{"id":4136,"date":"2023-03-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/digital-accessibility-what-it-means-and-why-it-is-important-in-scholarly-publishing\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:21:08","slug":"digital-accessibility-what-it-means-and-why-it-is-important-in-scholarly-publishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/digital-accessibility-what-it-means-and-why-it-is-important-in-scholarly-publishing","title":{"rendered":"Digital accessibility: What it means and why it is important in scholarly publishing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technology has raised everybody\u2019s living standards and capabilities, but for some it has made particularly dramatic differences. People living with disabilities and chronic illnesses now enjoy greater mobility, communication, and inclusion in society than at any time until now, thanks to adaptive technologies that help them in situations that would otherwise pose great challenges. Motorized wheelchairs, hearing aids, and adapted controls for motor vehicles are all visible examples of technology facilitating the inclusion of people with disabilities. While digital accessibility tools are less conspicuous, they are nonetheless necessary to enable people with disabilities to enjoy full access to digital material. In this article, I would like to explore the concept of digital accessibility, discuss why it is important in scholarly publishing, and look at how publishers are facilitating accessibility.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Digital accessibility\u2014A primer<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Digital accessibility<\/a> comprises a range of technologies that facilitate the use of digital content, such as websites, applications, documents, and multimedia by people with disabilities. In brief, digital accessibility aims to remove barriers and ensure that technologies such as computers and smartphones are inclusive and usable by everyone.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Accordingly, many commercial operating systems<\/a> and browsers include built-in accessibility features, including keyboard navigation, descriptive audio, high-contrast color schemes, and even eye-tracking technology. Likewise, a lot of digital media includes alternatives to visual and auditory content, such as captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In recognition of these needs, many regulatory bodies have demanded that digital accessibility be included as a reasonable accommodation, such as in the USA\u2019s Americans with Disabilities Act. However, ensuring digital accessibility is not only a matter of compliance with legal requirements, but also a social responsibility and a business opportunity, as it can increase the reach, engagement, and satisfaction of a broader audience, including people with disabilities.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Digital accessibility standards and best practices<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the most prominent organization that develops and publishes standards for the Internet. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2, first published by the accessibility initiative of W3C in 2008 and recently amended, is the primary handbook for digital accessibility online. These guidelines have been adopted by the European Union in Directive (EU) 2016\/2102<\/a> to standardize accessibility guidelines across the union, requiring members to legislate accordingly.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

W3C\u2019s Accessibility Fundamentals<\/a> portal is the best overview I have encountered to understanding the rationale, issues, and implementation of accessibility guidelines. If digital accessibility is new to you, I suggest beginning with the resources listed in their FAQ section<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mozilla, best known for its Firefox browser, offers great overviews of how to conform to web accessibility guidelines<\/a> in its Mozilla Developer\u2019s Network portal. These resources are ideal as an ongoing reference material for developers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Smartphones and tablets are increasingly becoming one of the main ways that people interact with digital media. Accordingly, digital accessibility is also vital for mobile devices<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, media should also be appropriately optimized. Briefly, here are some common media and some accommodations that should be considered.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Documents<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Videos<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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  • Include subtitles for people with hearing difficulties.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Include descriptive audio for actions shown on screen.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Avoid flashing images that may trigger photosensitive epilepsy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Audio<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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  • Include transcripts of audio files.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Interactive applications<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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