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Background: Dental services are often overlooked within healthcare systems, despite their critical role in overall health. Socioeconomic barriers and disparities in insurance coverage frequently limit access to oral care, particularly among vulnerable populations like older adults. Objective: To examine the impact of different health insurance types on the frequency of dental consultations among Ecuadorian senior citizens, aiming to highlight gaps in access to care. Methods: Using the 2009 National Survey of Health, Well-being, and Aging (SABE), which aims to determine the health and living conditions of older individuals, this study analyzed the health insurance status and dental service visits of 4,565 older adults in Ecuador. Binary logistic regression was employed to explore the association between insurance type and dental-care utilization. Results: In the sample, 76.50% of older adults had not visited a dentist in the past year. Insurance breakdown revealed 17.04% with general IESS, 9.59% with rural IESS, 2.23% with private insurance, 1.86% with ISSFA/ISSPOL, 1.86% with municipal insurance, and 69.66% were uninsured. Individuals with private insurance or ISSFA/ISSPOL insurance were 32% and 91% more likely, respectively, to seek oral care compared to those without these respective insurances. Conversely, uninsured individuals were 43% less likely to seek dental care than those with any type of insurance. Conclusion: Health insurance significantly influences the frequency of dental consultations among Ecuadorian seniors, highlighting the need for policy interventions to ensure equitable access to oral care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of the automated accessibility evaluation of nearly three million web pages. The analysis of the evaluations allowed us to characterize the status of web accessibility. On average, we identified 30 errors per web page, and only a very small number of pages had no accessibility barriers identified. The more frequent problems found were inadequate text contrast and lack of accessible names. Additionally, we identified the technologies present in the websites evaluated, which allowed us to relate web technologies with the accessibility level, as measured by A3, an accessibility metric. Our findings show that most categories of web technologies impact the accessibility of web pages, but that even for those categories that show a negative impact, it is possible to select technologies that improve or do not impair the accessibility of the web content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Dental services are often overlooked within healthcare systems, despite their critical role in overall health. Socioeconomic barriers and disparities in insurance coverage frequently limit access to oral care, particularly among vulnerable populations like older adults. Objective To examine the impact of different health insurance types on the frequency of dental consultations among Ecuadorian senior citizens, aiming to highlight gaps in access to care. Methods Using the 2009 National Survey of Health, Well-being, and Aging (SABE), which aims to determine the health and living conditions of older individuals, this study analyzed the health insurance status and dental service visits of 4,565 older adults in Ecuador. Binary logistic regression was employed to explore the association between insurance type and dental-care utilization. Results In the sample, 76.50% of older adults had not visited a dentist in the past year. Insurance breakdown revealed 17.04% with general IESS, 9.59% with rural IESS, 2.23% with private insurance, 1.86% with ISSFA/ISSPOL, 1.86% with municipal insurance, and 69.66% were uninsured. Individuals with private insurance or ISSFA/ISSPOL insurance were 32% and 91% more likely, respectively, to seek oral care compared to those without these respective insurances. Conversely, uninsured individuals were 43% less likely to seek dental care than those with any type of insurance. Conclusion Health insurance significantly influences the frequency of dental consultations among Ecuadorian seniors, highlighting the need for policy interventions to ensure equitable access to oral care.

The use of digital technology by educators has received increasingly higher focus in the recent years. In spite of this, students with disabilities still face many accessibility obstacles while using digital technologies. In this context, this paper has the main goal of identifying the accessibility barriers faced by the community of blind students and highlighting the main factors that hinder this community from accessing learning objects. For this purpose, initially, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted, with which it was possible to collect the main accessibility problems identified by the scientific community. In order to complement and detail the information obtained in the SLR, a questionnaire was submitted to blind students, in which it was possible to discover new difficulties from a practical point of view. Finally, the accessibility barriers found in the SLR and in the questionnaire responses were analyzed and the results obtained were related to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the main document that explains how to make web content accessible for people with disabilities. This work seeks to explain the main factors that hinder or prevent access to learning objects in teaching-learning systems, promote a discussion on alternatives for improving these resources, identify gaps and guide more detailed studies on the subject.

Abstract Background Disparities in child healthcare service utilization are unacceptably high in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, little is known about underlying barriers to accessing child health services, especially among low socioeconomic subgroups and in remote areas. This study aims to identify barriers to equity in the use of child healthcare services in Ethiopia. Methods Data were obtained from 20 key- informant interviews (KII) and 6 focus group discussions (FGD) with mothers and care givers. This study was conducted in Oromia Region, Arsi Zone, Zuway Dugda District from June 1–30, 2023. The study participants for this research were selected purposively. The information was collected based on the principle of saturation after sixteen consecutives interview were conducted. Both KII and FGD were audio-recorded and complementary notes were taken to record observations about the participants’ comments and their interactions. Each interview and FGD data were transcribed word-for-word in the local Afaan Oromo and Amaharic languages and then translated to English language. Finally, the data were analyzed thematically using NVivo 14 software and narrated in the linked pattern of child health service utilization. Results This study identified six major themes which emerged as barriers to healthcare utilization equity for caregivers and their -under-five children. Barriers related to equity in low level of awareness regarding need, low socioeconomic status, geographical inaccessibility, barriers related to deficient healthcare system, community perception and cultural restrictions, and barriers of equity related to political instability and conflict. The most commonly recognized barriers of equity at the community level were political instability, conflict, and a tremendous distance to a health facility. Transportation challenges, poor functional services, closure of the health facility in working hours, and lack of proper planning to address the marginalized populations were identified barriers of equity at organizational or policy level. Conclusion This study showed that inequity in child healthcare utilization is an important challenge confronting Ethiopia. To achieve equity, policy makers and planners need to change health policy and structure to be pro-poor. It is also necessary to improve the healthcare system to increase service utilization and access for impoverished women, individuals with lower levels of education, and residents of isolated rural areas. Furthermore, context specific information pertaining to cultural barriers and political ecology are required.

This article explores the experiences of the daily cycling mobility of residents of Lima Norte during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, the forms of mobility in the city of Lima had to be readjusted due to the prohibitions and measures established for public transport in order to maintain health security. As a result, the number of cyclists increased, and many of them experienced the great obstacles of cycling in this city. Analysis of the practices and perceptions of the cyclists interviewed highlights the central problem related to infrastructural deficiencies. These reflect the strong inequality of the north of Lima compared to the other districts of the city. To this is added the heterogeneity of experiences and the differentiated strategies used to face barriers. In this way, this article contributes to the body of studies of cycling mobility, showing the specificity of the experience of cyclists who reside in the peripheral areas of the city.

World politics simulations are gaining popularity and becoming mainstream. With advanced technological tools, experimental learning brings together students from afar increasing the multicultural nature of meetings and practical learning. Progress in running simulations and pedagogical goal fulfillment still require the removal of accessibility barriers, to make our educational environment more equal, universally across the globe. This study addresses four barrier types, describes improvement in the legal setting over the years and points to still unmet challenges preventing an equitable learning experience for all students regardless of background, race, religion, or ability. Components from the Universal Design for Learning (UDL)—Action and Expression, Engagement, and Representation—serve as pedagogical guidelines, applied in the Syrian Civil War Simulation (SCWS) to illustrate how gradually progressing role play can overcome some if not all barriers. Some barriers are technical-procedural, so addressing them necessitates awareness and application of easily available modifications. Others are deeply embedded, making their removal harder and more costly. In conclusion, the study highlights practical ways to overcome barriers, emphasizing the role of networking as a way to identify problems, learn about available solutions, share the costs of implementing changes, and make simulation projects attractive to all students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to live the life one wants with public transport is one of the key factors of sustainable and inclusive societies. Given the current trend in the transport domain, providing accessible public transport is necessary in order to allow people to participate in their day-to-day activities without using a car. Using survey data obtained from Sweden, this study investigates factors that may have a negative effect on the perceived accessibility of public transportation in major city areas and other areas. Overall, regression analyses show that time and economic resources, organizational and temporal functions, frequent travel by public transport, and geographical context all act as accessibility barriers. These findings highlight the need not only to target increased mobility in urban environments, but also to turn the focus to the citizenry's perceived accessibility. These findings point to implications for policies, planning and interventions targeted at accessible public transport. Adopting an accessibility-oriented approach to urban development, including the individual perspective, could be a pathway for creating a socially sustainable transport system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to live the life one wants with public transport is one of the key factors of sustainable and inclusive societies. Given the current trend in the transport domain, providing accessible public transport is necessary in order to allow people to participate in their day-to-day activities without using a car. Using survey data obtained from Sweden, this study investigates factors that may have a negative effect on the perceived accessibility of public transportation in major city areas and other areas. Overall, regression analyses show that time and economic resources, organizational and temporal functions, frequent travel by public transport, and geographical context all act as accessibility barriers. These findings highlight the need not only to target increased mobility in urban environments, but also to turn the focus to the citizenry’s perceived accessibility. These findings point to implications for policies, planning and interventions targeted at accessible public transport. Adopting an accessibility-oriented approach to urban development, including the individual perspective, could be a pathway for creating a socially sustainable transport system.

Web accessibility refers to allowing people with diverse capabilities to use the Internet, interact with it and contribute to it. The Web offers content and services to users, which is primarily monetized through advertisements. Web accessibility issues arise when a homogeneous team of web designers and developers produce homogeneous content and services for a very heterogeneous group of Internet users and ignores the web accessibility guidelines. One such content is Internet advertisements whose volume on web pages has increased significantly from last decade. In this paper, we shed light on how advertisements can cause various accessibility barriers to persons with visual impairments. This study also attempts to identify the potential determinants and various advertisement formats, which cause multiple accessibility barriers. Our findings indicate that advertisements lack accessibility features, which cause the disturbance (63%), insecure feelings (63%), user performance decrease (60%), content obstruction (90%), Web page backtrack issues (90%) and security issues (20%) for persons with visual impairments. To decrease the intensity of advertisement-related barriers, we have proposed some solutions and advertisement creation techniques and tweaks, which can be followed by designers and developers to improve the accessibility of these web advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pierucci et al.'s 2022 paper titled "A global review of MSC certification: Why fisheries withdraw?" states that 96 % of fisheries leave the MSC program during the assessment period or first two years of certification. The authors suggest deficiencies in the pre-assessment process or "the high initial costs of certification" may explain the high rate of withdrawal during the assessment period. Our response highlights methodological flaws in their study that bias estimates of withdrawn fisheries by nearly two-fold and subsequently invalidate their conclusions relating to fisheries not yet certified. Here we provide a detailed understanding of the multiple, intersecting improvement pathways that a fishery might take before and after certification to help clarify which barriers to certification are most likely to be at play during different stages of engagement with a sustainable seafood certification scheme. We explore how these barriers vary for different types of fisheries and in geographies with different markets, including disproportionate challenges to sustainable fisheries management, and how global efforts are required to address these inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to provide an overview of the status of web accessibility in China and to reveal any improvements during the period 2009 to 2013. Two evaluation studies were carried out in 2009 and 2013, respectively. Thirty-eight popular Chinese websites were evaluated in 2009 and fifty in 2013 with reference to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG). The studies applied the conformance evaluation method with the help of the automatic evaluation tool Hera. The evaluation results indicated that none of the surveyed websites passed all the checkpoints of Priority 1 in both studies, which means no website met the minimum requirement for web accessibility. The average level of web accessibility worsened between 2009 and 2013 due to the increase of website complexity and the amount of content. However, e-government websites had made some significant improvement during these 4 years, which indicated that the government had realized the web accessibility issues and made some effort to address them. The evaluation also revealed five major accessibility barriers existing in both studies, and these barriers also served as technical suggestions for web content providers. The web accessibility of Chinese websites is far from satisfactory, and it is getting worse from 2009 to 2013. However, e-government websites had improved significantly in regards to accessibility due to the release of accessibility regulations. Thus, the reason that explains low web accessibility in China is the lack of awareness rather than lack of technical skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the phenomenon of companionship as an adaptation strategy to counter the existing barriers to health care access in developing nations. Companionship is argued to be an outcome of “inter” and “intra” household collaboration to offer diverse supports in addition to altruism. The analysis of the household survey conducted in West Bengal, India, exhibited different patterns of health care tours and the associated dependencies. In addition to support in terms of mobility while traveling and companionship while waiting for the opportunity, support in terms of refuge is also found to be essential, especially for the poor while they undertake regional tours. Causal models focusing on aggregated general health tours and specific regional tours were estimated separately to comprehend the implicit social interactions and their effects on the patient as well as the companions. The research demonstrated that accessibility barriers affect not only the ill, but also those associated with them and at times adversely. Segregation of regional tours illustrated the gaps, which instigated such tours and also might aid in health infrastructure planning as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While e-mail is the Internet application most used by older people, very little is known about how they interact with e-mail systems and use them in their daily lives. We undertook a 3-year ethnographical study aimed at revealing and explaining real life e-mailing. We describe and discuss the nature of e-mail use in terms of social circles; frequency, type of content and patterns of communication; relationship with other technologies and activities; motivation and interactive experiences. Within this context of everyday use, we uncover and explain the (relative) importance of several interaction barriers, such as cognitive load, difficulties using input devices and perception of visual information. We claim that cognitive difficulties are much more relevant than difficulties in reading from the screen, for instance, so challenging results of current HCI research with older people. We show and discuss some implications for designing better e-mail systems (and interactive technologies) for older people. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Researchers increasingly suggest that accessibility remains a prominent issue across the World Wide Web (www). This study raises awareness about issues of access in higher education. This qualitative research design utilized a listserv that invited university based webmasters to use freeware to evaluate the overall accessibility of their institutions'' homepage website. Participation was voluntary and evaluations were gathered electronically. Our sample indicated that most universities'' homepages were non-compliant with the www.WorldWideWeb Consortium guidelines. One particular institution, however, satisfied all W3C guidelines earning a perfect Triple A. Simply stated, this exemplary website serves people of all exceptionalities. Studying this institution''s implementation process, we propose that other institutions might emulate this exemplary model to achieve greater website accessibility for all constituents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, an empirical based study is described which has been conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the visually impaired community when accessing the Web. The study, involving 30 blind and partially sighted computer users, has identified navigation strategies, perceptions of page layout and graphics using assistive devices such as screen readers. Analysis of the data has revealed that current assistive technologies impose navigational constraints and provide limited information on web page layout. Conveying additional spatial information could enhance the exploration process for visually impaired Internet users. It could also assist the process of collaboration between blind and sighted users when performing web-based tasks. The findings from the survey have informed the development of a non-visual interface, which uses the benefits of multimodal technologies to present spatial and navigational cues to the user. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China travel industry is growing rapidly and is expected to grow even more in the next 15 years. Another segment of the population that is increasing is individuals with physical disabilities. China has enacted several laws to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and to make travel more accessible. Although individuals with physical disabilities travel less than those without disabilities, the potential market is expanding. If travellers with physical disabilities encounter few barriers during their travels, they may travel even more in the future. This study examined four tourism industry sectors in China in terms of the accessibility and attitudinal barriers that participants with physical disabilities encountered. The four sectors were transportation, accommodations, eating–drinking establishments and attractions. Furthermore, comparisons were conducted on the participants' functioning level, income and types of mobility assistive devices they used. Results suggested that participants' functioning level was an appropriate indicator of the amount of barriers they encountered while travelling. Conversely, the amount of barriers encountered by the participants was not predicated by their income or the type of devices they used. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of life is a major issue for people with physical disabilities. Though life has improved over the last decade, major gaps in satisfaction with life still exist between individuals with and without physical disabilities. Tourism is one segment of society that has the potential for improving the quality of life for individuals with physical disabilities. By improving travel opportunities for individuals with physical disabilities, the individuals may experience more life satisfaction and, ultimately, a better quality of life. The Accessibility and Attitudinal Barriers Model (AABM), originally developed by Takeda & Card (2002, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 12(1), 47–61), illustrated four travel sectors (transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, and attractions), and to what extent travel providers encountered accessibility and attitudinal barriers when providing package tours for individuals with physical disabilities who used mobility devices. The purpose of this study was visually to compare barriers encountered by providers with barriers encountered by travelers who used mobility devices. Results were illustrated using the AABM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the passage of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), civil rights protection was expanded for the 54 million Americans with disabilities. Tourism falls under Title In of this legislation. Yet, more than a decade after the passage of the ADA, people with disabilities still encounter barriers in travel and tourism industry sectors, both accessibility and staff attitudinal barriers. This study examined four industry sectors within US travel and tourism in terms of the accessibility and attitudinal barriers that travelers with physical disabilities encountered. The four sectors were transportation, accommodations, eating/drinking establishments, and attractions. Further, comparisons were conducted on gender, age, types of assistive devices used by travelers, income, and accessibility and attitudinal barriers. Results indicated that the four tourism sectors may not universally comply with the ADA and that tourism providers are not meeting the attitudinal needs of travelers. Gender, age, assistive devices, and income were not good indicators of accessibility barriers travelers encountered, but gender and age provided some indication of attitudinal barriers they encountered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Accessibility barriers problems affect pedestrian movement and public transport in MAC. • Most vulnerable people declare high levels of insecurity in mobility. • This method is a novel approach for the purpose of evaluating social sustainability in urban mobility issues in global south. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research covers a multi-dimensional investigation into accessibility barriers in care services for older people with disabilities in rural China. In-depth interviews with 13 rural disabled older people in China were conducted using qualitative methods. Based on a welfare pluralism approach, the results showed that in comparison with urban areas, care services for disabled older populations in rural areas are more subject to social barriers. This can be seen in the limited state (lack of resources, rigorous eligibility qualifications, uneven distribution, and irregular implementation); the absent market (low levels of consumption, high cost pressures, self-exclusion, and traditional cultural constraints); absent NGOs and volunteers (difficulties in access for NGOs and volunteers outside the area and formation difficulties of local NGOs and volunteers); as well as low-quality care in households and communities (unprofessional care from the spouse, unsustainable care from children, and unavailable community-based care). A multi-subject support network should be established to remove accessibility barriers to care services for older people with disabilities in rural areas through active intervention and interaction. The results of the research provide insights that will aid in the formulation of future social care service plans and health policies for rural older people with disabilities.