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Semantic web technologies applied to software accessibility evaluation: a systematic literature review

Abstract:

Software accessibility is a current field of interest. Governments and organizations boost initiatives and legislations to assure universal access. On the other hand, the semantic web is the evolution of the Internet from a web of pages to a web of data. It enables the linked data engineering. It facilitates search of information, data analysis and data sharing. Some studies have applied semantic web technologies to improve software accessibility. Their methods, goals and results are heterogeneous. This systematic literature review aims to review how the application of semantic web technologies has evolved in software accessibility evaluation. First, we defined some main and secondary research questions that would set the context for the review. Then, we defined a search strategy and selection criteria which allowed us to get a set of primary studies related to our research question. We measured the quality of the studies and performed a qualitative analysis. A lack of studies in some of the sub-areas included was revealed. A low impact level was also detected in most cases, so this research field needs to be explored further. Semantic web has a direct application on software accessibility evaluation. However, this review reveals a lack of studies in some important sub-areas. A very low impact of the studies was also detected compared with other studies in the accessibility field. The evolution of this area is slow, so we recommend exploring further the different research branches and trying to generate studies with more impact.