Alternative Text Research Articles

Designing Inclusive Web Applications with Accessibility in Mind

This article explores the critical importance of designing inclusive web applications with accessibility in mind. It delves into the ethical, legal, and business imperatives driving the need for accessible web design, highlighting that over one billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. The article discusses key accessibility standards, particularly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and outlines essential techniques and tools for implementing and testing web accessibility. These include semantic HTML, ARIA roles and attributes, color contrast considerations, keyboard navigation, and alternative text for images. The article also examines various testing tools such as Lighthouse, WAVE, axe DevTools, and screen readers. Furthermore, it presents a compelling business case for accessibility, emphasizing benefits such as an expanded user base, improved SEO, enhanced brand reputation, and legal compliance. Through comprehensive exploration of these topics, the article underscores that accessibility is not just a regulatory requirement but a fundamental responsibility that leads to better digital experiences for all users

The Accessibility Levels of the Websites of Federal Higher Education Institutions in Northeast Brazil

The general aim of this study is to make a diagnosis on the accessibility of information made available on the websites of the Federal Higher Education Institutions (IFES) in the Northeast. It is based on the hypothesis that the websites of the IFES in the Northeast Region of Brazil do not have high levels of adequacy, results that do not allow any user, regardless of being a person with disabilities or other limitations, to access the knowledge made available there, either with the help of assistive technologies or autonomously. The methodological procedures will be bibliographical and documentary research with analysis of primary sources on institutional websites and administrative acts made available, or not, on these sources. All the open data portals will be evaluated and simulated to determine their suitability for eMAG. This will be done using the public software ASES, a system for comparing and validating the standards of construction and behaviour of the source code of electronic sites, pointing out the levels of usability, navigability, alternative text, and content markers regarding the eMAG parameters, which are mandatory for public institutional sites in Brazil in terms of digital accessibility. As a result of the research, it was possible to identify that the levels of accessibility on the websites of these institutions were not in line with the parameters of the Digital Government Accessibility Model (eMag) of Brazil. This reveals divergences in the promotion of access to information; while some IFES make information available autonomously, without facing noise, interference, or impediments to the use of information, others do not so much, which has a negative impact on the guarantee of rights such as the exercise of full citizenship.

Enhancing Math education for visually impaired students: alternative text implementation in LATEX, MathJax, MathML and LAMBDA

Abstract This article outlines an innovative procedure to improve the accessibility of Mathematics for secondary school students with visual impairments. Using LATEX, a widely used typesetting system, a transformative approach is developed that converts traditional mathematical content into three accessible formats: PDF, MathJax and LAMBDA. Central to this system is the integration of alternative text, which offers full descriptions of images and mathematical formulae and promotes a richer understanding of its content. The broader implications of this project include the introduction of novel teaching models for educators, enhanced accessibility of Mathematics programmes, and the potential to encourage the enrolment of visually impaired students in science degree courses. Ultimately, this work contributes to the creation of the conditions for the development of an inclusive and barrier-free learning environment in Mathematics education.

Visualizing Nursing Narratives: An Evaluation of Latent Dirichlet Allocation Topic Modeling for Care Reports.

The increasing volume of unstructured textual data in healthcare, particularly in nursing care reports, presents both challenges and opportunities for enhancing patient care and operational efficiency. This study explores the application of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling to analyze free-text nursing narratives from inpatient stays in three different clinics, aiming to uncover the latent thematic structures within. Utilizing the R programming environment and the visualization tool LDAvis, we identified three main themes: "Patient Well-being," "Patient Mobility and Care Activities," and "Treatment and Pain Management," the latter combining two closely related but initially distinct topics due to their overlapping content. Our findings demonstrate the potential of LDA topic modeling in extracting meaningful insights from nursing narratives, which could inform patient care strategies and healthcare practices. However, the study also highlights significant challenges associated with the method, including the sensitivity to parameter settings, the lack of updates for key software packages, and concerns about reproducibility. These issues highlight the need for meticulous parameter validation and the exploration of alternative text analysis methodologies for future research. By addressing these methodological challenges and emphasizing the importance of comparative method analysis, this study contributes to the advancement of text analytics in healthcare. It opens avenues for further research aimed at developing more robust, efficient, and accessible tools for analyzing free-text data, thereby enhancing the ability of healthcare professionals to use unstructured data to improve decision making and patient outcomes.

Evaluation of NCI-Designated Cancer Center and Comprehensive Cancer Center Survivorship-Focused Websites: Information Provided and Accessibility.

Individuals with a history of cancer increasingly seek health information from online resources, including NCI-designated Cancer Center websites. Centers receive NCI designation because they provide excellent care and engage in cutting-edge research. However, the information presented on these webpages and their accessibility is unknown. An evaluation of the survivorship-focused webpages from NCI-designated Cancer Centers is needed to assess survivorship information and accessibility of these webpages. We conducted an evaluation of the survivorship-focused webpages from 64 NCI-designated Cancer Centers. We evaluated where survivorship-focused webpages were housed, if there was a survivorship clinic or program, target audience of the webpage, how cancer survivor was defined, contact methods, and available resources. Accessibility outcomes included readability, font type, font size, color scheme, and alternative text (alt text) descriptors. An artificial intelligence (AI) audit was conducted to assess if the webpage was compliant with national accessibility guidelines. Most cancer centers had a survivorship-focused webpage, with 72% located on the cancer center's website and 28% on a health system website. Survivorship information available varied considerably and was often lacking in detail. Although three-quarters of webpages targeted patients only, variable definitions of cancer survivor were observed. Accessibility issues identified included inconsistent use of alt text descriptors, font size smaller than 15 points, and color schemes without adequate contrast. The average reading-level of information presented was above 12th grade. Only 9% of webpages were compliant with online accessibility guidelines; 72% semicompliant and 21% were noncompliant. Information presented on NCI-designated Cancer Center survivorship-focused webpages was inconsistent, often lacking, and inaccessible. NCI-designated Cancer Centers are role models for cancer research in the United States and have an obligation to provide survivorship information. Changes to content and website design are needed to provide better information for individuals seeking resources and health information relative to their cancer and care.

Accessibility of United States ophthalmology hospital webpages to people with visual disabilities

PurposeEnhancing the accessibility of ophthalmology webpages can help individuals with vision access needs obtain essential appointment information, educational resources, and available ophthalmic services. This study evaluated the accessibility of these webpages for patients with visual impairment and color vision deficiencies. DesignRetrospective cross-sectional study. MethodsIn February 2024, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) were used to assess the accessibility of the web homepages of the top-ranked ophthalmology institutes in the United States using three evaluation tools: AChecker, ARC Toolkit, and WAVE. The webpages of the 38 top-ranked hospitals for ophthalmology in the 2023 US News & World Report were evaluated. ResultsAll assessed ophthalmology hospital and institute webpages had accessibility issues. The issues identified by each tool significantly impeded webpage navigation, with the mean number of issues as follows: AChecker (13.08, SD = 14.51), ARC Toolkit (16.21, SD = 17.68), and WAVE (6.47, SD = 7.14). The mean number of color contrast issues per website was 10.18 (SD = 15.84), present in 87 % (33/38) of the websites assessed. Most issues made information and interface components difficult to perceive (297/497, 59.76 %), and websites difficult to navigate or operate (145/497, 29.18 %). Common issues affecting people who are blind or have low vision and rely on screen readers included the absence of alternative text for images, hyperlinks without destination information, and missing instructions for user data input (e.g., search bars). ConclusionsOphthalmology webpages should be revised to comply with WCAG guidelines to improve accessibility for people with vision access needs. Addressing these issues can reduce information inequities for patients with visual disabilities and enhance their understanding of clinical processes, treatment, care plans, and available services such as transportation and online support groups.

Triplétoile: Extraction of knowledge from microblogging text

Numerous methods and pipelines have recently emerged for the automatic extraction of knowledge graphs from documents such as scientific publications and patents. However, adapting these methods to incorporate alternative text sources like micro-blogging posts and news has proven challenging as they struggle to model open-domain entities and relations, typically found in these sources. In this paper, we propose an enhanced information extraction pipeline tailored to the extraction of a knowledge graph comprising open-domain entities from micro-blogging posts on social media platforms. Our pipeline leverages dependency parsing and classifies entity relations in an unsupervised manner through hierarchical clustering over word embeddings. We provide a use case on extracting semantic triples from a corpus of 100 thousand tweets about digital transformation and publicly release the generated knowledge graph. On the same dataset, we conduct two experimental evaluations, showing that the system produces triples with precision over 95% and outperforms similar pipelines of around 5% in terms of precision, while generating a comparatively higher number of triples.

AI-Enhanced Accessibility Solutions using Chatbot

The "AI-Enhanced Accessibility Solutions" project addresses the real-world challenge of enhancing accessibility for individuals through advanced technologies. Utilizing React.js, Next.js, Tailwind, and AI APIs, this study focuses on generating inclusive content, including text, images, videos, code, and chatbot interactions. The primary objectives are to improve user interfaces, employ AI-driven content generation techniques, and ensure compliance with accessibility standards. The platform allows users to input self-generated prompts to produce customized data, such as text, images, videos, and code, tailored to their needs. An interactive AI-powered chatbot assists users in daily activities, adapting responses based on the quality of prompts provided, ensuring personalized and effective results. Key features include AI-generated content designed for various abilities. This includes alternative text for images, simplified text for cognitive accessibility, and adaptive chatbot responses. The project also focuses on generating accessible code, adhering to best web development practices. Tailwind CSS is used to optimize content presentation, addressing factors like color contrast and readability. The study includes a comparative analysis of accessibility features in popular apps versus those generated by our system. User testing and feedback mechanisms are employed to validate the project's effectiveness in meeting diverse user needs. This project not only advances AI-driven content creation but also represents a significant step towards creating inclusive digital environments. It emphasizes the importance of accessibility in technology, ensuring that digital content is accessible to all individuals, regardless of their abilities. Keywords: AI-Enhanced Accessibility, Inclusive Content, React.js, Next.js, AI APIs, User Interfaces, Accessibility Standards, AI-Powered Chatbot, Cognitive Accessibility

Accessibility of COVID-19-related Public Websites in Japan

ABSTRACT Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, accessible websites and online content have become more critical worldwide as patients seek information about their medical concerns with limited access to care. However, there are still research gaps regarding the accessibility to COVID-19 information in Japan. Purpose This study systematically and quantitatively analyzed COVID-19-related local government websites from official COVID-19 for compliance with WCAG guidelines. Methods On June 25, 2022, we analyzed COVID-19 web portals by Japanese local governments using AChecker, WAVE, and miChecker. These tools are automated accessibility evaluation tool based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which are widely used international standards in accessibility. Results Of the 72 websites included, the average number of errors per page was 2.7 (range 0–38) for WAVE and 8.7 (range 0–104) for WCAG 2.0 AA, respectively. The number of errors was lower than the number of accessibility errors on general websites. “Perceivable” errors, such as ambiguous colors/contrasts and missing alternative text, were prominently displayed at the top of the list of web page accessibility errors. Discussion The accessibility of the COVID-19 website of the Japanese local government was deemed satisfactory compared with the average number of accessibility errors on the top 1,000,000 home pages worldwide (50.8 per page). However, the websites lacked support in images (color and text) and audio guidance for users with visual and cognitive impairments. Translation to Health Education Practice For proper user perception, COVID-19 information had to be presented with clear contrast, alternative text, and informative captions.

GLaM: Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Domain Knowledge Graph Alignment via Neighborhood Partitioning and Generative Subgraph Encoding

Integrating large language models with knowledge graphs derived from domain-specific data represents an important advancement towards more powerful and factual reasoning. As these models grow more capable, it is crucial to enable them to perform multi-step inferences over real-world knowledge graphs while minimizing hallucination. While large language models excel at conversation and text generation, their ability to reason over domain-specialized graphs of interconnected entities remains limited. For example, can we query a model to identify the optimal contact in a professional network for a specific goal, based on relationships and attributes in a private database? The answer is no – such capabilities lie beyond current methods. However, this question underscores a critical technical gap that must be addressed. Many high-value applications in areas such as science, security, and e-commerce rely on proprietary knowledge graphs encoding unique structures, relationships, and logical constraints. We introduce a fine-tuning framework for developing Graph-aligned Language Models (GaLM) that transforms a knowledge graph into an alternate text representation with labeled question-answer pairs. We demonstrate that grounding the models in specific graph-based knowledge expands the models’ capacity for structure-based reasoning. Our methodology leverages the large-language model's generative capabilities to create the dataset and proposes an efficient alternate to retrieval-augmented generation styled methods.

Public transit and crisis communication for critical populations: A content analysis of web-based communication strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the United States, selected subgroups of historically marginalized populations include people with disabilities and people in racial/ethnic minority groups ("critical populations") who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. These groups are also more likely to use public transit to access essential resources; thus, understanding transit agencies' communication strategies to reach these populations during crises is of utmost importance. We conducted a content analysis of 16 transit agencies' webpages and Twitter® accounts during the first 6 months of the pandemic to assess alignment of agencies' COVID-19-related communications with best practices in crisis communication across five themes: perceivability, navigability, understandability, suitability, and content. Findings suggested that transit agencies frequently communicated about schedule changes and safety, eg, masking, station sanitation, and reflected racial/ethnic diversity in images. Yet, less than half consistently used communication strategies known to enhance accessibility and uptake of messaging among critical populations, eg, alternative text, and even less reflected disability diversity in images. We offer recommendations for public transit agencies to move beyond compliance to effectively address the needs of ridership most substantially impacted by public health emergencies.

시각장애인의 TV홈쇼핑 사용 환경에 관한 연구

Due to the importance of corporate social responsibility and sustainable management, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management is becoming an essential condition for modern companies. In order to find out how the TV home shopping industry is responding to this social consensus, this study identified the current situation of the TV home shopping experience of the visually impaired. As a research method, this study examined the problems pointed out in previous studies and related media articles on the use of home shopping by the visually impaired, and conducted interviews with officials from seven domestic TV home shopping companies and 10 data home shopping companies to find out how the industry is responding to these problems. Through these interviews, we identified what improvements are needed for TV home shopping platforms that rely on visual elements as the main way to deliver information. Specifically, we found that the use of voice recognition technology, screen reader compatibility, in-broadcast service voice descriptions, expansion of telephone consultation services, and provision of information through alternative text and screen readers should be strengthened. In addition, physical factors such as customized TVs and Relumino assistive devices should be introduced, and real-time communication platforms such as live commerce should be expanded to enhance user engagement. The findings of this study can be utilized as ideas for rethinking the accessibility of TV home shopping experiences for the visually impaired as well as digital services in general.

Using A Neural Network to Generate Images When Teaching Students to Develop an Alternative Text

Using A Neural Network to Generate Images When Teaching Students to Develop an Alternative Text

Availability of basic first aid training for cardiac arrest for people with disabilities

Aim. Basic first aid digital training for cardiac arrest opens up opportunities for mass dissemination of knowledge, popularization and motivation of the population to provide assistance, and can also replace the theoretical part of classroom training, reducing the cost of training. However, due to poor design, such training may not be available to people with disabilities (PWD), who constitute a large population of more than one billion potential participants in first aid. The aim was to study the digital accessibility (web accessibility) of massive open online courses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for PWD.Material and methods. A search was carried out for free English-language online courses teaching the principles and rules of providing first aid in cardiac arrest. In addition, the digital content of online courses was assessed for compliance with the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.Results. All basic CPR online courses analyzed (n=28) were characterized by poor web accessibility. For each course, between 26,9% and 51,3% of the WCAG 2.1 guideline success criteria were not met. All courses have web accessibility errors related to text contrast and visual issues, lack of alternative text descriptions for non-text content, missing abbreviations, and web page layout issues that prevent the use of assistive technologies (such as text-to-speech software). Overall, none of the courses meet all of the criteria for the minimum acceptable level of compliance with WCAG 2.1 guidelines. The discovered problems of web accessibility can serve as serious, sometimes insurmountable barriers to the mastery of courses by students (including older people) with visual impairments, hearing loss, motor, cognitive and neurological disorders.Conclusion. All free mass online courses on basic CPR have deficiencies in the availability of digital content, which significantly complicate the learning of educational materials by PWD. The development of uniform guidelines for accessible educational content, along with the intensification of research and the implementation of organizational and methodological measures to ensure the availability of educational resources on first aid for various categories of the population, should help create equal opportunities for quality training. In addition, this should significantly expand the population coverage with training, and increase the frequency and effectiveness of first aid.

Being inclusive means being accessible: Problems with digital media for visually impaired consumers

ABSTRACT Over two billion people worldwide and over seven million people in the United States have severe to moderate visual impairment. People with visual impairments rely on inclusive design, which includes alternative text (alt text) to interpret messages, images, and videos digitally. Alt text has many nuances leading to numerous technical inaccuracies and/or inaccurate interpretations of the media. Around the world, the pandemic altered how people conducted simple tasks and interrupted in-person opportunities. It has forced many consumers to work, study, and shop online – creating a large shift to digital experiences. Digital media, including social media platforms and websites, became a major source of information and the gateway to e-commerce. Unfortunately, many consumers with visual impairments who are vulnerable were excluded and unable to learn about products, services, and opportunities due to the lack of accessibility features available and inclusive design. This study explores the difficulties marketing practitioners experience incorporating alt text, thus limiting accessibility and inclusion for vulnerable consumers, specifically visually impaired users. Findings from the current study examining the accuracy of alt text in social media posts indicate that over 95% of the social media posts examined were not inclusive due to either a lack of or inaccurate accessibility usage.

Enhancing accessibility of web-based SVG buttons: An optimization method and best practices

The Internet’s rapid development has made web page access an integral part of people’s lives, catering to entertainment, socializing, and information retrieval. However, people with visual impairments face challenges in comprehending information and rely on auditory cues. Thankfully, web pages have played a crucial role in bridging this gap by providing them with valuable knowledge about the world. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) has emerged as a versatile icon style in web development, surpassing image-based models due to its operational efficiency and non-deformable properties. Nonetheless, our empirical research reveals several accessibility issues with SVG buttons, particularly the absence of alternative text. Addressing this issue entails overcoming three key challenges, as reflected in it is hard to locate SVG buttons, inability to provide standardized alternative text, and excessive resource costs. To tackle these challenges, we introduce an automated tool called SAM (SVG Accessibility Optimization Method), which supplements missing alternative text in SVG buttons. Our approach involves extensive research, including the identification of 18 common categories of SVG buttons and the creation of 25 corresponding feature templates. SAM employs classification, semantic optimization, and role optimization to enhance the accessibility of SVG buttons. We evaluate SAM by applying it to 30 real-world web pages, successfully providing alternative text with an average F1-score of 92.6%. Compared to other models and image-based baseline methods, SAM demonstrates superior performance with an average F1-score increase of 14.5%. Through the efficiency analysis and a user study, we discuss the advantages of SAM, highlighting its lightweight nature (with First Contentful Paint (FCP) at 0.762 s, Time To Interactive (TTI) at 1.238 s, and memory usage at 18.32 MB). Furthermore, visually impaired users express positive feedback regarding web pages repaired by our tool, underscoring the usefulness of our method.

Convenience and Sensory Experience: Analysis of Using Website as a Medium to Read

With the development of technology, the advent of e-books, computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices expanded the range of choices of media for reading, it also changed the way people consume information. Website, as a reading platform, has its advantages and disadvantages in reading experiences. For example, with a device connected to the internet, people can easily gain information and access what they want to read. Unlike traditional reading media such as books and newspapers, the website enables a variety of multimedia content, such as videos, animation, and images, which can make reading more engaging and informative, which further allows readers to enhance their understanding of a topic. However, as with any digital media, website reading may cause eye fatigue. And the movable images and inconsistent set type may be a disturbance. The diversity and potentiality of web reading call for advanced studies to further optimize the readers experience and eliminate the inferior strength of web reading. Compared with traditional printed media, this paper explores how website increases readers experiences in the field of sensory elements, interaction, and accessibility. The research methodology employed for this thesis involved reviewing academic literature and case studies. The results of the research indicate that websites indeed increase reading experiences for both people with and without disabilities. The findings suggest that websites provide readers with an attractive, delightful, and interactive experience. And the personalized settings, such as font size change, color adjustment, and alternative text, further increase the experience for people with different kinds of disabilities.

Empirical Evaluation of Metaverse Accessibility for People Who Use Alternative Input/Output Methods.

This research has analyzed the accessibility of the current metaverse platforms from the perspective of screen reader and switch scanning interface users, using the mixture of quantitative and qualitative assessments. To this end, the two representative metaverse platforms, ZEPETO and Roblox, were targeted. As a result, it was found that the current metaverse platforms are not carefully designed with accessibility in mind. Many content elements and controls in the metaverse environment suffers from the lack of alternative text description and appropriate markups which are essential to make it perceivable and recognizable by assistive technology. People with severe disabilities are very likely to find it difficult or impossible to independently navigate the current metaverse environment, because they do not provide any viable means of orientation and mobility in the 3D virtual space at all. The UI/UX of the current metaverse platforms also do not provide adequate feedback to help people with limited sensory/motor functions to understand the purpose and function of it. Overall, thereby, the current metaverse environment is not robust enough to reliably work with a wide range of assistive technologies.

Improving Reading Comprehension Skills Using Collaborative Reading and Alternative Text Strategies for VIIIA Class Students in SMPQ An-Nawawiy Mojokerto

This research study aims to describe the improvement of reading comprehension skills of class VIII A students of SMPQ An-Nawawiy Mojokerto by using Collaborative Reading and Alternative Text strategies.The type of this research study was Classroom Action Research. The study subjects were students of class VIII A SMPQ An-Nawawiy Mojokerto, amounting to 34 students. This research was conducted in two cycles which in each cycle there were four components, namely planning, action, observation, and reflection. The object of this study was reading comprehension skills of students of class VIII A SMPQ An-Nawawiy Mojokerto. The technique of data collection included field notes, objects / observations, interviews, documentation, and tests. And the technique of data analysis was descriptive qualitative analysis technique. The results showed that the strategy of Collaborative Reading and Alternative Text can improve students reading comprehension skills of class VIII A SMPQ An-Nawawiy Mojokerto. The improvement of students’ reading comprehension skill was based on product quality and process quality. The quality improvement of the learning process can be seen from students that become more active, enthusiastic, and students were also always working with other friends while solving problems to be done in groups. Improved process ultimately has a positive impact on product quality improvement. The improvement of product quality learners were seen from student learning outcomes. Based on the results of pre-action testing conducted, students' reading comprehension ability obtained an average of 64. After being given action in cycle I, the average score of students reading comprehension ability become 68.88. It increases 4.10 points. Then in cycle II, the average score becomes 81.91. These results indicate that this research can be said to be successful because the average value of students' reading comprehension ability increases compared with pre-action values.

Improving health equity: Evaluation of accessible written medication information for patients with visual impairment

BackgroundCurrently, there are limited options for patients with visual impairment or blindness to obtain accessible written medication information. ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to determine the availability of accessible medication guides provided by the manufacturer and identify common barriers reported by patients with visual impairment in obtaining accessible written medication information in health care settings. DesignProspective, cross-sectional study. Setting and participantsParticipants of the survey portion included individuals with visual impairment who were administered an online questionnaire. Outcome measuresAvailability of accessible medication guides as verified by 39 manufacturers and accessibility assessed using a checklist based on revised Section 508 guidelines and testing with a screen reader for accessibility. To identify barriers in obtaining written medication information, respondents were recruited by Qualtrics to fill out an anonymous, online 13-question survey from September to October 2022. ResultsAll manufacturers did not provide an accessible medication guide or an alternative format. Common errors found by the screen reader were lack of a description for images (alternative text) and headings were not available to help with navigation. As for the survey, a total of 699 participants responded. The median age was 35 years and 49% of respondents were female. A paper copy was the most common format (38%) provided in the pharmacy and barriers identified included lack of Braille or electronic options and personnel not equipped to serve patients with visual impairment. ConclusionWith the lack of accessible written medication information as a barrier to health equity, pharmacists and manufacturers need to provide alternative formats such as audio, electronic formats, or Braille to patients with visual impairment.