Developing Accessible Applications with User-Centered Architecture

Design of accessible applications is often a challenge for software architects and developers. Development usually starts with structure and functionality of the planned application whereas it is also necessary to respect the complex needs of accessibility from the beginning. User-centered architecture starts modeling with the design and functionality of the user interface. The interface models include the necessary semantic information to provide Assistive Technology with additional annotation about functionality and behavior of interface elements. In this paper, a concept of a model-driven design process is presented which uses the advantages of user-centered architecture to facilitate the design of accessible applications.