The ægis FP7 project aims to enhance accessibility in mainstream ICT through the Open Accessibility Framework (OAF), focusing on user-centered development to meet the needs of diverse users, including those with disabilities. The project addresses current accessibility gaps by developing use cases and application scenarios, creating tools and solutions that integrate accessibility into existing and emerging technologies. By utilizing personas and an iterative design process, ægis strives to create inclusive technology that can be easily implemented by developers and beneficial for users in various contexts.

1. Maria Gemou Centre for Research and Technology Hellas/Hellenic Institute of Transport Greece

2. ÆGIS FP7 project (Open Accessibility Everywhere: Groundwork, Infrastructure, Standards; http://www.aegis-project.eu) S eeks to determine whether 3 rd generation access techniques will provide a more accessible, more exploitable and deeply embeddable approach in mainstream Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) . This approach is developed and explored with the Open Accessibility Framework (OAF) through which aspects of the design, development and deployment of accessible mainstream ICT are addressed. The OAF provides embedded and built-in accessibility solutions, as well as toolkits for developers, for “engraving” accessibility in existing and emerging mass-market ICT-based products, thus making accessibility open, plug & play, personalised & configurable, realistic & applicable in various contexts. In this way, ÆGIS is placing users and their needs at the centre of all ICT developments.

3. OAF is a comprehensive, holistic approach to programmatic support for assistive technologies. This is in stark contrast to the 2 nd generation approach to accessibility via assistive technologies on the proprietary Windows platform. Building on the pioneering 3 rd generation of the SoA Open Desktop in UNIX and GNU/Linux systems, OAF extends the concepts of programmatic accessibility in two directions: “ upstream” into the developer tools for creating accessible applications, and “ downstream” into further use and deployment – into Internet technologies and mobile devices.

4. One of the key challenges addressed by ÆGIS is to provide appropriate design solutions that will contribute to reducing the 30% of the European population currently not using ICT. In order to address this issue effectively, ÆGIS is committed to develop solutions that will receive wide acceptance from intended users. For this purpose, the project has defined and is going to follow an appropriate user-centered development process , in which needs, wants, and limitations of the end user are given extensive attention at each stage of the development process. The ÆGIS approach requires designers to analyse and foresee how users are likely to use a design solution , as well as to test the validity of their assumptions with regards to user behaviour in real world tests with actual users.

5. Based on a holistic User Centred Approach (UCD), ÆGIS identifies user needs and interaction models for several user groups (users with visual, hearing, motion, speech and cognitive impairments as well as application developers) and develops open source based generalised accessibility support into mainstream ICT devices/applications: desktop, rich web applications, and, Java-based mobile devices.

6. Based on the findings of user needs and adopting a UCD approach, ÆGIS had, first of all, to develop a series of Use Cases and basic application scenarios for the targeted application areas and user groups, in order to support all coming phases of the project (design, development and evaluation). Subsequently, it had to map the Use Cases with Personas and feed conceptual models.

8. DESKTOP USE CASES Screen magnification for the GNOME Desktop (and Sun Ray system). Windows screen reader for Java (“Java Access Bridge”). Printing Braille in OpenOffice.org. Accessibility Checking for ODF. Full DAISY book creation in OpenOffice.org . Comprehensible multi-lingual documents through a screen reader. Open interface to Assistive Technologies. Gesture switch. Gaze tracker- “send e-mail with your eyes”. Graphic Symbol Support for facilitated text comprehension and production in OpenOffice.org. Integration of open real-time into audio, video, and text-chat desktop applications. Generating accessible PDF from OpenOffice.org.

9. RIA USE CASES Web developer developing accessible DHTML RIA application. Web developer developing accessible Java-based RIA application. Visually impaired user using Java-based RIA application. Creating an accessible internet map. Using an Internet map: orientation, manipulation and walking directions. Using an internet map: visual adaptation. Accessible Rich Internet map Applications using the OCR and VRML technology. ARIA support in browser. Applying WAI-ARIA to open-source CMS widgets.

10. MOBILE USE CASES Accessible Mobile Phone for the blind. Mobile as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for severe motor and/or speech impairments. Symbol-based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system for mobile devices for direct person-to-person (face-to-face) communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for instant and text messaging (IM/SMS) on mobile devices. Onscreen keyboard for motor impaired operation of a mobile. Rapid text entry into a mobile device. Captions for the deaf display in mobile video. Audio description for the blind/low-vision played in mobile video. Real-Timer Text for mobile devices. Accessible messengering application for mobile devices. Accessible phone dialer and contact manager for mobile devices. Assistive technologies for mobile devices toolkit. Accessible applications for mobile devices toolkit. Mobile application developer developing accessible Java FX applications for mobile devices. Developing accessible mobile s/w.

11. All Use Cases are accompanied by UML diagrams. Link to Personas (17 in total) has been established for each of them. Priority level has been also established for each of them, namely: “Essential”, “Secondary”, “Supportive”. Only 4 of them are considered “supportive”, whereas the rest of them are all considered “essential” for the project. 3 major combination application scenarios are provided on the basis of the Use Cases envisaged. Finally, based on the above, conceptual models have been produced.

17. Profile: John, suffering from Usher syndrome, affecting both hearing and especially vision (retinitis pigmentosa). Famous writer of travel guides for people with vision impairments. So far, due to lack of accessible map websites and support, it has been difficult to organise his life independently (i.e. organising a trip on his own). Now, ÆGIS desktop, RIA and smartphone services make this much easier... Scenario: Through ÆGIS enabled accessible internet maps, John is able to plan his trips ahead of schedule. He is also able to explore new cities he visits. In that case: He first finds walking directions from a selected point A (often his hotel) to point B (an accessible touristic site). He accesses the map and direction application using the screen magnifier with an increased screen contrast, that also features speech synthesis (various languages are enabled allowing tours in a variety of foreign to him countries). He detects any accessible interesting sites nearby his walking route and as soon as he selects, he uploads all needed information on his smartphone.

18. The accessible RIA, where he has indicated his POI's and final destination is accessible for John via the phone browser and the integrated TTS. Thus, at any point in time, while John is being guided through the streets of a city, he can benefit from the supporting tools on his mobile, just like he would have done at home using his desktop: When extra information is provided in the form of a captioned video, the TTS screen reader functionality embedded in the smartphone, does allow John to follow the video. And if he needs more details, he activates through his voice the audio description channel being able to visualise how a scene looks like. And all the above without having to pay anything extra, except buying the standard devices and subscribe to the required services, just like everybody else!

19. Personas are fictitious archetypes of real users. They do not correspond to particular users, but they do represent real people. Whereas user profiles cover a range of characteristics, personas use specific characteristics. In fact, the more specific a persona is, the more effective it is as a design tool.

20. Using personas during the design process can help achieving following goals: As personas have a proper name and often include visually rich information such as their picture, they put a name, a face, and real-life characteristics on users, and, as such, give the designers a very concrete item to work with. Concrete person is easier to focus on than more abstract user profiles or just “all the available information about the users”. By focusing on personas, designer gains a (realistic) insight into the users. Personas form an ideal means of communication between the members of a project team. They assure that everyone involved in creating a new application has a reference to the same user.

21. ÆGIS Personas ÆGIS targeted end-user group Relevant Personas Visual impairments Gert, Märta, Nitesh, Paulina Motor impairments Caroline, Jane, Mikel, Peter, Ramin Cognitive impairments or learning difficulties Adam, Peter, Wayne Hearing impairments Edward, Emma, Tomasa Speech/communication impairments Carlos, Emma, Jane, Wayne Experts Benoit Developers Clyde

22. ÆGIS Persona Addressed Use Cases Adam Ljung (l earning disability) Graphic Symbol Support for facilitated text comprehension and production in OpenOffice.org(based on Concept Coding Framework (CCF) technology, also used in A4.6.3). Mobile as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for severe motor and/or speech impairments . Symbol-based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system for mobile devices for direct person-to-person (face-to-face) communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for instant and text messaging (IM/SMS) on mobile devices. Accessible messengering applications for mobile devices. Accessible phone dialer and contact manager for mobile devices. Benoit Dupré (expert) Accessibility Checking for ODF Full DAISY book creation in OpenOffice.org. Accessible Mobile Phone for the blind. Mobile as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for severe motor and/or speech impairments. Generating Accessible PDF from OpenOffice.org.

24. Use Cases are expected to constitute the main guide for the project phases to follow;design and development and finally evaluation phases. The Use Cases will be further elaborated to specific application scenarios that will orient the evaluation to take place in ÆGIS in three iterative phases and across 4 Pilot sites (Belgium, Spain, Sweden and in the UK). All aforementioned core elements are public and can be downloaded from the project web site ( http://www.aegis-project.eu ), while are all considered working documents that may undergo several updates and revisions, following the progress of the project as well as the evolution noticed in the open source accessibility community.