Workshop Mensch-Computer-Vernetzung Web Accessibility Gestaltung von Webseiten um eine Nutzung mit vielen verschiedenen Zugangsmgeräten (Scrennreader, Bildschirmlupe) und unter verschiedenen technischen Bedingungen (langsame Anbindung, veraltete Software, keine Farbe) weitestgehend uneingeschränkt zu ermöglichen.

Med hjälp av Internet har världens befolkning kunnat utforska oändligt många tjänster. Denna utveckling har dock lett till barriärer för personer med funktionsnedsättning. På grund av det har World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) tillsammans med Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) skapat Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG är riktlinjer skapade för att göra webbsidor mer tillgängliga för alla, inklusive människor med funktionsnedsättning. I Sverige finns lagen för digital offentlig service (DOS-lagen). För att upprätthålla denna lag krävs det att offentliga aktörer följer WCAG:s riktlinjer upp till och med nivå AA.Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån WCAG 2.1 få en förståelse över vilka tillgänglighetsproblem som är vanligast och om problemen korrelerar med använt webbramverk. Även de hinder som eventuellt kan finnas kring arbetet runt WCAG är av intresse. Detta för att ge underlag för framtida strategiska beslut för svenska offentliga aktörer för ett lyckat arbete med att uppfylla WCAG 2.1. En kvantitativ undersökning på 30 olika webbplatser har utförts med hjälp av ett automatiskt verktyg och en manuell undersökning av startsidorna. Semistrukturerade intervjuer utfördes med 4 olika offentliga aktörer för att kunna svara på om det finns hinder i arbetet med att följa WCAG 2.1.Resultatet beskriver de tillgänglighetsproblem som finns på de olika webbplatserna. Av kriterierna som undersöktes automatiskt var de vanligaste överträdda [1.3.1] som menar på att man ska använda HTML-element på ett korrekt sätt så innehåll kan presenteras, [4.1.1] som ska se till att koden valideras samt [4.1.2] som menar på att man ska se till att anpassade komponenter fungerar i hjälpmedel. Den manuella undersökningen visade de vanligaste överträdda kriterierna var [1.4.10] som menar på att man ska skapa en flexibel layout som fungerar vid olika skärmstorlekar och [3.3.3] som menar på att man ska kunna ge förslag på hur inmatningsfel kan rättas till vid olika sökfunktioner. Resultatet pekade även på att en korrelation mellan valt webbramverk och antalet webbtillgänglighetproblem inte existerade. De semistrukturerade intervjuerna kunde fastställa att det fanns en del utmaningar vid arbetet runt WCAG 2.1. De största orsakerna var kopplade till budget och resurser men också okunskap och inställning till WCAG. En annan utmaning var även kopplad till kompetens vid nyrekrytering. / With the help of Internet the world’s population have had the opportunity to explore the different services Internet has to offer. Although this amazing development has been advantageous to many people it has created barriers for people with different disabilities. Because of this the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) together with the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) have created Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG are guidelines for making web pages more accessible for everyone, including people with disabilities. In Sweden there is an existing law called the law of digital public service. This law demands public authorities to have accessible web pages and follow the WCAG guidelines up to level AA.The purpose of this study is, from the perspective of WCAG 2.1, to get an understanding of which accessibility problems that are most common and if there is a correlation between these problems and used web frameworks. The challenges that eventually exist around the work with WCAG 2.1 are also of interest. The purpose of this is to give basis for future strategic decision-making for Swedish public authorities. The methods that were being used during the study were both qualitative and quantitative. The quantitative research on 30 different web sites was executed with the help of an automatic testing tool and manual research of the start pages. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 4 different public authorities to find answers if there were any difficulties with the implementation of WCAG 2.1.The result describes the accessibility problems that exist on the different webpages. Of all the criterions evaluated in the automatic research, the most violated criterions were [1.3.1] which means to use HTML elements correctly so that content can be presented, [4.1.1] to make sure that the code validates and [4.1.2] to make sure that custom components work in assistive devices. The manual research showed that the most common criterions were [1.4.10] which means to create a flexible layout that works at different screen sizes and [3.3.3] which means that is should be possible to give suggestions on how errors can be corrected in different search functions. The result gave indications that there was no correlation between web framework used and amount of accessibility problems. The semi structured interviews concluded that there were many difficulties with the implementation of WCAG. The biggest reasons were connected to budget, resources, and attitude towards WCAG. Another challenge was connected to the amount of competence on WCAG when recruiting new employees.

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.

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.

Accessible web interfaces are crucial for the inclusion and independence of all groups in society. Cognitive accessibility aims to make content more accessible for individuals with cognitive disabilities, such as people with learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia, dysgraphia) and age-related disabilities (e.g. dementia, Alzheimer's disease). It is hard to tell exactly how many people are affected by barriers on the web due to inaccessibility, however, cognitive accessibility is affecting all users on the web to some extent. With an overrepresentation in accessibility research regarding sensory disabilities such as visual or hearing impairments, there is a need for further research on cognitive disabilities. Moreover, there is a lack of research in specific sectors (e.g., commerce, health), solutions anchored in real-world experiences affecting people with cognitive disabilities (PwCDs) and inclusion of PwCDs in the design process for web accessibility. As a contribution, this study aims to investigate the cognitive accessibility in the checkout part of e-commerce websites, adopting a form of a participative design approach. As such, a prototype of a fictive e-commerce website adopting cognitive accessibility was designed along with a counterexample prototype. The prototypes were presented to the target audience in an interaction study, featuring several tasks to evaluate the prototypes. The results showed that the prototype adopting cognitive accessibility was favoured by the users, based on the findings from the collected data. This study concludes that adopting cognitive accessibility to a web interface of the checkout on an e-commerce website is beneficial and perceived as easier to use.

This study aimed to investigate the needs and challenges faced by visually impairedindividuals when using the internet and assess the compatibility of the challengesthey face with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). By exam-ining these aspects, through analysis of existing literature, surveys and interview.The study sought to gain insights into the difficulties experienced by the visuallyimpaired community and provide recommendations for improving web accessibilityand contribute to the development of more accessible and user-friendly web content.This, in turn, can improve the quality of life for individuals with visual impairmentsand promote their active involvement in social, economic, and cultural activities.The study findings indicate common obstacles faced by individuals with visual im-pairments when accessing the internet, including difficulties in reading text, limitedcustomization options, insufficient color contrast, poorly structured content, inacces-sible forms or inputs, challenges in identifying images or icons, navigating web pages,and completing forms.Individuals with visual impairments have unique requirements when using theinternet, such as the use of assistive technologies and alternative text descriptions.However, they encounter various obstacles that hinder their access and engagementwith digital content and services.Although WCAG 2.0 serves as a foundationalframework for web accessibility, there is still room for improvement in terms ofawareness, implementation, and testing. Further efforts are necessary to enhanceinternet accessibility for individuals with visual impairments, facilitating their fullparticipation in social, economic, and cultural activities.

This work examined the state of accessibility in React UI component libraries. The accessibility of these libraries is essential since they are used to create the frontend of hundreds of thousands of projects. We conducted a controlled experiment to evaluate the accessibility of six open source libraries. We selected libraries based on GitHub dependents intervals to include libraries with varied use. In the experiment, we implemented a UI for each library with a few standard components. We then tested these UI implementations based on WCAG 2.1 and WAI-ARIA 1.1 with automated testing using Axe and manual test cases. We also used exploratory testing with the screen reader NVDA to detect issues based on actual use with an assistive device. We also conducted a literature review to support the experiment and the following discussion and conclusions of its results. We detected 50 accessibility issues in total and all libraries had one or more issues. Also, that there was a significant difference in the accessibility of libraries. The second interval had the least number of issues and was closely followed by the first interval with the most dependents. The two libraries selected from the interval with the least dependents had the most issues. We recommend developers not using libraries from the interval with the least dependents for public web products. Since all libraries had one or more issues, we also recommend developers choose libraries with care to ensure accessibility, WCAG 2.1 compliance, and follow WAI-ARIA 1.1. This work was limited to six libraries and a few components; there are many more of both. Another limitation was that the testing was limited to a desktop resolution and did not include mobile testing. Also, the work used the free version of Axe, and a paid version could potentially detect more accessibility issues.

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.