Desarrollo e implementación de un widget de accesibilidad web de código abierto para entornos institucionales

Abstract

Web accessibility guarantees that users can interact with systems under inclusive conditions, allowing them to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with a web product. In the absence of an open-source tool that could be added to the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Unidad Juriquilla systems, a custom solution that satisfies this necessity was developed. Accessibility and visibility guidelines established by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines were used for the tool design and elaboration process. Waterfall methodology was used as the basis for the development of the solution, covering from planning to operation and maintenance of the tool. The qualitative and quantitative tests demonstrated its viability as an alternative to commercial solutions because they could replicate functionalities of paid products. This tool was initially incorporated in a dissemination microsite of the dependency and, being technologically agnostic with regard to languages ​​and development frameworks, it was integrated into the rest of the internal systems. The main functionalities aimed at improving the user's experience were implemented, among them: contrast adjustment, text size modification, link highlight, visibility optimization, vertical spacing control, text alignment and reading guide. The implementation of a screen reader was out of reach due to native support limitations of some web browsers; nevertheless, its inclusion is contemplated in future versions along with the improvements that can be collected from final users feedback.