Developing Digital Libraries for People with Disabilities: Accessibility Compliance and Challenges
Keywords:
Accessibity guidelines, compliance, challenges, people with disabilities, blind and visually impaired users, digital librariesAbstract
This study explores how digital library (DL) developers address accessibility when creating digital collections to support people with disabilities, especially blind and visually impaired (BVI) users. It investigates whether developers comply with accessibility guidelines and the challenges they face. A total of 31 DL developers from U.S. institutions participated, recruited through listservs, professional organizations, and snowball sampling. Data were collected via a questionnaire and asynchronous focus groups conducted through Canvas. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Findings show most developers follow legal and accessibility guidelines, though a few do not. Challenges include limited resources, a lack of awareness, legacy system issues, a lack of engagement with BVI users, administrative and vendor constraints, and complex guidelines.
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