Greater Accessibility in Science Applications is Needed. Here’s Why.

Why is ICT Accessibility Important in Scientific Applications?

Most universities and organizations have been making their physical buildings more accessible for persons with disabilities. More websites are now built to meet global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility standards in the digital world, which is commendable.

However, an increasing amount of coursework and research work now requires the ability to manipulate science software and technology. This reliance on virtual platforms in science education and research began before the year 2020 but accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual or blended learning is now par for the course in most educational institutions, especially those dedicated to research.

An encouraging trend has been in the world of library technology and sciences. There have been several vital conversations around embracing disability inclusion, and several top universities have publicly declared their commitment to offering information and access to users with disabilities.

Additionally, educational institutions purchase or subscribe to various tools and technology for students and faculty to collaborate, communicate, learn, and research. Going forward, these technology partners must offer ICT products and services designed with accessibility in mind from the start. Science education equity is a worthy goal that we are happy to support.

What Are the Accessibility Standards Your Technology Partners Must Meet?

Ideally, technology partners must be WCAG 2 (either 2.0 or 2.1) AA-certified or AAA-certified. WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These are technical standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium through collaboration with global experts. There are three levels of ‘success’ criteria – A, AA, and AAA. Since A is the bare minimum rating for web platform accessibility, it is recommended that organizations look for a AA or AAA-certified platform.

If your technology partners are AA or AAA-certified for WCAG guidelines, your faculty and students with disabilities will have access to (at minimum):  

• Alternatives to text like images or audio descriptions for commands
• Images and text can be resized
• Compatibility with standard assistive technology for the visually-impaired
• Captions are present when audio is important
• There is high-contrast text and other such assistive functionalities.

In the US, you may also select, whenever possible, technologies that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Accessibility Must Be In the Product DNA – Not an Afterthought

Not all accessible platforms are alike. Preferably, technology or research platforms have disability inclusion as an integral pillar of their entire design and development process.

As an example, what if you are constructing a new wing for your library? If you design with accessibility in mind, you will create wider entrances and ramps to accommodate wheelchairs. You may be able to plan and budget for a bathroom stall or two designated for students and faculty with disabilities. However, if accessibility is an afterthought, all potential solutions become highly expensive, problematic, and never quite right.

Similarly, there is a difference between technologies that embraced accessibility and digital inclusion from the very start. For example, consider GIDEON, the comprehensive Global Infectious Diseases, and Epidemiology Network database.

The GIDEON R&D team gathered customer input about disability inclusion before building the product. The robust platform was tested with hundreds of users from 164 countries with varying levels of abilities. The entire GIDEON epidemiology database and web application were built to meet WCAG 2.1 guidelines for ICT accessibility.

Because of this foresight, faculty and students of varying levels of disability can easily access GIDEON’s website and the web application to study over 2,000 pathogens and 360 infectious diseases. They can review 84,000+ seroprevalence and prevalence surveys, 23,000+ disease-specific country notes or mix and match over 36,000 epidemiological charts on country-specific or worldwide disease prevalence, incidence, and much more. This is our way of making research in science easier to be a part of than ever before.