SUMMARY:

Milton Fuentes is visually-impaired. He works as a lawyer at the office of Legal Advice at the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of Uruguay. Working with digital files could be difficult for him as many software applications may not be designed for visually-impaired users. However, he is excited: "This new version is more intuitive and easier than the previous ones and, also, seems more stable," he commented.
 

INFORMATION:

Milton celebrated the "solidarity" of all the parties involved in the development of the tool. "An adaptation of this kind requires understanding how a visually-impaired individual interacts with technology, to be in their shoes. It is really valuable," he stated.

Gimena Peirano, from the Quality and Change Management area of the mentioned ministry, commented that the tool allows all users to work under the same conditions, without discrimination. "Having an accessible platform adds significant value to the organization. So far, a visually-impaired officer needed another officer to inform when to sign in the system. Nowadays, they can do their work independently. The new profile, created specially for visually-impaired users, has made work easier,” she commented.

Peirano made a very positive assessment of STATUM. "We highly appreciate the work made by adding accessibility for visually-impaired users."

Such users can create files, perform proceedings, transfer files and perform queries on a digital file. The tool includes a reader that reproduces an audio of the movements made by the user in the software. "The user can use the system without help and without inconveniencies."

Both STATUM and the ministry train the officers in the use of the tool. If such officers have knowledge on the previous version, tasks are simpler. "This was not necessary with ApiaDocumentum 2.2. (…) The upgrade was more accessible and user-friendly."

"Users with any level of accessibility benefit from Apia’s functionalities. The idea is to offer everyone the possibility to perform their tasks," commented Sebastián Sequeira, from STATUM, who is responsible for implementing the project.

The system is based on the standards provided by the Web Accessibility Initiative, leaded by W3C (an international consortium that develops recommendations and standards to ensure the growth of the internet.)

"The standard provides a series of features and properties that define the accessible elements of the user interface, and which can be used to improve the accessibility and interoperability of the contents and web applications," stated Sebastián Sequeira.

The purpose of STATUM is not to differentiate accessible functionalities from those that are not accessible. "The whole tool is expected to be accessible," commented Sequeira.