Accessible Personalized Portals

Web portals constitute a rapidly evolving medium for transferring information and knowledge, as well as for establishing the means for cooperation and the coordination of activities among different parties. More specifically, a Web portal is a Web site that provides a gateway to resources available on the Internet or within an intranet. A Web portal typically includes a number of facilities for access and navigation of information, socialization, collaboration, and trade, as well as other user aid facilities. Although portals are accessed by a wide range of different parties, most portals are designed with limited attention to the different individual needs and preferences of Web users. As a result, they often present serious shortcomings in terms of usefulness, ease of access and use, and subjective satisfaction of the users. Given the above, the necessity emerges for a systematic framework for developing Web portals that can be personalized according to different user needs and requirements. This article presents a design and development portal framework, along with the related methods, for producing portals that are extensible, reusable, highly customizable, and accessible and usable by all, including people with disabilities. The term extensible refers to the possibility of up-scaling a portal to support new functions, while the term reusable refers to possible alterations of a portal to address the needs of a different application context. Additionally, customizable refers to a portal implementation that enables end users to alter the interface with respect to their personal needs and preferences. Finally, accessible and usable by all refers to a portal that can be accessed and used in various types of context, and by target users with different characteristics and abilities, including people with disabilities. Such a framework is intended to apply concepts and principles of universal access and design for all in the development of Web portals. Universal access concerns the right of all citizens to obtain and maintain access to a society-wide pool of information resources and interpersonal communication facilities, given the varieties of context (Stephanidis et al., 1998, 1999). In the context of universal access, design for all advocates a proactive approach towards products and environments that can be accessible and usable by the broadest possible end-user population, without the need for additional adaptations or specialised (re-)design. The development of universally accessible portals entails the concept of Web accessibility. Web accessibility means access to the Web by everyone, regardless of disability (http:// www.w3c.org). As a result, Web portals need to address the interaction requirements of the broadest possible end user population, including people with disability. The framework presented in this article includes a Web portal architecture along with the related services, and adopts user profiling for personalization purposes, including customization of features that support accessibility and usability for diverse target user groups.