Node-read: a visually accessible low-code software development extension

Lachlan Anderson, Briana Barker, Alice Reid, Kaijie Lin, Hourieh Khalajzadeh, John Grundy

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Low-code software development environments are reliant on spatial and graphical user interfaces. As a result, many of these tools are in some way inaccessible to the visually impaired, and very few of these tools are built with visual accessibility in mind. In this paper, we evaluate the accessibility of existing low-code Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), for persons with partial or distorted vision. The aim of this study is to motivate making citizen/end-user software development accessible for users who are reliant on screen readers. We conducted a preliminary review of several low-code development environments which were open source and had a large existing user base, and identified that browser-based low-code IDEs did not integrate well with screen reader software. An extension of an open-source software, Node-RED, was created, as it was found to be suitable to our selection criteria. The extension, referred to as "Node-Read", focuses on improving compatibility with JAWS and NVDA screen readers. Node-Read's keyboard shortcuts, along with their inclusion in critical user documentation, were reported by study participants to be helpful in the basic operation of the software.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMODELS '22: Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems
Subtitle of host publicationCompanion Proceedings
EditorsThomas Kühn, Vasco Sousa
Place of PublicationNew York NY USA
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Pages808-815
Number of pages8
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781450394673
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
EventACM/IEEE International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems 2022 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: 23 Oct 202228 Oct 2022
Conference number: 25th
https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3550356 (Proceedings)
https://conf.researchr.org/home/models-2022 (Website)

Conference

ConferenceACM/IEEE International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems 2022
Abbreviated titleMODELS 2022
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period23/10/2228/10/22
Internet address

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