Collaborative Environments: Accessibility and Usability for Users with Special Needs - Community-Built Databases: Research and Development - page 328

Table 13.4 WCAG 2.0 guidelines
N. Guideline

1.1 Text Alternatives : Provide text alternatives for any nontext content
so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such
as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.

XXX

1.2 Time-based Media : Provide alternatives for time-based media. X X

1.3 Adaptable : Create content that can be presented in different ways
(for example simpler layout) without losing information or
structure.

X

1.4 Distinguishable : Make it easier for users to see and hear content
including separating foreground from background.

XXX

2.1 Keyboard Accessible : Make all functionality available from a
keyboard.

X X

2.2 Enough Time : Provide users enough time to read and use content. X X

2.3 Seizures : Do not design content in a way that is known to cause
seizures.

XXXX

2.4 Navigable : Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and
determine where they are.

XXXX

3.1 Readable : Make text content readable and understandable. XXXX
3.2 Predictable : Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable
ways.

XXXX

3.3 Input Assistance : Help users avoid and correct mistakes. XXXX
4.1 Compatible : Maximize compatibility with current and future user
agents, including assistive technologies.

XXXX

13.4 The VisualPedia Experience

VisualPedia [ 2 ] is a wiki-based collaborative system developed in the e-learning
context. It extends Mediawiki and offers a repository of e-learning units, named
educational objects , that can be shown to users (students) according to their profiles
and are accessible with respect to WCAG guidelines.
To the best of our knowledge, VisualPedia is one of the first wiki-based
environments that considers the issue of accessibility in its development. Indeed,
as clearly outlined in [ 32 ], despite the increasing success of wikis, not much work
has been done on the development of accessibility tools. The authors of this paper
point out that in order to guarantee accessibility, the following issues should be
addressed. First, a standardization of wiki markup languages is needed since each
developed system tries to impose its own dialect. Moreover, even if many WYSI-
WYG editors have been provided to help authors to produce contents, these are
rarely accessible. Finally, wiki pages are generally offered without any form of
personalization neither in their content nor in their visual presentation.
After a brief presentation of the educational objects stored in VisualPedia, we
will discuss the main features of the system and the accessibility issues that have
been taken into account during its development.