Exploring WAI-Aria techniques to enhance screen reader interaction: the case of a portal for rating accessibility of cultural heritage sites

Cultural heritage sites (museums, archaeological parks, exhibition spaces, etc.) do not always guarantee accessibility to all users, regardless of their abilities. Often services are not really as usable and functional as expected. Currently there is no website offering accessibility information on heritage sites in a format accessible to all. People with disability or their caregivers are forced to spend considerable time and effort to obtain accessibility information, sometimes encountering difficulties. The Axem portal aims to fill this gap by offering information on the degree of accessibility of cultural sites (museums, archaeological parks, libraries, art galleries, places of worship, exhibition spaces, etc.). It has been designed as a facility for people with disabilities and in general for all individuals who have special needs and require specific services. In this paper the Axem web site is presented as a case study to (1) investigate the use of web techniques for enhancing screen reading interaction, and (2) propose a portal to collect information on accessible services supported by the cultural sites. Regarding web accessibility, the use of WAI ARIA, an accessible web design, is discussed in order to improve screen reading interaction. Accessibility functions and features as well as the ranking algorithm for easy search and the rating mechanism are presented. This work offers a further contribution to the web accessibility field, while proposing a portal which could be exploited by cultural heritage sites and promote their accessible services to people with disability.