Accessibility in virtual communities of practice under the optics of inclusion of visually impaired

Luis F. Cândido Marques

Daniela Freitas Guilhermino

Larissa Albano Lopes

pp. 14-26

in: Margherita Antona, Constantine Stephanidis (eds), Universal access in human-computer interaction. methods, techniques, and best practices, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

Accessibility aims to ensure better quality of life to people, specially people with disabilities. Thus, it is possible to break down barriers and allow everyone, independently its specificities, have access to the same contents, materials and places equally. Many barriers are still encountered in terms of the accessibility of computing environments for the visually impaired. However, the accessibility should assume a requisite role in the quality of software to enable the inclusion of people with different types of visual impairment in these environments. The Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) are important computing environments that promote interaction and collaboration between people, however, these areas also have many limitations to the inclusion of people with disabilities, including the visually impaired. Thus, this research investigates the visually impaired needs to access the VCoPs, analyzing the main existing guidelines with the aid of some accessibility evaluation tools. With the analysis of the results in accessibility evaluations it is intended to support the design process of inclusive VCoPs for the visually impaired.