Impaired Visual Perception and Selected Aspects of e-Accessibility at Universities and Colleges

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the key findings regarding e-accessibility of resources at universities and colleges in the context of international rules and legal standards, applicable in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The key assumption in this research study is the pre-existence of a structured electronic platform for individual public, state and private universities and colleges and individuals with different types and degrees of visual impairment. The proposed research method presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the digital elements in 2014 and 2015 conducted at 106 public, state and private universities and colleges. In total, we have analysed more than 5,300 digital documents regarding their suitability and accessibility for an individual with visual impairment. We found out that the level of accessibility at universities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has remained unsatisfactory over a long term and contradicts the basic e-accessibility principles set forth in Act No. 81/2006 Coll., Decree No. 55/2015, Regulation No. 458/2012 Coll. and international rules stated in, WCAG 2.0.

Keywords: e-Accessibility, e-Inclusion, visual impairment

1. Introduction

In the context of ever-growing information content in the digital environment of universities, the

issue of electronic information accessibility is one of the critical current topics, which deserves

increased attention. For individuals with some form of visual impairment, the electronic environment of

information resources at a university determines the broad spectrum of activities that they can engage

in, relating to their studies.

The key aspect, in this context, is the level of accessibility of the electronic platform, used by the

visually impaired students for studying. A significant risk lies in the digital barriers preventing the

individual with visual impairment from perceiving and subsequently processing the electronic content

for his / her own knowledge enhancement. However, e-accessibility at universities for visually impaired

individuals cannot just be reduced to the field of quantifiable digital barriers.

An integral part of the issue has to do with the competency of these visually impaired students in the

use of assistive technologies (Hersh & Johnson, 2008), the quality of these technologies, and the system

of university support measures put in place for these students (Regec, 2015).

What also cannot be neglected, in this context, is the scope of conventions, agreements, and legal

standards that have been framed both at the national and international levels, which clearly exclude any

sort of discrimination of any individual due to disability of any kind.

2.E-accessibility in the International Context

In terms of regulations and rules for electronic information accessibility, year 1999 was the key one,

when the W3 Consortium (World Wide Web Consortium) approved the document titled “

” in its first version, identified as WCAG 1.0. The WCAG 1.0 document

presents the 14 main rules for website e-accessibility. The list of these rules was prepared by the WAI

Working Group (Web Accessibility Initiative), which is a part of the international W3 Consortium.

Checkpoints have been added to the rules, aimed at verifying the aspect of fulfilment of an individual’s

priorities. The checkpoints are classified in three priority levels based on the severity of impact on e-

accessibility for the user with visual impairment.

For the USA as well as for the EU countries, the document itself became a significant

pillar in defining the mandatory accessibility requirements. One of the projects funded by the European

Commission within the confines of the Telematics Applications Research and Development

in 1994-1998 was titled, currently being developed as part of

the global W3 Consortium. Another significant project supported by the European Commission is the

(WAI-DA). One of the key tasks of the WAI-DA project

was to increase of participation of European organizations in implementing the web environment

accessibility rules, applicable to all the EU countries.

The European Commission has supported and continues to support the implementation of such

projects focusing on e-accessibility. We would like to mention the following noteworthy projects here:

In 2001, the European Commission issued an action plan titled “eEurope 2002:

(hereinafter referred to as eEurope 2002) containing a detailed

description of the tasks to be initiated for electronic accessibility for visually impaired with the

objective of eliminating discrimination within digital processes. The European Commission has invited

all the European Union member countries to be actively involved in the build up of a barrier-free

information society.

With respect to the issue of websites, the action plan states that the recommendations

for member states do not apply only to the national level public websites, but also to those at the

regional level. According to the action plan, 2003, which was to be called the

, should have been a year when the accessibility rules were

implemented by private websites as well. The action plan was then followed by the

action plan, presented to the European Council in Seville in 2002 and supported by the

resolution of the Council of Ministers in 2003.

One of the most comprehensive reports concerning website accessibility in the individual European

Union countries was submitted to the European Community in 2007, titled

, as a part of the extensive MeAC study. Regec (2009) states that the system of

work as well as the methodology of assessment of website accessibility within the MeAC proposal is

not sufficient and valid. The outputs presented are not directly linked to the practical aspects of the

accessibility issue.

The author quoted above further states that it is not correct to present any conclusions based on

automatic control exclusively, due to insufficient reliability of the results. The goal of the strategies

defined was to subsequently implement measures providing 100% accessibility to the web environment

of public institutions across the EU. In this context, Fig. 1.provides the findings regarding accessibility

of the public websites in the European Union in 2006, including its unfulfilled plan until 2010.

See Full Size >

and the unfulfilled objective of the European Commission until 2010 (according to Cullen et al. In Regec, 2010)

2.1Current Aspects of e-Accessibility

At present, a new version of the website accessibility rules has come into place, identified as

(Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0), which was approved in 2008 and has, since then,

replaced the rules of 1999.

The new rules have been approved, reflecting the significant changes having essential impact on the

practical level of accessibility (development of user agents, including assistive technologies,

reassessment of the value of individual priorities within the WCAG 1.0 rules and others). The new

concept of rules has been developed based on four basic principles, containing 12 basic rules.

In addition to the aforementioned principles and rules, the WCAG 2.0 document also defines the so-

called “success criteria” and the techniques aimed at better verification, intelligibility, and

implementation of criteria.

EU, in compliance with the requirements of the and

institutions, has been making an effort over a long term to attain a state, when all EU public

websites would fully comply with the requirements, at least at the AA level.

In addition to the document, it is also necessary to cite the document titled

(WAI-ARIA), which describes the technical implementation of accessible

solutions for dynamic web applications. The document has been formulated by a working group within

the WAI Consortium, W3. In 2014, the first version of this document was adopted, titled WAI-ARIA

1.0. Subsequently, in 2016, the working version comprising adjustments to several technical

specifications was published, titled (https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/).

An important document for the developers of assistive technologies, web browsers and digital

media players is titled (UAAG), published in the approved 1.0

version, in 2002. At present, the new 2.0 version is about to be approved, published in its working

version form, late in 2015 (https://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG20/).

Another document for web developers describing the concept of tools for the creation of accessible

electronic environment in a broad range of aspects is titled

(ATAG). The first version thereof, identified as 1.0, was approved in 2000. The ATAG 2.0 document,

the same as UAAG 2.0, was developed as a follow-up to. The currently valid standard at the

stage is identified as and was officially published in the second half

of 2015 (https://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG20/).

3.Legal Basis of e-Accessibility in the Czech Republic

Fulfilment of the national plan for equal opportunities for citizens with health impairments

included stipulation of the conditions for publishing information on public administration in an

accessible form. This was carried out in the form of rules, compiled in accordance with Act No.

365/2000 Coll., on public administration information systems and based on the change of other

selected laws, with the last amendment to the Act amended by Act No. 81/2006 Coll. Information

pertaining to the issue of accessibility from the perspective of individuals with visual impairment is

specifically stipulated in the legal rules (public notice) as well as in the relevant guidelines. The quoted

public notice No. 64/2008 Coll. currently includes 33 mandatory and conditionally mandatory rules

(the original number being 37), divided into six logical units:

1)Website content must be accessible and readable.

2)Interface of the website is flexibly controlled by its user.

3)Information must be easy to comprehend and transparent.

4)Control and manoeuvre of the website must be clear and easy to comprehend.

5)The code must be technically competent and structured.

6)Website accessibility should be explicitly stated.

Individual rules were created according to Blind Friendly Web materials “

websites accessibility principles for users with severe visual impairment” and the set of rules in Web

Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 from 1999, as well as new aspects concerning accessibility from

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (Finková, Regec & Růžičková, 2012).

In accordance with § 21 Section 1, Act No. 111/1998 on Higher Education Institutions and the

amendment and supplement to some other Acts (The Higher Education Act), a public higher education

institution is obliged to make any possible provisions to ensure equal opportunities for study at the

higher education institution” (under letter e). The code, however, does not specify the extent of these

provisions nor does it touch upon the detailed circumstances to be attended to in the electronic

environment. In this context, it is important to also point out § 62, which states that a student has the

right to “use equipment and information technology required to study in a degree program in

accordance with the rules established by the university.” (Section 1, letter g). Moreover, Act No.

198/2009 on Equal Treatment and Legal Protection Against Discrimination (Anti-discrimination Act)

in § 2 states that “direct discrimination is understood as a means of such conduct, including omissions

thereof, where one person is treated less favourably, than another person is, used to be treated or

would be treated in a comparable situation because of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual

orientation, age, disability, religion, faith or belief” (Section 3). In addition to the above, we must note

that legal framework still does not guarantee that the level of e-Accessibility at universities in the

Czech Republic is, or will become satisfactory in the future.

4.Legal Basis of e-Accessibility in the Slovak Republic

The first enactment that determined compulsory requirements for accessibility in Slovakia was the

Act No. 275/2006 Coll. on Public Administration Information Systems. Edict No. 1706/M-2006

defined requirements for e-accessibility of public administration resources. As compulsory

requirements for accessibility, we listed selected Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 and Blind

Friendly Web 2.3 guidelines. Currently in force is the Edict No 55/2014 Coll. on standards for public

administration information systems, which lists compulsory requirements under § 14 on “Accessibility

of Websites”.

The biggest issue with current legislation for digital accessibility from the visually impaired

persons’ point of view is the defined scope of enacted documents mentioned above. Act No. 275/2006

Coll. on Public Administration Information Systems does not apply to the electronic environment of

the universities, while it does apply to primary and secondary schools. As of today, no public

university is subjected to these rules, which quite specifically describes requirements for accessibility

of information.

Despite what we have stated above regarding the legislation directly dealing with accessibility of

information systems, it is incorrect to assume that universities can ignore digital barriers they have

created or that they can choose to address only selected issues at their own free will. Legislation

protecting individuals against discrimination in the form of Act no. 365/2004 Coll. on Equal Treatment

in Certain Areas and Protection Against Discrimination (Antidiscrimination Act) states in § 2a, that

“discrimination due to disability shall also mean the discrimination due to a previous health

impediment or the discrimination of a person in the event in which based on external signs of a person,

it would be possible to presume that the person has a disability” (Section 11).

Adding to this, the Act no. 131/2002 Coll. on Universities clearly states in § 100 that universities

should provide “the support for students and for applicants with special needs”. In this context, it is

important to understand not only the term “accessibility”, but also on what defines a student with

“special needs”.

Regulation of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of SR n. 458/2012 coll. of

Laws on minimal rights of students with special needs is specific about requirements of the students

with visual impairment, dividing them into two main groups: blind students and visually impaired

students, however, only for the purpose of physical orientation on the premises.

Selected minimum requirements of the students with special needs (visually impaired and blind category) are listed below:

• Barrier-free, unassisted access to the information related to the study.
• Barrier-free work with academic information systems.
• Barrier-free access to the information and materials provided by the academic library.

(Regulation No. 458/2012 Coll.)

The shall mean access to the information related to the study without outside

assistance, with the use of assistive technologies only.

The previous statement implies that the electronic environment of universities must not contain

digital barriers for the visually impaired and blind students and that every serious breach of

accessibility can be interpreted as a violation of applicable legal standards (Regec, V. & Regec, M.,

2014).

5.Research Methodology

Our research was based on the method of analysing the electronic environment of universities and

colleges in terms of assessing both the quantitative and qualitative elements and components of these

digital documents.

For evaluation, as the basic source of information, we used the website and other electronic

documents of the universities and colleges. In total, during 2014 and 2015, we assessed the e-

Accessibility at 106 electronic platforms of public, state and private universities in the Czech Republic

and Slovakia. For each university platform, we analysed at least 50 electronic documents separately.

The total number of analysed electronic documents at universities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

amounted to more than 5,300.

The accessibility analysis was performed by using 15 assistive technologies, online tools, internet

web browsers, the so-called extensions for web browsers and the programme intended for evaluating

accessibility of contrasts for text information. As an example, we provide the programme titled Colour

Contrast Analyser (CCA), which evaluates whether the combinations of foreground colours (font, etc.)

and the background colours, are in sufficient mutual contrast.

For analysing the accessibility of university electronic documents, we used an adjusted system of

website accessibility assessment. This assessment system was created, verified and published under the

Slovak conditions in 2008. The accessibility rating methodology used in our research presents a

specific method of calculating the accessibility rating of a website, quantifying the individual

conclusions from the manual control form. Rating of accessibility represents conformity of the website,

expressed in percentage, with wording of the rated rules. Highest rating of accessibility is marked with

the value of 100%, which represents complete fulfilment of all valued aspects of individual rules and

complete provision of website environment accessibility.

6.Key Findings

Based on the overall results for 2014 and 2015, we state that none of the university platforms

complied with the requirements for a fully accessible electronic environment.

In 2015, our analyses arrived at a surprising finding that the electronic platforms at only four

universities comply with the areas assessed with a score of more than 90%, (pursuant to the Decree No.

55/2015, Act No. 81/2006 Coll. as well as the WCAG 2.0 rules). Among these four universities, 3 are

private colleges from the Czech Republic and one is a public college from Slovakia (Table 1).

In this respect, it is particularly serious to note that according to our research, none of the public or

state Czech universities achieved the e-Accessibility rating score of 90% or higher. Similarly, in the

Slovak Republic, none of the state universities achieved the aforementioned rating level.

On the contrary, we detected website electronic environment with extremely unsatisfactory

accessibility at 43 universities, which therefore scored a very low accessibility level.

In 2015, medians of e-Accessibility ratings at the Czech and Slovak universities fell in the range of

“low” accessibility level. These findings may be evaluated as clearly unfavourable and contradictory

with the rules and regulations set forth in Act No. 81/2006 Coll., Decree No. 55/2015 and the

international WCAG 2.0. The lowest result was achieved by using the arithmetic average (accessibility

rating value of 79.5%), which bordered with very low accessibility. The least unfavourable finding

(with a resulting value of 84.4%) was assessed for the e-Accessibility rating modus.

Upon further comparison of the resulting median values between the Czech and Slovak universities

and colleges, we found out that an average university in the Czech Republic has a “low” e-

Accessibility level rating and on the other hand, an average university in Slovakia falls under the “very

low” level interval (arithmetic mean of 77.3; median of 78.4%).

7.Conclusions

Impairment or full loss of visual perception of an individual constitutes a significant deterrent,

affecting the process of gathering information and knowledge in electronic form. From the position of

visually impaired individuals, the provision of accessibility of assistive technologies and correct

adaptation of the electronic content for such assistive technologies is very essential. Effective

accessibility to university electronic content affects not only the level of involvement of students with

visual impairment in their tertiary education, but also determines their level of participation in the

digital society. These are the impacts relating to the option of participation of such persons on digital

markets (COM/2012/0721) in individual resorts as a part of the action plans, set forth for the Czech

Republic and Slovakia. These plans are based on the strategic vision that the state will equip all of its

citizens equally with such components that enable them to assert themselves in the information society

and specifically, to utilise to the fullest potential, the offerings of open education throughout life.

In the context of validity of legal standards, national strategies, and international agreements, no

discrimination is admissible whatsoever, due to health impairment, including impairment of visual

perception. The declared goal of modern educational platform comprises the support for equal

opportunities and universal design, accessible to all users alike. In this respect, we may state that the

level of accessibility of electronic platforms of universities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has

remained unsatisfactory over the long term and is very much in contradiction to the basic e-

Accessibility principles set forth in the Act No. 81/2006 Coll., Decree No. 55/2015, Regulation No.

458/2012 Coll. and the international rules, WCAG 2.0.

Acknowledgements

This paper was written with the support of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, the registration number: 14-33854P (e-Accessibility for Students with Visual Impairment at Universities in Czech and Slovak Republic).

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