Statement of the problem

1.2.1 The right of Internet access and web navigation ... 4 1.2.2 Solve for one, extend to many ... 6 1.2.3 Centralised information about web accessibility for autistic users ... 7 1.3 Aims and objectives ... 8 1.4 Thesis structure ... 9 1.4.1 Phase I: Setting the scene ... 9 1.4.2 Phase II: The requirements gathering ... 10 1.4.3 Phase III: Framework design ... 10 1.4.4 Phase IV: Implementation and evaluation ... 10 1.4.5 Phase V: Contributions, future work and conclusions ... 11 1.5 Summary ... 11

A diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder requires observable impairments in the areas of social functioning and communication and the presence of repetitive and restricted activities (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Autistic people often present a developmental profile characterised by difficulties in social, academic, and/or occupational functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). In some cases their attention, memory, perception and problem-solving affect the manner in which they interact with computers, leading to lower performance than their non-autistic peers (Friedman & Nelson Bryen, 2007).

Nevertheless, computer-based technology has shown significant benefits for supporting autistic individuals if it is used and developed with appropriate standards and practices (Ploog, Scharf, Nelson, & Brooks, 2013). Most autistic individuals can benefit immensely from using the Web, for example, educational software can provide training on social interactions and emotions, skills that later can be practised in real-life settings (Ploog et al., 2013). As professional support can be expensive, providing in-home educational software can also reduce the cost of treatments and interventions (Goodwin, 2008). Moreover, autistic individuals have a tendency to be socially isolated and having access to the Web can provide social connection and facilitate social participation without the increased anxiety that often accompanies face-to-face interactions (Jordan, 2010).

To accommodate autistic users, content and design on the Web should reflect their preferences such as short and precise instructions, contrasting visual elements and routine interaction design, among other characteristics (Kimball & Smith, 2007). These accessibility features are not always present in websites or mobile applications, showing lack of strategic web design, lack of awareness of autistic user needs, and unfamiliarity with the autistic cognitive profile when dealing with web navigation (Darejeh & Singh, 2013; Pavlov, 2014).

There have been several published web interface guidelines aiming to improve the user experience and usability on the Web for autistic users and individuals with related conditions (Britto & Pizzolato, 2016; Davis, Dautenhahn, Powell, & Nehaniv, 2010; Freyhoff, 1998; Friedman & Nelson Bryen, 2007; Garrett, 2002; Poulson & Nicolle, 2004). However, to date, there have been no attempts at presenting the user experience and the web usability as a unified design framework to guide web designers and community members when planning and developing websites that are usable and accessible for autistic users. The user experience refers to the users’ perception and response from the use of a website (International Organization for Standardization ISO,

2018), and the web usability is a quality attribute relating to how easy is it to use a website, how quickly people learn to use it, how efficient the users are using it, how memorable it is, how error-prone it is, and how much users like using it (Nielsen & Loranger, 2006).

As a consequence of this issue, this thesis explores whether autistic users have a good user experience navigating desktop websites when the design and implementation of the website follow web design guidelines and adaptability features based on the abilities and needs of autistic individuals. This research attempts to extend the knowledge of web navigation for autistic users by providing a web interface design framework, including web guidelines, tools and best practice for planning and designing websites aimed at a good user experience for autistic users. The aforementioned framework was designed and implemented using semantic web technologies and it was evaluated in a use case of a transport-planning website.

1.1

Statement of the problem

When compared with human-human communication, human-computer interaction is clearly more primitive given that it is eminently more difficult to make the computer comprehend human gestures, intuitions, or personalities (Rothrock, Koubek, Fuchs, Haas, & Salvendy, 2002). Therefore, the process to understand and navigate desktop websites can be complex and requires some levels of cognitive processing according to the difficulty in which the information and the design are presented in the user interface or screen (Seok, 2008; W3C, 2019b). People with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism may struggle navigating websites because often their cognitive profile reveals deficiencies in attention, memory, perception and problem-solving, which affect the manner in which they interact with computers (Friedman & Nelson Bryen, 2007).

Moreover, as cognitive and physical impairments exist on a wide spectrum amongst people with the same autism diagnosis (Benton, Johnson, Brosnan, Ashwin, & Grawemeyer, 2011; Bölte et al., 2014; Brown & Elder, 2014; Frith & Happé, 1994; Mejía- Figueroa & Juárez-Ramírez, 2013), there is great heterogeneity of web requirements that make it difficult to design web user interfaces that take into account the different needs for all type of users into a single solution (Abascal & Nicolle, 2005; Al-Badi, Ali, & Al- Balushi, 2012; Fischer, 2001; Friedman & Nelson Bryen, 2007; Grabinger, Aplin, & Ponnappa - Brenner, 2008; Mejía-Figueroa & Juárez-Ramírez, 2015). A simple query on search-engines and scientific databases about web interface accessibility brings up a myriad of titles that address the topic. Despite this, there is lack of available open-access

research on web accessibility needs for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions (W3C, 2019d), and people designing and creating accessible web interfaces are often unable to find out what techniques are proven to address the needs of autistic users (Abascal & Nicolle, 2005; Eraslan, Yaneva, Yesilada, & Harper, 2017; W3C, 2019a).

Nevertheless, as previously mentioned, there are web standards and web interface guidelines that are referred to by web developers and web content creators to assist in the design and implementation of websites that are accessible to the majority of users (Al- Badi et al., 2012; Garrett, 2002; W3C, 2016). Web accessibility for autistic people has been studied using different approaches (Britto & Pizzolato, 2016; Dattolo & Luccio, 2017; Davis et al., 2010; Mejía-Figueroa & Juárez-Ramírez, 2013; Pavlov, 2014) but, to date, open-access and centralised information is scarce (Eraslan et al., 2017; W3C, 2019a). It remains unclear which user interface elements autistic users perceive as less accessible, and which features of a website are the ones that create barriers for good user experience (Eraslan, Yaneva, Yesilada, & Harper, 2018). Consequently, there is a need to centralise the information required to develop accessible websites for autistic people, and this information must take into account the international web standards, relevant publications, and the point of view of autistic people and the community involved with autism.