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Web Accessibility Directive Decision Support Environment

Project description

Hybrid web accessibility support infrastructure

Marginalising people with disabilities is a critical and problematic issue, especially today, where access to information should be equally available to all. The EU-funded WADcher project will address the challenges people with disabilities face when accessing online products and services. While these challenges have been identified (EC’s Web Accessibility Directive, WAD, 2016), they have not yet been addressed efficiently. In this context, and building on ongoing tools, WADcher will research, develop and demonstrate a set of innovative frameworks for large-scale accessibility assessment of WAD compliance by implementing monitoring, reporting and enforcement procedures of WAD in the European public sector. WADcher will minimise costs and development time while increasing scalability, accessibility, and usability for all stakeholders.

Objective

One of the many challenges people with various degrees of disabilities face is their difficulties in accessing mainstream products and services thus being excluded from benefiting from Web content and services on an equal basis as people without disabilities. Marginalising people with disabilities on this level is a critical and problematic issue, especially in today’s “Information Society”, where access to information should be equally available to all. While these challenges have been identified (also by EC with the recently Web Accessibility Directive which was entered into force on 22/12/2016), they have not been addressed yet efficiently.
In this context and building on ongoing tools and work, WADcher will research, develop and demonstrate an innovative Decision Support Environment for large scale hybrid web accessibility assessment services. WADcher aims to build a large scale infrastructure by integrating extended and enhanced existing web accessibility solutions, and by also making them customizable to the needs of different stakeholders in EU member states. The minimisation of costs and development time along with increased scalability, accessibility and usability for all types of end-users will be also analysed. Specifically, the WADcher Innovation Action will be based on the following pillars: 1) build a large scale accessibility assessment infrastructure; 2) develop and demonstrate advanced decision support tools for assisting developers and designers to create accessible assets; 3) implement a web accessibility observatory platform for hybrid combination of automatic/expert reviews; 4) validate WADcher results under a significant number of pilots and users and a coherent Web Accessibility Conformance methodology; 5) develop methods and tools with which organizations can measure the evidence, accuracy and quality of testing results; 6) liaise with relevant standardisation bodies and create needed impact through proactive dissemination and exploitation.

Call for proposal

H2020-ICT-2016-2017

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Sub call

H2020-ICT-2017-1

Coordinator

FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV
Net EU contribution
€ 594 000,00
Address
HANSASTRASSE 27C
80686 Munchen
Germany

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Region
Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 594 000,00

Participants (7)