A Systematic Review of the Literature Concerning the Accessibility of Library Websites

What is it about?

Library and information science is a profession where the ethical responsibility of a librarian is to ensure that every user, regardless of caste, gender, colour, or any other material or physical trait, is able to access their required information. Now, people with disabilities had to meet particular requirements in order to access their information. Currently, websites are crucial platforms for creating, disseminating and preserving information. Web Accessibility Initiatives (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed one of such guidelines, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). A website should comply with WCAG to be accessible through assistive technologies used by disabled users. This book provides an overview of special requirements of disabled users, international laws & treaties, web accessibility guidelines, and several tools to evaluate the web accessibility of a website. Later, a systematic literature review of 40 relevant researchers was conducted in order to understand the current state of accessibility in the websites of educational institutions, more precisely, library websites. An outline of several initiatives from the Indian government is also compiled in the later sections of the book. Overall this book offers a comprehensive review of web accessibility as well as information on the status and development patterns of accessible websites around the world.

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Why is it important?

Globally, it is estimated that at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. According to the Census 2011, in India, there are 2.68 crore people with some disability, which in terms is 2.21% of the total population (disabilityaffairs.gov.in, n.d.). But more than 90% of the world’s books are not accessible. This is what is known as the Global Book Famine. The “famine” refers to the fact that less than 10% of published works, such as books and educational materials, in developed countries and less than 1% in developing countries are ever made into accessible formats, such as Braille, large print or audio (World Health Organization, 2018). This also enlarges the fact that persons who are blind in developing countries have only a one in ten chance of going to school or of getting a job. They are in danger of being caught in an unfortunate and vicious cycle of illiteracy and resulting unemployment. The lack of accessible books is a real barrier in getting education and leading an independent, productive life. Web Accessibility, access issues with visually impaired or print disabled people and Marrakesh Treaty are not new concepts but are certainly relevant issues for society. Keeping this in mind, an attempt is made in this study to assess the state of web accessibility compliance in various library websites and to alert the management of the parent bodies to place a high priority on creating accessible library websites in order to meet the information needs of impaired users.