Technical solutions for the accessibility of web sites: a current preoccupation for the disabled persons
Résumé
The accessibility of buildings to everyone is a fundamental right today. For already 15 years, the access to establishments or collective houses is regulated as shows the French decree 94.86 of January 26th, 1994 defining which types of statutory arrangements must be applied. It is a precursor decree to the law of February, 2005, which law imposes the stake in conformity of all the public access buildings. But buildings are not the only place where the disabled person is confronted with the problem of the accessibility. The internet, which has become today a fundamental communication tool for the access to the information and the freedom of expression, is still inaccessible under many points to the disabled persons. With the aim of remedying these lacks in accessibility, our work consists in drawing up a list of the handicap problems met by a disabled person and trying to associate it material and software technical solutions to compensate for these problems. Face to navigation on a website, the problems stressing the handicap of the person (and sometimes creating new ones) are many. We can quote two examples among the most classical: - A website which contains too much information on the same page, in a non-hierarchical basis or too bushy way, does not allow a visual deficient person to navigate serenely and effectively. A solution can then consist in acting on the shape of the navigation within the site itself and in simplifying the searches for keywords and the access to the various links. - For a person with a motor disability problem which can move only parts of his body, a specialised software has to be used. The examples are many as the EXTREME HEADMOUSE (movement of the mouse thanks to the movements of the head) or the EYEGAZE (movement of the mouse thanks to the movements of eyes). Our approach has been to be put in the situation of the disabled person to better evaluate the engendered trouble or lack and look for the most adequate solutions. We leaned for that on the current legislation and on the latest available material and software technologies of information and communication. After the establishment of a catalogue of technical equipments which role is intended to assist the internet website navigation, the objective is the creation of a test website implementing some of the chosen solutions. The evaluation will be made by persons with varied handicaps. The results will be presented at the conference.