas de Gerenciamento de Conteúdo (CMS, do inglês Content Management System) para a construção de websites governamentais é uma recomendação destacada pelo e-PWG, esta pesquisa buscou ainda investigar se estas Universidades estão adotando esta tecnologia. Diante desses resultados, o objetivo foi identificar se o uso de CMS pode contribuir ou não com a criação de páginas mais acessíveis, destacando os principais problemas de acessibilidade encontrados por essas páginas. / The Law nº. 13,146 - Brazilian Law of Inclusion of People with Disabilities (Person Statute with Disabilities) - which came into effect from January 2016 reinforces the requirement of accessibility on websites maintained by the government, established for over ten years through the Decree No. 5296/2004. Through the e-GOV, the government has undertaken several actions to boost the development of websites that attend the most diverse citizens, thus allowing access to information and public services equally and without discrimination. Among these actions highlight the Accessibility Model recommendations on Electronic Government (e-MAG) and the Web Standards in Electronic Government project (e-PWG). In this context, the web portals of the Federal University have a great responsibility to make available the content and information to the entire community. This study presents the results of the evaluation of the accessibility of homepages of the 63 Brazilian Federal Universities. As the use of Content Management Systems (CMS) for the construction of government websites is a recommendation highlighted by e-PWG, this research has also sought to investigate whether these universities are adopting this technology. Given these results, the goal was to identify the use of CMS can contribute or not to create more accessible pages, highlighting the major accessibility problems encountered by these pages.