Interdependent Components for the Development of Accessible XUL Applications for Screen Reader Users

Xabier Valencia, Myriam Arrue, Halena Rojas-Valduciel, Lourdes Moreno

2014

Abstract

Web applications based on XUL technology have reached great development. This technology enables developers to easily create extensions and add-ons of Mozilla Firefox browser. It is essential to keep in mind accessibility in the development of such applications in order to not discriminate user groups. In this sense, standards and good practices have to be considered. Furthermore, User-Centred Design and Inclusive Design approaches should be followed as they involve users with disabilities in the development process. This paper presents an analysis of XUL accessibility guidelines created by Mozilla Foundation. An accessible XUL application has been designed and developed based on the guidelines. User testing has been conducted by two blind users revealing several important accessibility barriers. In addition, an expert review process was carried on by a blind accessibility consultant. They all used JAWS screen reader. The results obtained show that the existing guidelines conformance is not enough for ensuring accessibility of the application. There are other factors dependent on assistive technologies and user agent that have to be considered in the development of accessible XUL applications.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Valencia X., Arrue M., Rojas-Valduciel H. and Moreno L. (2014). Interdependent Components for the Development of Accessible XUL Applications for Screen Reader Users . In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: WEBIST, ISBN 978-989-758-024-6, pages 65-73. DOI: 10.5220/0004855200650073

in Bibtex Style

@conference{webist14,
author={Xabier Valencia and Myriam Arrue and Halena Rojas-Valduciel and Lourdes Moreno},
title={Interdependent Components for the Development of Accessible XUL Applications for Screen Reader Users},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: WEBIST,},
year={2014},
pages={65-73},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0004855200650073},
isbn={978-989-758-024-6},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: WEBIST,
TI - Interdependent Components for the Development of Accessible XUL Applications for Screen Reader Users
SN - 978-989-758-024-6
AU - Valencia X.
AU - Arrue M.
AU - Rojas-Valduciel H.
AU - Moreno L.
PY - 2014
SP - 65
EP - 73
DO - 10.5220/0004855200650073