Automatic inspection-based support for obtaining usable Web sites for vision-impaired users

The aim of this work is to provide designers and developers of Web applications with support to obtain systems that are usable for vision-impaired users. To this end, a number of design criteria to improve Web site navigation through screen readers or other similar devices have been defined. A user test by blind and vision-impaired subjects showed that such criteria improve Web site usability both qualitatively and quantitatively. An inspection-based tool has been developed to ease the application of the defined criteria. Its main features are presented in this article along with examples of applications and related discussion.