Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A universal design resource for rich Internet applications based on design patterns

  • Long paper
  • Published:
Universal Access in the Information Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rich Internet applications have removed most of the constraints of Web 1.0 while giving users more responsiveness and advanced browsing and interaction experiences. These new horizons, however, raise many challenges for people with disabilities or using limited hardware and software technologies, whose risk to be excluded from the benefits deriving from advanced web applications. To address this problem, WCAG 2.0 guidelines have been released as the newest World Wide Web Consortium recommendation for accessible web content, and WAI-ARIA is a candidate recommendation which provides reference specifications for accessible rich Internet applications. However, both specifications contain a huge amount of information that often discourages most web designers from dealing with accessibility issues. Moreover, guidelines are suitable and usually adopted to judge a design solution a posteriori, but they do not suggest how to face a design problem constructively. This paper proposes a design pattern language for accessibility. The language can be regarded as a universal design resource for helping web designers create accessible rich Internet applications compliant with the most recent standards. Knowledge representation through design patterns reflects the problem-solving approach usually followed by software and web designers, while pattern organization in a structured language aims to guide web designers throughout the design process. The language has been implemented as an accessible rich Internet application itself, thus allowing designers with disabilities to participate in web design. In order to evaluate the design pattern language, a three-step process was carried out including: (1) a heuristic analysis with a group of human–computer interaction experts, (2) a survey study with a group of web designers, and (3) a validation on the field with two designers who have been requested to apply the language in real design cases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. WAI-ARIA is W3C candidate recommendation since January 18, 2011 [52].

  2. The term “pattern language” is adopted here in accordance with the approach originally proposed in [1], where the collection of design patterns in the architecture domain is structured as a network and each pattern includes indications about its relationships with the other patterns. The same expression is used in human–computer interaction literature on design patterns, e.g., [7, 14, 42].

References

  1. Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I., Angel, S.: A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, UK (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Baguma, R., Stone, R.G., Lubega, J.T., van der Weide, T.P.: Integrating accessibility and functional requirements. In: Stephanidis, S. (ed.) Universal Access in HCI, Part III, HCII 2009, LNCS 5616, pp. 635–644. Springer, Berlin (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Berners-Lee, T., Cailliau, R., Luotonen, A., Nielsen, H.F., Secret, A.: The World-Wide Web. Commun. ACM 37(8), 76–82 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bernhaupt, R., Winckler, M., Pontico, F.: Are user interface pattern languages usable? A report from the Trenches. In: Gross, T., et al. (eds.) INTERACT 2009, Part II, LNCS 5727, pp. 542–545. Springer, Berlin (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Billi, M., Burzagli, L., Catarci, T., Santucci, G., Bertini, E., Gabbanini, F., Palchetti, E.: A unified methodology for the evaluation of accessibility and usability of mobile applications. Int. J. Univ. Access. Inf. Soc. 9, 337–356 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Borchers, J.: Interaction design patterns: twelve theses. In: Proceedings of the BHCI Workshop on Patterns in Human Computer Interaction, London, UK, pp. 16–17 (2000)

  7. Borchers, J.: A Pattern Approach to Interactive Design. Wiley, Chichester (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Brajnik, G.: A comparative test of web accessibility evaluation methods. In: Proceedings of the ACM International Conference ASSETS’08, Halifax, Canada, pp. 113–120 (2008)

  9. Brajnik, G.: Barrier Walkthrough—Heuristic evaluation guided by accessibility barriers. http://sole.dimi.uniud.it/~giorgio.brajnik/projects/bw/bw.html. Accessed 4 July 2012 (2010)

  10. Brajnik, G., Yesilada, Y., Harper, S.: Guideline aggregation: web accessibility evaluation for older users. In: Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A), Madrid, Spain, pp. 127–135 (2009)

  11. Brajnik, G., Yesilada, Y., Harper, S.: The expertise effect on web accessibility evaluation methods. Hum. Comput. Interact. 26(3), 1–38 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Choi, Y.S., Yi, J.S., Law, C.M., Jacko, J.A.: Are “universal design resources” designed for designers? In: Proceedings of the ACM International Conference ASSETS’06, Portland, Oregon, USA, pp. 87–94 (2006)

  13. Cowley, N.L.O., Wesson, J.L.: An experiment to measure the usefulness of patterns in the interaction design process. In: Costabile, M.F., Paternò, F. (eds.) INTERACT 2005, LNCS 3585, pp. 1142–1145. Springer, Berlin (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dearden, A., Finlay, J.: Pattern languages in HCI: a critical review. Hum. Comput. Interact. 21, 49–102 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Díaz, P., Aedo, I., Rosson, M.B.: Visual representation of web design patterns for end-users. In: Proceedings of the ACM International Conference AVI 2008, Naples, Italy, pp. 408–411 (2008)

  16. Díaz, P., Aedo, I., Rosson, M.B., Carroll, J.M.: A visual tool for using design patterns as pattern languages. In: Proceedings of the ACM International Conference AVI 2010, Rome, Italy, pp. 67–74 (2010)

  17. Erickson, T.: Lingua francas for design: sacred places and pattern languages. In: Proceedings of DIS 2000. ACM Press, New york, pp. 357–368 (2000)

  18. Fogli, D., Colosio, S., Sacco, M.: Managing accessibility in local E-government websites through end-user development: a case study. Int. J. Univ. Access. Inf. Soc. 9(1), 35–50 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Fogli, D., Parasiliti Provenza, L.: A meta-design approach to the development of e-government services. Int. J. Vis. Lang. Comput. 23(2), 47–62 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fogli, D., Parasiliti Provenza, L.: End-user development of e-government services through meta-modeling. In: Costabile, M.F., et al. (eds.) End-User Development 3rd International Symposium IS-EUD 2011, LNCS 6654, pp. 107–122. Springer, Berlin (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Fogli, D., Provenza, L.P., Bernareggi, C.: A design pattern language for accessible web sites. In: Proceedings of the ACM International Conference AVI 2010, Rome, Italy, pp. 307–310 (2010)

  22. Folmer, E., van Welie, M., Bosch, M.J.: Bridging patterns: an approach to bridge gaps between SE and HCI. Int. J. Inf. Softw. Technol. 48(2), 69–89 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R., Vlissides, J.: Design Patterns: Elements of Re-usable Object-Oriented Software. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Google-AxsJAX Project. http://code.google.com/p/google-axsjax/. Accessed 4 July 2012

  25. Hevner, A.R., March, S.T., Park, J., Ram, S.: Design science in information system research. MIS Q. 28(1), 75–105 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Holdener III, A.T.: Ajax: The Definitive Guide. O’Reilly Media Inc, Sebastopol (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  27. HTML5—a vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML, W3C Working Draft 29 March 2012. http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/. Accessed 4 July 2012

  28. Kelly, B., Lewthwaite, S., Sloan, D.: Developing countries; developing experiences: approaches to accessibility for the real world. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2010), Raleigh, North Carolina. ACM Press, New York, pp. 3:1–3:4 (2010)

  29. Kelly, B., Sloan, D., Brown, S., Seale, J., Petrie, H., Lauke, P., Ball, S.: Accessibility 2.0: people, policies and processes. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2007), Banff, Canada. ACM Press, New York, pp. 138–147 (2007)

  30. Kohler, K., Kerkow, D.: Building and evaluating a pattern collection for the domain of workflow modeling tools. In: Gulliksen, J., et al. (eds.) EIS 2007, LNCS 4940, pp. 555–566. Springer, Berlin (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kuzma, J., Yen, D., Oestreicher, K.: Global e-government web accessibility: an empirical examination of EU, Asian and African sites. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Accessibility, Hammamet, Tunisia, pp. 83–90 (2009)

  32. Ladner, R.E.: Access and empowerment. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. 1(2), 11:1–11:5 (2008)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  33. Law, C.M., Yi, J.S., Choi, Y.S., Jacko, J.A.: A systematic examination of universal design resources: part 1, heuristic evaluation. Int. J. Univ. Access. Inf. Soc. 7, 31–54 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Lopes, R., Gomes, D., Carriço, L.: Web not for all: a large scale study of web accessibility. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A’10), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, pp. 10:1–10:4 (2010)

  35. Mace, R.: Universal Design: Housing for the Lifespan of All People, Publication HUD-1156-PA, US Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Washington, DC, USA (1988)

  36. Meyer, E.A.: Is accessible design a myth? In: Proceeding W4A at WWW2005, Chiba, Japan, pp. 60–62 (2005)

  37. Newell, A.F.: Accessible computing—past trends and future suggestions. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. 1(2), 9:1–9:7 (2008)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  38. Newell, A.F., Gregor, P.: Human computer interfaces for people with disabilities. In: Helander, M., et al. (eds.) Handbook of Human–Computer Interaction, pp. 813–824. Elsevier Science, Netherlands (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Nielsen, J.: Heuristic evaluation. In: Nielsen, J., Mack, R.L. (eds.) Usability Inspection Methods. Wiley, New York (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Sato, D., Takagi, H., Kobayashi, M., Kawanka, S., Asakawa, C.: Exploratory analysis of collaborative web accessibility improvement. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. 3(2), 5:1–5:20 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Sato, D., Miyashita, H., Takagi, H., Asakawa, C.: Automatic accessibility transcoding for flash content. In: Proceedings ASSETS’07, Tempe, Arizona, USA, pp. 35–42 (2007)

  42. Seffah, A.: The evolution of design patterns in HCI: from pattern languages to pattern-oriented design. In: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Pattern-Driven Engineering of Interactive Computing Systems (PEICS’10), Berlin, Germany, pp. 4–9 (2010)

  43. Sloan, D., Heath, A., Hamilton, F., Kelly, B., Petrie, H., Phipps, L.: Contextual web accessibility—maximizing the benefit of accessibility guidelines. In: Proceedings of the 2006 International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A 2006), Edinburgh, UK. ACM Press, New York, pp. 121–131 (2006)

  44. Souza, R.: Design accessible sites now. Forrester Report. http://www.alacrastore.com/research/forrester-Design_Accessible_Sites_Now-11431. Accessed 4 July 2012 (2001)

  45. Sutcliffe, A.G., Carroll, J.M.: Designing claims for reuse in interactive systems design. Int. J. Hum Comput Stud. 50, 213–241 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Taras, C., Siemoneit, O., Weiβer, N., Rotard, M., Ertl, T.: Improving the accessibility of wikis—a basic analytical framework. In: Miesenberger, K., et al. (eds.) ICCHP 2008, LNCS 5105, pp. 430–437. Springer, Berlin (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Thatcher, A., Waddel, C., Henry, S., Swierenga, S., Urban, M., Burks, M., Regan, B., Bohaman, P.: Constructing Accessible Web Sites. Glasshaus, Birmingham (2002)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  48. Tidwell, J.: Designing interfaces—patterns for effective interaction design, 2nd edn. O’Reilly Media Inc., Sebastopol (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Trevin, S., Cragun, B., Swart, C., Brezin, J., Richards, J.: Accessibility challenges and tool features: an IBM web developer perspective. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2010), Raleigh, North Carolina. ACM Press, New York, pp. 32:1–32:10 (2010)

  50. van Duyne, D.K., Landay, J.A., Hong, J.I.: The Design of Sites. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  51. Web Accessibility Initiative. http://www.w3.org/WAI/. Accessed 4 July 2012

  52. WAI-ARIA 1.0, Accessible Rich Internet Applications, W3C Candidate Recommendation January 18, 2011. http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/. Accessed 4 July 2012

  53. WCAG 1.0, W3C Recommendation 5 May 1999. http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/. Accessed 4 July 2012

  54. WCAG 2.0, W3C Recommendation 11 December 2008. http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/. Accessed 4 July 2012

  55. Winckler, M., Xiong, J., Noirhomme-Fraiture, M.: Accessibility legislation and codes of practice: an Accessibility Study of Web Sites of French and Belgium Local Administrations. In: Proceedings of Workshop on Design & Evaluation of e-Government Applications and Services (DEGAS’2007), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp. 19–23 (2007)

  56. Yahoo! Developer Network, Design Pattern Library, http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns. Accessed 4 July 2012

  57. Zimmerman, G., Vanderheiden, G.: Accessible design and testing in the application development process: considerations for an integrated approach. Int. J. Univ. Access. Inf. Soc. 7, 117–128 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Erika Tosoni for her work in developing the RIA with the design pattern language for accessibility. All participants in the three evaluation activities are also acknowledged. Finally, the authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Daniela Fogli

  2. Easynex s.r.l., Corso Sempione 62, 20154, Milan, Italy

    Loredana Parasiliti Provenza

  3. Dipartimento di Informatica e Comunicazione, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Comelico 39/4, 20135, Milan, Italy

    Cristian Bernareggi

Authors
  1. Daniela Fogli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Loredana Parasiliti Provenza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristian Bernareggi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniela Fogli.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fogli, D., Parasiliti Provenza, L. & Bernareggi, C. A universal design resource for rich Internet applications based on design patterns. Univ Access Inf Soc 13, 205–226 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-013-0291-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-013-0291-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation