Mireia Ribera

Impact of Accessibility Barriers on the Mood of Blind, Low-vision and Sighted Users

Two versions of a website, a non-accessible site (NA-website) and an accessible site (A-website), were tested by 13 participants who were: a) blind users, b) low-vision users and c) users without identified disabilities. The mood of the users and their interaction efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction were recorded as they encountered several web content accessibility barriers. Results show which elements were the major causes of frustration to each user group, and how blind users displayed less criticism than expected to the barriers.

Reflections and proposals to improve the efficiency of accessibility efforts

This paper presents a critical analysis of the current socio-economic situation associated with the technology used by disabled people. It explains how companies, funding agencies, and users can promote good practices for overcoming existing barriers. In addition, the article discusses different considerations with the intention of forcing the reader to rethink of accessibility more as a philosophical change rather than a technological contribution.

Accessible Images in Computer Science Journals

Abstract Visual content in computer science academic papers is a critical information source, but it presents specific barriers to full readability by people with visual impairments. We aimed to assess current image publishing practices, policies and submission guidelines related to accessibility in a sample of ten highly cited computer science journals. We determined whether the journals claimed to follow an accessibility policy and we reviewed their submission policy and their guidelines related to the visual content, comparing them with good accessibility practices; we manually checked the application of the accessibility policy in one article for each journal. The evaluation shows that the actual practices of image submission in highly cited computer science journals do not fulfill basic recommendations on accessibility. Images within the analyzed articles lack alternative descriptions, even in the case of journals claiming to follow an accessibility policy. Incoherencies between the technical suggestions of image submission and their application in published papers also emerged. Consequently, the visual information of scientific articles is not accessible to people with visual disabilities.

Do Physicians Make Their Articles Readable for Their Blind or Low-Vision Patients? An Analysis of Current Image Processing Practices in Biomedical Journals from the Point of View of Accessibility

Visual content in biomedical academic papers is a growing source of critical information, but it is not always fully readable for people with visual impairments. We aimed to assess current image processing practices, accessibility policies, and submission policies in a sample of 12 highly cited biomedical journals. We manually checked the application of text-based alternative image descriptions for every image in 12 articles (one for each journal). We determined whether the journals claimed to follow an accessibility policy and we reviewed their submission policy and their guidelines related to the visual content. We identified important features concerning the processing of images and the characteristics of the visual and the retrieval options of visual content offered by the publishers. The evaluation shows that the actual practices of textual image description in highly cited biomedical journals do not follow general guidelines on accessibility. The images within the articles analyzed lack alternative descriptions or have uninformative descriptions, even in the case of journals claiming to follow an accessibility policy. Consequently, the visual information of scientific articles is not accessible to people with severe visual disabilities. Instructions on image submission are heterogeneous and a declaration of accessibility guidelines was only found in two thirds of the sample of journals, with one third not explicitly following any accessibility policy, although they are required to by law.

Accessibility of graphics in STEM research articles: Analysis and proposals for improvement

Images convey essential information in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics communication. Current guidelines on publishing recommend making images accessible to all readers. However, academic publishers do not always follow these guidelines and therefore fail to guarantee access by all readers to the visual content of academic articles. People with severe visual impairments cannot access the visual content of images unless a text alternative describing the images is provided. This study investigates the current use of texts commonly related to images in academic articles, such as captions and mentions, in order to assess their suitability as potential text alternatives to the images for readers who are blind or have severe low vision. A sample of 30 academic articles in the fields of biomedicine, computer science, and mathematics was analyzed and quantitative and qualitative data were collected about images and their related texts. We suggest a practical and sustainable solution that can foster the adoption of good accessibility practices by authors and publishers and facilitate their inclusion in regular publishing workflows.

How to textually describe images in medical academic publications

Figures in medicine publications are an essential source of information, but people with visual impairments cannot access them. The publishing workflow adopted by biomedical publishers does not include acceptable accessibility recommendations. A main solution to image accessibility is the inclusion of an alternative text. The article presents a proposal of supporting authors in the creation of appropriate textual alternatives by means of a decision tree, which would guide authors through the process of selecting where and how to include a text alternative, and a checklist of items for a comprehensive description of the figure content in the caption.

Creation of accessible EPUB documents by non-technical users: a long way to go

This paper presents a quantitative evaluation of the conversion results from office documents to the EPUB format. As a general conclusion, the results of the conversions do not meet the standards nor preserve the accessibility information. Furthermore, tools are overdue in adopting the format EPUB3.

A Proposal for the Inclusion of Accessibility Criteria in the Publishing Workflow of Images in Biomedical Academic Articles

Abstract In spite of the importance of visual content in academic publishing, biomedical articles do not offer accessible images, mainly because of the lack of text alternatives. According to a process-oriented accessibility philosophy, this article proposes the use of image-related texts, such as captions or mentions, as text alternatives of images, since they are solutions based on the current practices of authors of biomedical images. We also present two tools created to guide authors in writing comprehensive text alternatives. The aim of this proposal is to increase the opportunities of an actual application of accessibility principles within the biomedical academic publishing.

An analysis of file format control in institutional repositories

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the file formats of the digital objects stored in two of the largest open-access repositories in Spain, DDUB and TDX, and determines the implications of these formats for long-term preservation, focussing in particular on the different versions of PDF. Design/methodology/approach – To be able to study the two repositories, the authors harvested all the files corresponding to every digital object and some of their associated metadata using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange (OAI-ORE) protocols. The file formats were analyzed with DROID software and some additional tools. Findings – The results show that there is no alignment between the preservation policies declared by institutions, the technical tools available, and the actual stored files. Originality/value – The results show that file controls currently applied to institutional repositories do not suffice to gran...