The undeniable value of accessibility

Introduction

As the movement for diversity, equity, and inclusion gains traction, the attention is now focused on digital equality. Organizations face the risk of jeopardizing their growth and reputation if they fail to sympathize, engage in, and practice inclusivity and accessibility.

In a world where the majority of our interactions take place digitally, accessibility is one of the fundamental principles of publishing and distributing inclusive content. At its core, accessible design aims to ensure that all digital functionality and content are accessible to everyone, regardless of device type, physical or cognitive limitations, or other factors. Accessibility is now a legal requirement in a number of jurisdictions, with laws mandating that institutions cannot adopt materials that do not satisfy a minimum accessibility standard. This has caused academic publishers and libraries alike to place a lot of emphasis on accessibility.

WCAG compliance

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of rules that were formed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The most recent version, WCAG 2.1, is a comprehensive, reliable, and simple-to-implement collection of guidelines meant to assist web designers and authors everywhere in creating user-friendly websites and providing accessible content. It provides a wide range of suggestions for improving the accessibility of Web content. The goal of WCAG 2.1 is to increase accessibility for a larger range of disabled people, including those with poor vision, learning difficulties, speech impairments, and multiple disabilities. All of these individuals may now have more opportunities online than ever before, thanks to advancements in technology.

Academic institutions and publishers have made it a priority to adhere to these criteria and ensure that no one is left behind. Libraries are under immense pressure to ensure that all platforms and content adhere to the most stringent digital accessibility requirements. Making content accessible is no longer only a social obligation for publishers. Rather, it is now an absolute necessity, for publishers to create content that is completely accessible to both the customer and the end-user. In an attempt to meet the demands of the academic community and adhere to recently implemented standards, several publishers are now adopting "born accessible" formats.

The WCAG 2.2 is expected to be published soon, and web content that adheres to it must fulfill at least one of the conformance levels, which range from low to optimal compliance.

Legislations governing accessibility

For decades, the United States, Germany, and Canada, as well as other nations in Europe and Asia, have enforced accessibility rules and regulations that ban discrimination based on a disability, whether it be visual, physical, verbal, auditory, neurological, or cognitive). The regulations that ban discrimination on the basis of disability have, however, not kept pace with the rapid technological developments in communication. Countries have created new regulations or changed existing ones to close this gap and ensure that new devices and technology are accessible.

Laws/Regulations in the US

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990: The ADA is a civil rights statute that forbids discrimination on the basis of disability in the workplace, State and local governments, public accommodations, commercial establishments, transportation, and telecommunications. Title III is the section most relevant to businesses conducting transactions online or via mobile applications. According to Title III, no person may be subjected to discrimination based on their disability when using public accommodations.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701 –508: According to the Rehabilitation Act, it is illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in programs run by federal agencies, in programs that receive funding from the government, in employment by the federal government, and in the hiring practices of federal contractors. The Rehabilitation Act was updated by the US Congress in 1998 to demand complete accessibility for the federal government and any departments, programs, organizations, and enterprises that receive funding or contracts from it, including educational institutions.

21st Century Communications And Video Accessibility Act Of 2010 (CVAA): The CVAA is the most important piece of legislation for people with hearing, vision, mobility, or combination impairments, second only to the ADA, because it upgraded a law that was nearly a century old in order to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. Title I of the act addresses access to communications. In contrast to section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which mandates the accessibility of online and mobile material, the CVAA mandates the accessibility of the means by which a user receives the content. Title II of the legislation addresses video programming and video programming user interfaces. The CVAA, like other disability statutes, leaves more room for judicial challenges because of the ambiguous requirements for compliance.

The new European Directive that bolsters global accessibility initiatives

The EU directive, like regulations in the US, does not establish any requirements or guidelines that websites and mobile apps must adhere to in order to remain compliant. Instead, the EU directive leads readers to the European standard EN 301 549, "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services," which uses WCAG 2.1 as its technical norm.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) of 2019 seeks to eliminate obstacles brought on by various national regulations and enhance the operation of Europe's internal market for accessible goods and services.

In an effort to establish a more uniform accessibility policy, the legislation is applicable to all EU Member States. The States have until 2022 to incorporate the clause into their national legislation, and until 2025 to put the provisions into effect. The objective is to persuade businesses to include accessibility into their development processes, rather than as an afterthought.

Digital accessibility and its implementation

A significant portion of our society—15%, according to the World Health Organization—has disabilities and finds it challenging to access content in any format. Therefore, it is crucial that advancements in products and platforms also reach individuals who have disabilities. This calls for the integration of specialized technologies in products including screen readers, speech recognition software, screen magnification software, voice commands, unique keyboards for working and communicating, and more.

Accessible content enables maximum user flexibility for all readers, with or without disabilities. For content to be accessible, the following elements must be included:

• Text-to-speech capability: Visually handicapped individuals can be given more control by adding text to speech. The text is marked up structurally and semantically to enable text-to-speech functionality. Clear and specific navigation is then added to the document. The identified text is subsequently read aloud using screen reader tools, which also offer audio navigation.
• Structurally-tagged content: Several accessibilities and usability flaws can be resolved by adding structure to text. The use of built-in navigation capabilities like Adobe Reader, Digital Accessible Information Systems (DAISY) players, and screen readers can save search time, eye strain, and repetitive strain injury (RSI), facilitating a better content overview. It also facilitates a higher level of understanding for the reader and clarifies the connections between major themes.
• Font size, color, and style: These elements have a significant impact on the reading experience. The font size of the material should be adjustable for simple reading by the audience. Simple sans serif or typefaces are intended specifically for readers with visual impairment. These designs increase the contrast between the letters and the page, making reading easier for individuals with conditions such as age-related macular degeneration or dyslexia.
• Adding alternative text descriptions: These descriptions can help readers understand images and graphics. All types of readers, including those with disabilities, benefit from the inclusion of ALT Text descriptions of graphs, diagrams, and photographs.

Leveraging Technology to improve accessibility

The purpose of technology is to enable equal access to information and education. The same properties that make e-texts adaptable to the needs of readers with disabilities also make them adaptable to various platforms, display devices, and business models. Enabling equal access for all and promoting accessibility benefits businesses while also enhancing an organization's social standing.

It is time for the industry to work together to develop a standard and reach an agreement that allows for comprehensive accessibility, which goes beyond font size and linear screen reading, to be included in the literature that is published and read across all mainstream platforms. Accessibility that extends beyond recreational reading, ensures disabled readers, academics, and professionals equal access to all available resources. It is in the best interest of all industry stakeholders to develop new formats and guidelines for accessibility technologies in the future so that everyone—regardless of technological proficiency or disability—can read in a way that is really accessible, useable, and convenient.

The Accessibility Advantage

Every user on the web should have access to a first-rate digital experience, and investing in accessibility testing is a smart decision for businesses that want to stay one step ahead of the competition.

The goal of an accessibility test is to ensure that an application can be used by persons with any disability, including visual, auditory, physical, cognitive, linguistic, learning, and neurological impairments. These impairments can be transient (such as a fracture), permanent, or age-related.

People with disabilities or special needs may experience unanticipated changes in their life as a result of technology's ability to help. Accessibility can be achieved by manual and automated testing of particular components of digital technology. Users are the true experts in their own capabilities and the assistive technology that is available to them. Therefore, including users with impairments in the testing process will only serve to improve the experience as a whole.

Conclusion

It is obvious that there is a pressing need for digital platforms and digital content to be accessible. Users as a whole, and not just those with disabilities, seek to benefit from an organization's decision to make accessibility a strategic priority. The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the continuous shift toward digital solutions in academic publications. Simply ensuring that content is available online is not sufficient. Everyone who needs to use it must have access to it. Publishers must take into account all potential accessibility scenarios as new user requirements or features and functionality are created in order to ensure that no group is left behind.

Organizations are implementing a number of initiatives to establish an inclusive and accessible workplace as part of their diverse inclusion program, despite the fact that the path to sustainable inclusion is certainly long. What is important, though, is that ongoing efforts are real, effective, and create the ideal environment to genuinely support this talent pool.

References:

• Accessibility in academic publishing: more than…
• Equal access to all: The undisputed importance of…
• eBooks & Accessibility – Importance of Providing Equal...
• Accessibility Fast Becoming an Essential Pillar…

• A brief overview of accessibility laws