Abstract:

The changes in the scientific, technological, cultural, social and educational world occurred in contemporary society were instrumental in bringing the benefits of technology to education needs. In the midst of these changes the information and communication technologies (ICT) have become essential resources to promote the improvement of educational systems. The diversity of "new learners" users of these new technologies prompted the e-learning to remarkable advances.Given this context, it is observed that the conjunction of accessibility and e-learning provides great benefits to users, contributing mainly to the digital and social inclusion. In addition, the combined efforts of this union may reduce the barriers faced in the area of the professional qualification of people, allowing for access to learning environments and their development.

This paper defines the term accessibility in its various aspects and discusses its importance as an element of social and digital inclusion, as well as the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in society. It describes the Web Accessibility features, reporting standards and accessibility recommendations, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and specifications. It also lists the specifications regarding accessibility software. It presents the types of web accessibility evaluations, differentiating automatic from manual tools and finally approaches accessibility to learning environments. In addition, it deals with the impact of all these analyses on the development of e-learning. One thus concludes that there are many guidelines and recommendations for accessibility in the development of web applications, and which can be used in e-learning environments. However, developers are not aware of all the technical details required to implement these recommendations. Despite the number of research studies on the topic of accessibility in virtual learning environments, there is still much to develop. In addition, more research should be conducted in order to validate accessibility evaluation strategies in learning environments, which should significantly contribute to results that allow for the broad inclusion of new users in learning platforms.

Keywords:

Accessibility, social and digital inclusion, virtual learning environments, e-learning, ICT.