“And then I’m trapped”

Mo Sherif sits in front of his computer and navigates through the OLAT learning platform. He uses a screen reader that reads out the lines on which his cursor moves. As a blind user, Mo Sherif uses shortcuts to jump from one heading to the next, from one input box to the next, to get to where he wants to go on a website.

“A computer voice tells me exactly what it says there, but sometimes it’s completely unclear what I have to enter in an interactive field,” says Sherif during a demonstration. Or he may find himself in a position where he can neither go forward nor back with the tab key. “There’s nothing I can do then, and I’m trapped". The frustration and feeling of helplessness this causes will be obvious to anyone. This example illustrates just how difficult it is to navigate the digital world if you can’t see.

Mo Sherif is one of several experts with disabilities involved in the UZH Accessible project, which was launched by the Office of the President at UZH to examine the accessibility of selected web applications, including the Central IT’s website, the OLAT platform and the course catalogue.

The specialists from the “Zugang für alle” foundation – including Mo Sherif – analyzed the applications based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These internationally recognized guidelines are binding for public sector services in Switzerland, and this includes the University of Zurich. The results were as follows:

• Central IT website: 51 documented findings, 17 of which were classified as serious barriers. The experts acknowledge that the creators of the website have already removed many of these barriers. Nevertheless, the website contains visuals that have no text alternatives and therefore cannot be read by visually impaired or blind users. Some form fields are also not labeled for the screen reader.
• OLAT learning platform: 61 documented findings, 32 of which were serious barriers. In many cases, the contrast on the platform was too low. “It’s very difficult for visually impaired people to read white text on a light orange background, for example,” says Andreas Uebelbacher from “Zugang für alle”. The logical structure of the pages with heading levels is also clearly flawed. This is crucial when it comes to navigating websites using a screen reader.
• UZH course catalogue: 40 documented findings, including 17 serious barriers. The e-accessibility of the course catalogue has greatly improved, but the lack of keyboard usability, for example, was criticized by the experts. In addition, there are elements that are barely understandable for people using a screen reader. These problems are particularly noticeable in a rather complex application such as the course catalogue and can lead to people not being able to find their way around.

“These initial analyses show that many people who add content to websites don’t know the WCAG guidelines well enough. We absolutely have to start there and make them known within UZH. These standards should become the norm,” says Christian Waldvogel from Central IT, who heads the digital sub-project in UZH Accessible. 

 The project will continue to run until spring, and there is plenty left to do. At the moment, the accessibility of the Uniability online guide, with its detailed information on accessible UZH infrastructure, as well as in-house teaching materials and documents are also being examined. Does the Uniability webpage list all the relevant lecture halls and seminar rooms? Are the PDF versions of the presentations held by teaching staff really accessible? Do all videos have subtitles so that people with hearing impairments can follow the content?

Once these selected internal offers have been fully analyzed, a plan listing the most pressing near-term measures will be drawn up by spring 2025. The people affected will work together with those providing digital services to prioritize the various measures. Based on this prioritization, UZH aims to improve its e-accessibility across the university over the next five years. Some of the measures will be implemented by UZH’s Central Services, others by the faculties and departments/institutes. It will also be necessary to raise awareness among and train staff providing digital solutions, content managers for websites, as well as members of the teaching staff when it comes to creating accessible documents.

A first step towards better e-accessibility has already been taken; some adjustments to the Central IT website have already been made. The company operating the OLAT platform is also working on improvements and has already increased the contrasts, in particular. UZH itself has been able to adapt its color concept and thus also improve the lack of contrasts. People with a less severe visual impairment will now be able to better navigate the website.