Web Access to Cultural Heritage for the Disabled

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current state of online accessibility for disabled users in cultural heritage websites, highlighting gaps and challenges in meeting accessibility standards and the need for specialized testing.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of existing online accessibility practices in cultural institutions and discusses the importance of specialized testing for disabled users.

Findings

Many cultural websites lack comprehensive accessibility testing.

Specialist software like text-to-audio converters is underconsidered.

There is a need for improved standards and testing for online disabled access.

Abstract

Physical disabled access is something that most cultural institutions such as museums consider very seriously. Indeed, there are normally legal requirements to do so. However, online disabled access is still a relatively novel and developing field. Many cultural organizations have not yet considered the issues in depth and web developers are not necessarily experts either. The interface for websites is normally tested with major browsers, but not with specialist software like text to audio converters for the blind or against the relevant accessibility and validation standards. We consider the current state of the art in this area, especially with respect to aspects of particular importance to the access of cultural heritage.