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Developing countries; developing experiences: approaches to accessibility for the real world

Published: 26 April 2010 Publication History

Abstract

The need for developing countries to consider appropriate strategies for enhancing access to networked resources by disabled people provides an opportunity to assess the merits and limitations of the approaches which have been taken in western countries. This paper reviews the limitations of dependence on a constrained technical definition of accessibility, and builds on previous work which developed a holistic approach to Web accessibility and a generic model to assist policy makers in understanding the complexities of addressing Web accessibility. We explore how such approaches can be deployed by practitioners and developers with responsibilities for the deployment of Web services within the context of limited resources, flawed technologies, conflicting priorities and debates within disability studies on the nature of disability.
A pragmatic framework is presented which supports promotion of digital accessibility within a wider social inclusion context. It learns from past difficulties and aims to assist policy makers and practitioners across the world in decision-making when seeking to deploy accessible Web-based services within the context of limited resources, conflicting priorities and the limitations of technical accessibility guidelines.

References

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  • (2024)The Legal Handling of Digital Accessibility: a Comparison of Evaluation and Policy Approaches in Federal-Level Cases in Brazil and the United StatesJournal of the Brazilian Computer Society10.5753/jbcs.2024.325930:1(363-379)Online publication date: 26-Sep-2024
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      cover image ACM Other conferences
      W4A '10: Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)
      April 2010
      223 pages
      ISBN:9781450300452
      DOI:10.1145/1805986
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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      Published: 26 April 2010

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      Author Tags

      1. disability studies
      2. disabled people
      3. guidelines
      4. policy
      5. social inclusion
      6. web accessibility

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      Overall Acceptance Rate 171 of 371 submissions, 46%

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      View all
      • (2024)The Legal Handling of Digital Accessibility: a Comparison of Evaluation and Policy Approaches in Federal-Level Cases in Brazil and the United StatesJournal of the Brazilian Computer Society10.5753/jbcs.2024.325930:1(363-379)Online publication date: 26-Sep-2024
      • (2024)Digital Accessibility for the Professional Inclusion of the Visually Impaired in MoroccoIndustry 5.0 and Emerging Technologies10.1007/978-3-031-70996-8_12(231-241)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2024
      • (2022)Disability, Information Technology, Assistive Devices and Employment in the CaribbeanDisability in the Workplace10.1007/978-3-031-19340-8_4(93-120)Online publication date: 14-Dec-2022
      • (2022)Demystifying Digital Accessibility and Fostering Inclusive Mindsets. Compliance with the European Standard for Digital Accessibility EN 301 549Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement10.1007/978-3-031-15559-8_42(595-609)Online publication date: 24-Aug-2022
      • (2018)A software library for sign recognition through natural interface devices2018 13th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI)10.23919/CISTI.2018.8399280(1-6)Online publication date: Jun-2018
      • (2017)Considerations for Implementing a Holistic Organisational Approach to AccessibilityProceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference10.1145/3058555.3058571(1-4)Online publication date: 2-Apr-2017
      • (2014)Web accessibility standards and disability: developing critical perspectives on accessibilityDisability and Rehabilitation10.3109/09638288.2014.93817836:16(1375-1383)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2014
      • (2014)Global considerations in creating an organizational web accessibility policyProceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference10.1145/2596695.2596709(1-4)Online publication date: 7-Apr-2014
      • (2014)Towards a methodology to inclusive curriculum design: An experience presented within an accessible virtual learning environment2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings10.1109/FIE.2014.7044468(1-7)Online publication date: Oct-2014
      • (2014)Teaching and promoting web accessibility in virtual learning environments: A staff training experience in Latin-America2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings10.1109/FIE.2014.7044392(1-4)Online publication date: Oct-2014
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