IFLA ARL Satellite conference 2023: Inclusiveness through Openness Presentation on issues of accessibility: “Open to Whom? The Importance of Accessibility for Open Data and Publications” by Carli Spina (US), Fashion Institute of Technology. Session chair – Ilkay Holt, British Library. Satellite conference held at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 18 - 19 August 2023.

1. Classification: Internal
Open to Whom?
The Importance of Accessibility for Open
Data and Publications
Carli Spina
Associate Prof. & Head of Research & Instructional Design
Fashion Institute of Technology Library

2. Classification: Internal
“Beyond enabling open access quality
research, the open access transition should
generate new opportunities for inclusive and
equitable participation in the global research
and scholarly communication system.”

3. Classification: Internal
Disability Demographics
● Approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide have a significant
disability
● This translates to about 16% of the population
● Disabled people are underrepresented as:
○ Students, particularly at the graduate level
○ Academic faculty
○ Professionals, particularly across the sciences

4. Classification: Internal
Problem: Repositories and
discovery solutions have
accessibility issues

5. Classification: Internal
Solution: Start with a Focus on Web Accessibility
● The repository, website, database, and discovery layer should comply with
WCAG 2.1 to at least a conformance level of AA
● There should be clear contact information for reporting any accessibility
issues
● When possible, all content should be discoverable in multiple ways to
facilitate discovery by those using a variety of search approaches and
assistive technologies

6. Classification: Internal
Problem: Documents &
datasets are solely available in
inaccessible formats

7. Classification: Internal
Solution: Ensure basic accessibility & plan for remediation
● Provide access to multiple file types when possible
● Focus on clear and accessible document structures
○ Use built-in structure elements, such as headings, titles, captions, etc.
○ Avoid overcrowding whether for text, data, or visualizations
○ Pay attention to the reading order of all content
● For all visual information, consider accessible graphic design
○ Never use color as the sole means of conveying information
○ Ensure that there is a high contrast between colors, such as black text on a white background
○ Avoid small font sizes
○ Use alternative text for graphics, graphs, charts, and other data visualizations
● Consider working with a vendor for more complicated document remediation

8. Classification: Internal
Solution: Formatting Datasets for Accessibility
● While data sharing best practices emphasize sharing data in the format it was
created, many tools will output to different file formats and offering data in
more than one way improves accessibility
● Many proprietary softwares do not work perfectly with assistive technologies,
so it is best to offer datasets in an open file format when possible
● When datasets have either multiple sheets within a single file or multiple files
in a single folder, have the first sheet or file as a guide to the structure of the
dataset with links as relevant

9. Classification: Internal
Solution: Formatting Data for Accessibility
● Many assistive technologies can navigate CSV data and Excel files
● Avoid features that are primarily visual in nature, such as:
○ Hiding or freezing sections, columns, or rows
○ Track changes when collaborating on modifications
○ Filters (though if filters are necessary, you can pair them with explanatory text)
● Don’t split cells, merge cells, or leave blank cells, columns, or rows
● All files, sheets, rows, and columns should have clear and meaningful names
● Consider including notations in adjacent cells to explain formulas

10. Classification: Internal
Solution: Feature Accessible Data Visualizations
● Never use color as the sole means of communicating information
○ Use both color and pattern to designate different values
○ Make sure there is sufficient contrast between colors
○ Review using color checking tools (see Resources slide)
● Since interactive elements are often inaccessible, consider accessible
alternatives such as:
○ Access to the underlying data
○ Alternative text
○ Static visualizations
● Use techniques (such as sonification) and tools (such as SAS Graphics
Accelerator) designed with accessibility at the forefront

11. Classification: Internal
Solution: Share Accessible PDFs
● If the Accessibility button isn’t already in your Tools pane, you can add it in
the Tools tab to get easy access to several tools
○ An auto-tagging feature, which should always be double checked for accuracy
○ Accessibility checking and reporting features
○ Alternative Text features
○ Reading Order Features
● It is important to ensure that all PDF content is tagged properly using a
hierarchy similar to that found in HTML
○ Avoid the “print to PDF” option in word processing programs as these generally don’t result in
tagged PDFs
○ Within Adobe Acrobat, right-click in the empty part of the Navigation Pane and select
Accessibility Tags in the menu that is revealed

12. Classification: Internal
Problem: When accessibility
problems are found, there is no
path forward

13. Classification: Internal
Solution: Provide a Path for Remediation
1. Offer contact information for those who encounter barriers
when navigating your repository
2. Build a team to respond to remediation requests
3. Develop a workflow for remediating materials
a. Who has the skills to make materials accessible?
b. If your team doesn’t have these skills, can you outsource this to a
vendor?
c. Have you budgeted for this work in terms of time and/or money?

14. Classification: Internal
Problem: Scholars aren’t aware
of how to make their research
accessible

15. Classification: Internal
Solution: Add Accessibility to Training & Submission Process
● Involving scholars in the process can spread an understanding of accessibility
and help to scale up making research materials accessible
● Many institutions provide instructions about the basic steps for document
accessibility in the submission instructions for their repository
● Integrate accessibility into all training for researchers and scholars at your
institution
● Encourage scholars to highlight the accessibility of their research output in
grant applications

16. Classification: Internal
Thank you!
Contact me with comments & questions:
Carli Spina
carli.spina@gmail.com

17. Classification: Internal
Resources
● Accessibility Insights: https://accessibilityinsights.io/
● Adobe PDF Accessibility documentation: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html
● Deque University training modules: https://dequeuniversity.com/
● SAS Graphics Accelerator: https://support.sas.com/software/products/graphics-accelerator/
● WebAIM’s Contrast Checker: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
● WebAIM’s WAVE: https://wave.webaim.org/
● WebAIM’s PDF Accessibility documentation: https://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/

18. Classification: Internal
Further Reading
● Colon, R., Goben, A., & Karcher, S. (2022). Actually Accessible Data: A Call to Action (Version 2). figshare.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19854793.v2.
● Marriott, K., Lee, B., Butler, M., Cutrell, E., Ellis, K., Goncu, C., Szafir, D. A., et. al. (2021). Inclusive data
visualization for people with disabilities: a call to action. Interactions, 28(3), 47-51.
● Swenor, B. & Rizzo JR. (2022, Sept). Open access to research can close gaps for people with disabilities. Stat.
https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/06/open-access-to-research-can-close-gaps-for-people-with-disabilities/.
● Thompson, J. R., Martinez, J. J., Sarikaya, A., Cutrell, E., & Lee, B. (2023, April). Chart Reader: Accessible
Visualization Experiences Designed with Screen Reader Users. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-18).
● Wu, K., Petersen, E., Ahmad, T., Burlinson, D., Tanis, S., & Szafir, D. A. (2021, May). Understanding data
accessibility for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference
on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-16).
● Zewe, A. (2022, June). Making data visualization more accessible for blind and low-vision individuals. MIT News.
https://news.mit.edu/2022/data-visualization-accessible-blind-0602.
● Zong, J., Lee, C., Lundgard, A., Jang, J., Hajas, D., & Satyanarayan, A. (2022, June). Rich screen reader
experiences for accessible data visualization. In Computer Graphics Forum (Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 15-27).