Tese de mestrado, Informática, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2020 ; Nowadays, the World Wide Web is a necessity, and its content should be available to everyone. People with different types of disabilities have different needs in using the web and access the content. Developers should fulfill these needs by making websites accessible. Alongside this premise, worldwide government directives oblige public and private sector websites and apps to meet accessibility requirements. To achieve a determined level of accessibility conformance, developers should follow the WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and use automatic testing tools to evaluate their websites. However, while creating an accessible website, they may find difficulties that make this a laborious process. After studying and comparing eight of the most well-known accessibility evaluation extensions for the Chrome web browser, I found that these difficulties arise from various factors. These are subjective guidelines interpretations and implementations, automatic testing tools that provide limited coverage of the success criteria, different results displayed for the same website, and some guidelines are not tested automatically, meaning developers should perform manual testing. After analyzing these results, this project, with the name AccessBot, tries to cover the automatic accessibility evaluation gaps. It is an assisted validation tool using the open-source QualWeb accessibility evaluation. AccessBot is a browser extension for Chrome. Being a chrome extension makes it easy to access, install, and use by developers and more accessible to the general public. Its implementation aims to help users by visually identifying the problem, and performing a step-by-step guided evaluation, complementing the automatic evaluation done by QualWeb. The accessibility testing considers the test rules developed by the ACT-Rules Community, which makes an effort to create detailed descriptions of WCAG.
Qual o papel que a política social desempenha no desenvolvimento? Que ferramentas teóricas e conceptuais podemos usar para compreender melhor esse papel - considerando que as de que dispomos actualmente são, na maioria, as associadas aos modelos socioeconómicos e políticos dos países mais industrializados? Neste trabalho procuramos analisar estas questões, com base na reflexão sobre os modelos de regimes de bem-estar aplicados à realidade dos países em desenvolvimento. Nesta discussão recorremos a um conceito de política social abrangente e, nesse sentido, procurámos identificar a multi-dimensionalidade de funções que aquela pode desempenhar no desenvolvimento, designadamente em sociedades caracterizadas pela instabilidade e pela fragilidade institucional. Por outro lado, considerando a dependência que grande parte dos PED vive em relação à ajuda pública ao desenvolvimento, procurámos perceber também, de que modo a política social é entendida pelos actores-chave da cooperação – qual a posição que ocupa na agenda actual, dominada pelos objectivos da luta contra a pobreza, da melhoria dos níveis de saúde e de educação? Este articulado de questões está vertido na análise do caso da Guiné-Bissau numa perspectiva de regime de bem-estar, cuja evolução recente tem sido marcada pela instabilidade política, conflito, e degradação dos níveis de bem-estar. Palavras-Chave: Política Social, regimes de bem-estar, cooperação para o desenvolvimento, Estados "frágeis," Guiné-Bissau ; What's the role of social policy in development? Which theoretical and conceptual instruments can we use to better understand that role – considering that the ones we usually have are, mostly, associated with the socioeconomic and political contexts of industrialized counties. In this work, we aim to discuss those questions, using the welfare regimes theoretical framework, as it has been applied to the reality of developing countries. In this discussion we have used a broader concept of social policy and, in that sense, we've tried to identify the multi-dimensionality of roles that it can perform in development, particularly, in societies characterized by instability and institutional fragility. On the other hand, considering the great dependency on foreign aid that many developing countries face, we've tried to understand the approaches of the main development cooperation actors' towards social policy – what's the position of social policy in the present agenda, characterized by the importance given to poverty, health and education? This set of questions is integrated in the analysis of the Guinea-Bissau case in a wellbeing regime perspective, considering that it recent history has been characterized by political instability, conflict and the falling of wellbeing levels. Keywords: Social policy, welfare regimes, development cooperation, "fragile" states, Guinea-Bissau
Communication in organisations is essential for them to be competitive in a global world that is constantly changing. Internal communication especially can be a highly effective and useful strategic tool for improving organisational performance through employee motivation and satisfaction. Based on a questionnaire survey completed by 426 employees of Portuguese organisations, this work aims to understand, using a partial least squares structural equation model, the importance of internal communication in the motivation and satisfaction of Portuguese employees. The results show that internal communication in organisations directly influences job satisfaction and also indirectly, through motivation at work, giving motivation at work the role of mediator. It is therefore important for Portuguese organisations to invest in effective internal communication strategies in order to promote employee motivation and satisfaction, recognising motivation as a key mediator in the relationship between internal communication and job satisfaction.
Over the last few years, in a continuous and growing way, the motivation of employees has been studied and it is currently agreed that it is an important work factor that significantly influences productivity and individual performance in an organisational context. As an influential factor for this motivation, we can find psychological empowerment in the sense that it gives employees freedom and confidence. This study aimed to understand the role of psychological empowerment in employee motivation. Empowerment can be translated, in a business context, into the training and valorisation of collaborators with a sense of their commitment to better the individual and, consequently, global performance of the organisation. In this research, empowerment was considered a motivational factor in achieving organisational objectives. The methodology used was of a quantitative nature based on a questionnaire survey that aimed to analyse psychological empowerment and the motivation of 620 individuals working in Portuguese organisations in the industry and services sectors. The results obtained, which were based on a structural equation model, show that psychological empowerment at work positively influenced employee motivation, with the meaning and self-determination dimensions contributing the most to motivation. The results obtained in the study have the potential to benefit both employees and organisations, contributing to a more productive and healthy working environment.
Resumen Se presentan los elementos históricos y contextuales que posibilitaron el surgimiento de la Responsabilidad Social a partir de un análisis crítico, partiendo de la totalidad social para entender el objeto de estudio más allá de su sentido endógeno. Se inicia a partir de la contrarreforma del Estado en los años 1980 causado por las necesidades del modo de producción capitalista para su reproducción y cómo esto se fue implementando en los gobiernos de los países de América Latina por medio de los Planes de Ajuste Estructural, utilizando estrategias para la privatización de servicios sociales como lo fue la Responsabilidad Social, entendida como uno de los factores que potencializa la hegemonía burguesa articulando las acciones empresariales y de organizaciones la sociedad civil a partir del discurso de responsabilidades compartidas, con particularidades político-ideológico y fundamentalmente económicas, por lo cual, es sin duda una forma que potencializa la valorización del capital.
The present research aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the behavior of Portuguese consumers concerning the purchase of food. For this purpose, a quantitative study was performed, using a sample composed of 741 Portuguese consumers. The study was carried out between November 2020 and February 2021, a period during which the most severe measures of social isolation were imposed by the Portuguese government since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The results show that during the pandemic, consumers changed their behavior patterns, specifically: in the frequency of shopping; the use of transport to carry out the purchases; the amount of the budget allocated for this purpose; and the channels used to purchase. Based on these results, managers and policy makers will be able to adjust or redefine their strategies to meet new consumer preferences, thus promoting individual well-being and business success. Our research is original as it is focused on the Portuguese context at a specific point in time motivated by the external factors that arose from the dissemination of the Covid-19 pandemic, consequently affecting consumers' behavior on food purchase. Furthermore, it adds value to the literature with new findings on consumer behavior change within a pandemic environment, and the application of practical assistance to market practitioners as well as advice to policy makers.
Neste artigo apresenta-se o recorte de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, financiada pelo CNPq, realizada sobre Paulo Freire no contexto Latino Americano e concluída em 2016. O objetivo é analisar a contribuição de Paulo Freire para uma educação emancipadora, por meio da construção de uma escola pública democrática, na América Latina. Considera-se que Paulo Freire ao criticar o ensino tradicional vigente nas escolas, aponta a necessidade de reinventar a escola em outra perspectiva, apresentando indicadores de uma escola pública crítica, popular e libertadora, que possibilite aos educandos serem sujeitos do seu conhecimento e aprendizagem, com autonomia para escolher e decidir sobre suas ações sociais e educacionais. Escola em que os educandos exerçam o direito de serem sujeitos. Entre os resultados destacam-se: que apesar da ampliação de acesso, o ensino de qualidade nas escolas públicas na América Latina continua negado, sendo mantida a situação de desigualdade e de exclusão educacional, de segmentos das classes populares, entre as quais a população indígena e as minorias étnicas. A educação popular freireana é vista como referencial para mudar a escola na América Latina, com vistas a uma escola pública emancipadora e democrática.Palavras-chave: Educação Freireana. Escola pública. América Latina. Education and Emancipation: Paulo Freire and the public school in Latin AmericaABSTRACTThis article presents a piece of a bibliographical research, financed by CNPq, held on Paulo Freire in the Latin American context and completed in 2016. The objective is to analyze the contribution of Paulo Freire to an emancipatory education, through the construction of a democratic public school, in Latin America. It is considered that Paulo Freire in criticizing the traditional teaching in schools, points to the need to reinvent the school from another perspective, presenting indicators of a critical public school, popular and liberating, which enables learners to be subjects of their knowledge and learning, with autonomy to choose and decide on their social and educational actions. School in which learners exercise the right to be subjects. Among the results are: that despite the expansion of access, the quality of education in public schools in Latin America continues to be denied, being maintained the situation of inequality and educational exclusion, of segments of the popular classes, including the indigenous population and ethnic minorities. Freirean popular education is seen as a reference for changing schools in Latin America, with a view to an emancipatory and democratic public school.Keywords: Freirean Education. Public school. Latin America. Educación y Emancipación: Paulo Freire y la escuela pública de LatinoaméricaRESUMENEn este artículo se presenta el recorte de una investigación bibliográfica, financiada por el CNPq, realizada sobre Paulo Freire en el contexto Latinoamericano y concluida en 2016. El objetivo es analizar la contribución de Paulo Freire a una educación emancipadora, a través de la construcción de una escuela pública democrática, en América Latina. Se considera que Paulo Freire al criticar la enseñanza tradicional vigente en las escuelas, apunta la necesidad de reinventar la escuela en otra perspectiva, presentando indicadores de una escuela pública crítica, popular y liberadora, que posibilite a los educandos ser sujetos de su conocimiento y aprendizaje, con autonomía para elegir y decidir sobre sus acciones sociales y educativas. Escuela en la que los educandos ejerzan el derecho de ser sujetos. Entre los resultados destacan: que a pesar de la ampliación de acceso, la enseñanza de calidad en las escuelas públicas en América Latina continúa negada, manteniendo la situación de desigualdad y de exclusión educativa, de segmentos de las clases populares, entre las cuales la población indígena y las minorías étnicas. La educación popular freireana es vista como referencial para cambiar la escuela en América Latina, con vistas a una escuela pública emancipadora y democrática.Palabras clave: Educación Freireana. Escuela pública. América Latina.
The main objective of this study is to analyse the impact of authentic leadership on resilience, directly or when mediated by humility, in small and medium-sized enterprises and small businesses since these are personal characteristics that are increasingly determining and differentiating. All over the world, these organisations have been feeling the need to adapt to major societal changes that are taking place at the level of economic, social, political, cultural and ethical relations. The emergence of these new societal conjunctures imposes new conditions on organisations and rebuilds the world of work and business. In this way, authentic leadership and its influence on the behaviour of employees and organisations as a whole are increasingly gaining the attention of academics. This research empirically validates the theoretical arguments that suggest that authentic leadership relates to humility and resilience, both directly and indirectly, and demonstrates that employees are essential resources to help organisations face competitive challenges, take advantage of their employees' potential, and promote organisational efficiency competitive advantages over competitors. The study is based on a questionnaire applied to 109 employees of Portuguese companies, who, in the performance of their professional activity, are in a position of direct subordinates of the top management of these SMEs and small businesses. The analysis of the results obtained allows the conclusion that authentic leaders arouse more humility and more resilience in their subordinates.
The present research aims to analyze the habits observed in the perception of the general physical health condition of Portuguese food consumers in the COVID-19 pandemic. The investiga- tion is focused on indicators such as weight, physical activity, and consumption habits through the adoption of healthy and not healthy food. Centered on a quantitative approach, the research is based on the application of a questionnaire to a sample of 741 Portuguese consumers, between November 2020 and February 2021, a period during which the most severe measures of social isolation were imposed by the Portuguese government, since the beginning of the pandemic. Moreover, the ques- tionnaire was applied to consumers over 18 years old. According to this population, and considering a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 4%, the sample has a minimum of 601 responses. Being so, the results of this research are representative for the Portuguese food consumers. The theoretical model was estimated using Partial Least Squares (PLS) in the Smart PLS 3.0 software. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that the Portuguese perception of their weight did not change in the pandemic, despite showing that in general, the pandemic had a negative impact on their physical condition. On the other hand, the results show that the Portuguese associate the practice of physical exercise with physical well-being. Respondents also confirm a positive relationship between "positive eating behaviors (such as consumption of fruits and vegetables, low saturated foods and rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats" and water consumption) and "the perception of physical health in general". On the contrary, respondents' perception of the choice of negative eating behaviors (measured by the consumption of products with a high content of salt and sugar, snacks, and processed frozen and pre-cooked foods) have a negative impact on the "assessment of physical health, in the COVID-19 pandemic". Hence, it was concluded that the Portuguese consider that an eventual increase in weight does not necessarily correspond to a perception of worse physical health; the practice of physical exercise and good eating habits corresponds to a perception of better physical health; the adoption of bad eating habits corresponds to the perception of bad physical health.
The present research aims to analyze the habits observed in the perception of the general physical health condition of Portuguese food consumers in the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation is focused on indicators such as weight, physical activity, and consumption habits through the adoption of healthy and not healthy food. Centered on a quantitative approach, the research is based on the application of a questionnaire to a sample of 741 Portuguese consumers, between November 2020 and February 2021, a period during which the most severe measures of social isolation were imposed by the Portuguese government, since the beginning of the pandemic. Moreover, the questionnaire was applied to consumers over 18 years old. According to this population, and considering a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 4%, the sample has a minimum of 601 responses. Being so, the results of this research are representative for the Portuguese food consumers. The theoretical model was estimated using Partial Least Squares (PLS) in the Smart PLS 3.0 software. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that the Portuguese perception of their weight did not change in the pandemic, despite showing that in general, the pandemic had a negative impact on their physical condition. On the other hand, the results show that the Portuguese associate the practice of physical exercise with physical well-being. Respondents also confirm a positive relationship between "positive eating behaviors (such as consumption of fruits and vegetables, low saturated foods and rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats" and water consumption) and "the perception of physical health in general". On the contrary, respondents' perception of the choice of negative eating behaviors (measured by the consumption of products with a high content of salt and sugar, snacks, and processed frozen and pre-cooked foods) have a negative impact on the "assessment of physical health, in the COVID-19 pandemic". Hence, it was concluded that the Portuguese consider that ...
The socioeconomic changes that many countries have been experiencing in recent decades, caused by structural factors or by specific circumstances, where the pandemic crisis of COVID-19 is only the most recent example, have posed challenges to organizations, which present themselves more and more and in various forms as threatened by the possibility of fulfilling their mission. Public and private sectors increasingly present themselves as insufficient to respond effectively to day-to-day requests. This context of instability and the resulting impacts for non-profit organizations pose serious problems to the way in which governance is exercised and served as a motivation for carrying out a study that aimed to understand the influence of strategy and human resources on the governance of these organizations. A review of the literature on the variables under study made it possible to identify the sub-dimensions associated with each one of them and the respective indicators. Thus, for a quantitative study, it was possible to apply a questionnaire to 242 Holy Houses of Mercy in Portugal to understand the direct and indirect influences of strategic management and human resources management on the governance of these institutions. The results obtained show the existence of a positive relationship between the variables under analysis, confirming that not only do these variables influence, by themselves and directly, the governance of the institutions studied, but also the strategy influences human resources policies, which in turn have implications for the way the Holy Houses of Mercy deal with aspects associated with governance. It is concluded that, in general, for these organizations to be more effective in efforts to improve their governance processes, they must focus on strategic management and human resources management instruments.
AbstractA growing interest in academic entrepreneurship has characterized the past few years. Young university students are increasingly encouraged to create their companies to boost their region's social and economic development. In this regard, women entrepreneurs have been playing a decisive role. They have been increasing in number, becoming of key importance due to their status and significance for the gender impact on entrepreneurship. This research evaluates women's entrepreneurial intention in the Portuguese academy, denoting which entrepreneurial intent is influenced by environmental factors such as closer valuation and social valuation and motivational factors such as attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. For this purpose, a quantitative methodology was used. A questionnaire was applied to 731 female students of higher education in Portugal. The analysis of the results allowed us to perceive which variables under study influenced the entrepreneurial intention. The findings will reinforce the literature, thus, contributing to strengthening the theoretical framework on entrepreneurial intentions in women and launching clues for action within public decision‐makers, universities, and civil society, allowing to adopt practices that will increase entrepreneurship in women. To our knowledge, this research is one of the few studies on female entrepreneurial intention in academia in a peripheral region of Europe such as Portugal.
The main objective of this study is to analyse the impact of authentic leadership on resilience, directly or when mediated by humility, in small and medium-sized enterprises and small businesses since these are personal characteristics that are increasingly determining and differentiating. All over the world, these organisations have been feeling the need to adapt to major societal changes that are taking place at the level of economic, social, political, cultural and ethical relations. The emergence of these new societal conjunctures imposes new conditions on organisations and rebuilds the world of work and business. In this way, authentic leadership and its influence on the behaviour of employees and organisations as a whole are increasingly gaining the attention of academics. This research empirically validates the theoretical arguments that suggest that authentic leadership relates to humility and resilience, both directly and indirectly, and demonstrates that employees are essential resources to help organisations face competitive challenges, take advantage of their employees' potential, and promote organisational efficiency competitive advantages over competitors. The study is based on a questionnaire applied to 109 employees of Portuguese companies, who, in the performance of their professional activity, are in a position of direct subordinates of the top management of these SMEs and small businesses. The analysis of the results obtained allows the conclusion that authentic leaders arouse more humility and more resilience in their subordinates. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
The present research aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the behavior of Portuguese consumers concerning the purchase of food. For this purpose, a quantitative study was performed, using a sample composed of 741 Portuguese consumers. The study was carried out between November 2020 and February 2021, a period during which the most severe measures of social isolation were imposed by the Portuguese government since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The results show that during the pandemic, consumers changed their behavior patterns, specifically: in the frequency of shopping; the use of transport to carry out the purchases; the amount of the budget allocated for this purpose; and the channels used to purchase. Based on these results, managers and policy makers will be able to adjust or redefine their strategies to meet new consumer preferences, thus promoting individual well-being and business success. Our research is original as it is focused on the Portuguese context at a specific point in time motivated by the external factors that arose from the dissemination of the Covid-19 pandemic, consequently affecting consumers' behavior on food purchase. Furthermore, it adds value to the literature with new findings on consumer behavior change within a pandemic environment, and the application of practical assistance to market practitioners as well as advice to policy makers. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
