Topic: Lessons from key academic journals on digital accessibility

  • There is a lot of good research on accessibility - we are trying to find what we as practitioners can learn from the theoreticians.
  • The review covered the last 3-4 years of 10 key journals in the field: ACM transactions on accessible computing, International Journal of Human Computer Studies, Journal of visual impairment and blindness, Technology and Disability, Assistive Technology, Universal Access in the Information Society, Journal of Assistive Technologies, Disability and Rehabilitation, Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, Information technology and disabilities.
  • CU Boulder Libraries provide full text access to all of these.
  • Most relevant research was found in two journals: ACM transaction on accessible computing, and Journal of visual impairment and blindness. The former is the best for technology-related research; the latter for the social aspects of accessibility. Other journals focus on important but not directly relevant topics - rehabilitation, medical research, human-computer interaction.
  • From here we selected three articles as a very quick sample of research to discuss with the group.
  • "Exploring the relationship between web accessibility and user experience" (Human-Computer Studies, 91, 13-23 - 2016)
  • "Web accessibility implementation in private sector organizations: motivations and business impact" (Universal Access in Information Society, 15, 249-260 - 2016)
  • "Improving public transit accessibility for blind riders by crowdsourcing bus stop landmark locations with Google Street View: An extended analysis" (ACM Transactions, Vol. 6, No. 2, Article 5  - 2015)