TY - GEN
T1 - Towards Accessible and Sustainable Universities
T2 - 20th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction, UAHCI 2026, held as part of the 28th International Conference, HCII 2026
AU - Acosta-Vargas, Patricia
AU - Acosta-Vargas, Gloria
AU - Salvador-Acosta, Belén
AU - Salvador-Ullauri, Luis
AU - Arias-Flores, Hugo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - This study examines web accessibility in Latin American higher education institutions from a Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) perspective, highlighting its relevance to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). A quantitative and descriptive research design was applied to 50 universities included in the 2025 Webometrics Ranking, using automated HCI-based evaluation tools (WAVE and Google Lighthouse) to assess compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. The evaluation identified 1,238 accessibility errors and 1,393 contrast-related issues, with most violations concentrated in the Perceivable (67.23%) and Operable (28.36%) principles. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia exhibited the highest levels of noncompliance, while others showed comparatively lower error densities. These results indicate that accessibility barriers in university websites are primarily systemic, stemming from deficiencies in visual perception, navigation, and semantic structure rather than isolated implementation flaws. The findings reinforce the view that web accessibility should not be treated solely as a technical compliance task, but rather as a human-centered, sustainability-oriented dimension of interaction design. Integrating accessibility within HCI frameworks can enhance digital inclusion, reduce educational inequalities, and promote the development of resilient, inclusive, and sustainable digital ecosystems in higher education across Latin America.
AB - This study examines web accessibility in Latin American higher education institutions from a Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) perspective, highlighting its relevance to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). A quantitative and descriptive research design was applied to 50 universities included in the 2025 Webometrics Ranking, using automated HCI-based evaluation tools (WAVE and Google Lighthouse) to assess compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. The evaluation identified 1,238 accessibility errors and 1,393 contrast-related issues, with most violations concentrated in the Perceivable (67.23%) and Operable (28.36%) principles. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia exhibited the highest levels of noncompliance, while others showed comparatively lower error densities. These results indicate that accessibility barriers in university websites are primarily systemic, stemming from deficiencies in visual perception, navigation, and semantic structure rather than isolated implementation flaws. The findings reinforce the view that web accessibility should not be treated solely as a technical compliance task, but rather as a human-centered, sustainability-oriented dimension of interaction design. Integrating accessibility within HCI frameworks can enhance digital inclusion, reduce educational inequalities, and promote the development of resilient, inclusive, and sustainable digital ecosystems in higher education across Latin America.
KW - Digital Inclusion
KW - Higher Education
KW - Human–Computer Interaction
KW - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
KW - Web Accessibility
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044861317
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-29653-5_34
DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-29653-5_34
M3 - Contribución a la conferencia
AN - SCOPUS:105044861317
SN - 9783032296528
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
SP - 531
EP - 544
BT - Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction - 20th International Conference, UAHCI 2026, Held as Part of the 28th HCI International Conference, HCII 2026, Proceedings
A2 - Antona, Margherita
A2 - Stephanidis, Constantine
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 26 July 2026 through 31 July 2026
ER -