ACCESSIBILITY OF THE WEB CONTENT OF WEBSITES OF PHYSICAL CULTURE UNIVERSITIES FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS (RESULTS OF A TWO-YEAR STUDY)

This article describes the result of two years of study (2016-2017) on the compliance of websites of universities of physical culture with principles and requirements of accessibility to persons with disabilities, particularly to visually impaired students. The study was based on the provisions of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, as well as on criteria and indicators of the screening sheet formed on the basis of State Standard 52872-20012 "Internet resources: accessibility requirements for the visually impaired". This standard, adopted in the Russian Federation in 2014, specifies the need for compliance with accessibility for visually impaired users. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 regulates the use of all the latest web technologies taking into account all known physical, mental and technical limitations of users which can impede access to information for these users, and obliges all the developers of all sites without exception to take them into consideration. According to the above regulations to ensure accessibility of web site content for visually impaired users, one must fulfill the following requirements: 1. Basic information should be presented in the form of the text, the electronic text is meant, not the image of the text. 2. Information on a colorful background is not allowed, as a colorful background, extra small details cause major difficulties for visually impaired users. 3. Each graphic file must be accompanied by a text that explains the picture. The text should absolutely clearly and understandably reflect the meaning of the image. 4. When a computer mouse is over widgets, they need to be static, an explanation should appear. 5. Animated objects are not allowed. In their presence, there should be an alternative page without animated objects. 6. PDF files are not present or are "readable" files, that is presented as texts, not images. 7. The number of nesting tables should not exceed three, the number of lines should not exceed 15. This requirement is necessary for the convenience of reading information using the screen access program. 8. Hyperlinks should contain a descriptive text that helps to find necessary information. 9. Form fields must be labeled (otherrwise form fields are not used), the lack of labels makes it impossible to use search forms. As a result of two years of monitoring on the above requirements, some facts of discrepancy of the studied websites of universities of physical culture with the principles and requirements of accessibility for visually impaired users were revealed. Practical recommendations have been proposed to improve the accessibility of websites of universities of physical culture in the conditions of inclusive education of visually impaired students.