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The change generated by the virtualization of activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way people participate in countless activities. Scientific conferences, like many other events, were forced by the circumstances to change from face-to-face to online overnight. The goal of this study is to identify the accessibility barriers that the platforms used by scientific online conferences pose for blind participants. The research methodology used was experiential introspection complemented by automated testing. Exploratory tests were conducted by a blind researcher using the JAWS screen reader. Besides, the accessibility evaluation tool WAVE was used to identify non-conformances with the web content accessibility guidelines WCAG. As a result, it was found in some cases a null level of accessibility and, in other cases, complexity was detected in the access to activities. As for no conformances with WCAG, two of the most prominent were empty links and the absence of headings for efficient screen reader navigation. The automated tool showed errors and alerts that need to be fixed in the teleconferencing platforms evaluated. It is presumed that, unfortunately, the moderately or even basic concepts for the participation of users with visual disabilities and blind are not being considered in the platforms used to host virtual scientific conferences.

Young children as well as children with special educational needs learn from their environment with social, emotional and physical stimuli. In this context, educational resources and teaching strategies play a main role for them in order to understand the new information. This paper describes the experience of building hybrid interfaces that combine technology with traditional educational resources. A total of 60 teachers divided in two groups completed some tasks which consisted of generating new educative resources with tecnology. Through Design Thinking methodology, teachers designed three hybrid interfaces: 1. Interactive books, combining traditional fairy tales books with mobile devices, where QR codes and NFC tags give life to the stories; 2. Educational Board Games, where augmented reality markers give an extra information to the players; 3. Tangible educational resources, which integrate Makey-Makey device and Scratch with fruit, clay, aluminum foil or water to build laboratory.

At present, the lack of adequate methods to test whether a mobile application is accessible has become a major challenge for accessibility experts. This study was applied to ten mobile applications, the most popular according to PCMAG. We propose to use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 through manual review and automatic review with the Google Play Store Accessibility Scanner validator for the Android. The evaluation results of the mobile applications indicate that the applications are not accessible because they do not comply with the minimum required level proposed by WCAG 2.1. The research proposes suggestions to improve and raise awareness among the designers of mobile applications, in such a way that more inclusive mobile applications accessible to all types of users are built.

This study proposes the use of Think Aloud and Focus Group methods for evaluating the usability of the Intelligent Police Patrolling System (I-Pat). The study was conducted with twenty-one students of computer engineering. The study included two evaluation methods. First, the application of Think Aloud using audio recordings, image capturing and questionnaires. Second, the application of a Focus Group for brainstorming. The total number of the usability problems identified was fifteen. Comprehensiveness (46%) and layout (43%) problems were the most frequently found. The study showed that the problems encountered were due to the lack of understanding of the system’s functions, so it is recommended increasing the users’ levels of knowledge about the system. The application of these methods caused the students to find a greater number of errors than when applying a single method, allowing them to generate a report with usability improvements according to the reported errors.

This study presents the design of a conceptual software architecture for the development of accessible web maps for visually impaired users. The conceptual software architecture proposed has three components: the database component is responsible for storing the web maps, the accessible web server component is responsible for converting a web map into an accessible web map, and the user side component is responsible for presenting the accessible web map to the user. A web application has been developed that shows the feasibility of implementing the proposed architecture. This application displays accessible web maps that provide additional information for visually impaired users. In addition, the application offers some alternatives for better interpretation of each map element. Visually impaired users receive feedback from the map displayed on the interface using a screen reader. The application has accessibility features based on WCAG 2.0 that facilitate the interaction of the visually impaired users.

The present work proposes a model of detection of movements of patients in rehabilitation of hip surgery in real time. The model applies the Fuzzy Logic technique to identify correct and incorrect movements in the execution of rehabilitation exercises using the motion capture device called XBOXONE Microsoft’s Kinect. An algorithm generates a multivalent logical model that allows the simultaneous modeling of deductive and decision-making processes. This model identifies the correct and incorrect movements of the patient during the execution of rehabilitation exercises. This model uses all the information collected from 24 points of the body with their respective axes of coordinates (X, Y, Z). Using data mining analysis, the algorithm selects the most remarkable attributes, eliminating non-relevant information. The main contributions of this work are: creation of a patient profile based on the movement of the human being in a generic way for the detection and prediction of execution of physical exercises in rehabilitation. On the other hand, an avatar was developed in 3D, which copies and evidences graphically the exercises performed by patients in real time.

This paper proposes alternatives for the development and improvement of maps to aid accessibility. Based on our analysis, we present an accessible online indoor map prototype that complies with WCAG 2.0. For the case study, the prototype displays an indoor map that is designed using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. This format can include information that helps the screen reader to interpret the visual graph information. In addition, the prototype can simulate the route that the users select so they can get an idea of the environment where they will mobilize. We tested the prototype in different browsers with the help of blind people.

This paper presents the description of a project to develop an accessible indoor plan to help blind people to localize landmarks within a building from a pedagogical perspective. This project has been employed to foster engineering students to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to use technologies and tools to develop accessible engineering products within the context of a collaborative learning experience. This paper describe the step by step process followed to make an accessible indoor plan that complies with WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines. Also, conclusions and future work regarding the potentialities of the approach used in this project for generating collaborative learning experiences are presented.

This paper describes some of the challenges that exist to make accessible massive open online courses (MOOCs) on Geographical Information Systems (GIS). These courses are known by the generic name of Geo-MOOCs. A MOOC is an online course that is open to the general public for free, which causes a massive registration. A GIS is a computer application that acquire, manipulate, manage, model and visualize geo-referenced data. The goal of a Geo-MOOC is to expand the culture of spatial thinking and the use of geographic information, enabling geospatial web technologies for widespread use. However, the Geo-MOOCs, by nature, have inherent problems of accessibility. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 24, recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. “States Parties must ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others”. Therefore, it is important to have accessible Geo-MOOCs. In this paper, we present the results of the evaluation of a Geo-MOOC called “Maps and the Geospatial Revolution” using three tools available for free on the Internet: Chrome Developer Tools – Accessibility Audit, eXaminator and WAVE; and included a selection of web content and geographical data representative of the course. This provided feedback for establishing recommendations to improve the accessibility of the analyzed course. Other Geo-MOOCs can also benefit from these recommendations. This work has been partially supported by the Prometeo Project by SENESCYT, Ecuadorian Government.