Hidden Inequities of Access

IF 1.5 4区管理学 Q3 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS Information Technology and Libraries Pub Date : 2024-03-18 DOI:10.5860/ital.v43i1.16661

Amanda Hovious, Congwen Wang

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Abstract

Despite ongoing efforts to improve database accessibility, aggregated database vendors concede that they do not have complete control over document accessibility. Instead, they point to the responsibility of journal publishers to deliver articles in an accessible format. This may increase the likelihood that users with disabilities will encounter articles that are not compatible with a screen reader. To better understand the extent of the problem, a document accessibility audit was conducted of randomly selected articles from EBSCO’s Library & Information Source database. Full-text articles from 12 library science journals were evaluated against two measures of screen reader compatibility: HTML format (the optimal format for screen readers) and PDF accessibility conformance. Findings showed inconsistencies in HTML format availability for articles in the selected journals. Additionally, the entire sample of PDF articles failed to meet the minimum standard of PDF Universal Accessibility of containing a tagged structure. However, all PDF articles passed accessibility permissions tests, so could be made accessible retroactively by a third party.

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隐藏的机会不平等

尽管一直在努力提高数据库的可访问性，但综合数据库供应商承认，他们无法完全控制文件的可访问性。相反，他们指出期刊出版商有责任以无障碍格式提供文章。这可能会增加残疾用户遇到与屏幕阅读器不兼容的文章的可能性。为了更好地了解问题的严重程度，我们从 EBSCO 的 Library & Information Source 数据库中随机抽取了一些文章进行文档无障碍审核。根据屏幕阅读器兼容性的两个衡量标准：HTML 格式（屏幕阅读器的最佳格式）和 PDF 可访问性一致性，对 12 种图书馆科学期刊的全文文章进行了评估。结果显示，所选期刊文章的 HTML 格式可用性不一致。此外，所有 PDF 文章样本均未达到 PDF 通用可访问性的最低标准，即包含标记结构。不过，所有 PDF 文章都通过了无障碍访问权限测试，因此可由第三方进行追溯无障碍访问。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information Technology and Libraries 管理科学-计算机：信息系统

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

5.60%

发文量

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： Information Technology and Libraries publishes original material related to all aspects of information technology in all types of libraries. Topic areas include, but are not limited to, library automation, digital libraries, metadata, identity management, distributed systems and networks, computer security, intellectual property rights, technical standards, geographic information systems, desktop applications, information discovery tools, web-scale library services, cloud computing, digital preservation, data curation, virtualization, search-engine optimization, emerging technologies, social networking, open data, the semantic web, mobile services and applications, usability, universal access to technology, library consortia, vendor relations, and digital humanities.

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