Abstract
The purpose of developing e-Government is to make public administrations more efficient and transparent and to allow citizens to more comfortably and effectively access information. Such benefits are even more important to people with a physical disability, allowing them to reduce waiting times in procedures and travel. However, it is not in widespread use among this group, as they not only harbor the same fears as other citizens, but also must cope with the barriers inherent to their disability. This research proposes a solution to help persons with disabilities access e-Government services. This work, in cooperation with the Spanish Federation of Spinal-Cord Injury Victims and the Severely Disabled, includes the development of a portal specially oriented towards people with disabilities to help them locate and access services offered by Spanish administrations. Use of the portal relies on digital authentication of users based on X.509, which are found in identity cards of Spanish citizens. However, an analysis of their use reveals that this feature constitutes a significant barrier to accessibility. This paper proposes a more accessible solution using a USB cryptographic token that can conceal from users all complexity entailed in access to certificate-based applications, while assuring the required security.
Highlights
In 2006, the European Union launched its i2010 e-Government Action Plan [1], which was subsequently revised in The European e-Government Action Plan 2011–2015 [2], aimed at modernizing the public services of EU member states and making them more effective to reduce the burden of bureaucracy and ineffectiveness citizens must deal with
The variable with the most influence in the accessibility experience of telematic services of the administration was the type of disability, mainly through characteristics of cognitive development associated to each of the disabilities
These results lead to the conclusion that the technology solution must include elements related to cognitive accessibility, such as ease of reading, minimizing link routes, and use of pictograms, coupled with technical accessibility elements related to management of the digital certificate or the browsing experience. Another of the significant results of this study was the finding that use of certificates possesses major difficulties for persons with disabilities, whether such certificates are installed in the browser or whether they are available through the citizen’s identity card
Summary
In 2006, the European Union launched its i2010 e-Government Action Plan [1], which was subsequently revised in The European e-Government Action Plan 2011–2015 [2], aimed at modernizing the public services of EU member states and making them more effective to reduce the burden of bureaucracy and ineffectiveness citizens must deal with. The development of new e-Government services entails a series of further measures, both nationally and internationally Owing to their direct impact on citizens, such services must have a digital identification that enables unequivocal authentication in online procedures. The confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data handled in such transactions must be assured [3] To meet this demand, many European countries are promoting the use among their citizenry of X.509 certificates [4] for their dealings with the administration, both in software and through secure portable devices. In Spain, as in other European countries, an additional functionality has been added to the existing ID card that is mandatory for all citizens, namely, a chip This chip contains X.509 certificates and the necessary password in order to execute secure transactions with the administration. The DNIe follows the standard ISO 7816, which, in turn, is an evolution of the PKCS#15 standard [9]
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