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Emerging technologies and web accessibility: research challenges and opportunities focussing on vision issues
1University of Manchester, School of Computer Science, Kilburn Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Disability and Rehabilitation. Assistive Technology
|December 28, 2010
Summary
This review identifies research challenges and opportunities in emerging web technologies for users with visual impairments and assistive technologies. It aims to proactively address accessibility issues before they require retrospective enhancement.
Area of Science:
- Computer Science
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Web Technologies
Background:
- The World Wide Web (Web) is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary domain with continuous development in technologies and research.
- Maintaining a holistic view of new developments is challenging for the accessibility community.
- Web accessibility has historically focused on correcting past issues rather than proactively integrating accessibility into new technologies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify research challenges and opportunities in emerging web technologies.
- To focus on the needs of blind and partially sighted users and those using assistive technologies.
- To enable the research community to proactively address accessibility challenges and leverage opportunities.
Main Methods:
- Technological review of emerging trends in the Web domain.
- Analysis of new technologies and their implications for web accessibility.
- Identification of potential research gaps and future investigation areas.
Main Results:
- Emerging web technologies present both challenges and opportunities for accessibility.
- New technologies are often not designed with accessibility in mind.
- Proactive measures are needed to integrate accessibility into the development lifecycle.
Conclusions:
- The accessibility community needs to stay informed about emerging web trends.
- Anticipating and addressing accessibility challenges proactively is crucial.
- Further research is needed to ensure future web developments are inclusive.
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