Bruno Splendiani, Mireia Ribera

Adaptabit Group – University of Barcelona

DSAI Conference 2013 - 13/11/2013

Introduction Our work Methodology Results Conclusions Further work

Bruno Splendiani (2013) – splendiani@ub.edu 2

Accessibility scientific literature published by computer science journals

Computer science researchers play an active role in digital accessibility research

Bruno Splendiani (2013) – splendiani@ub.edu 3

Many computer science subjects rely on visual resources such as graphs, diagrams and charts.

Visual content in computer science academic papers is a critical information source

Readers with visual impairments cannot access graphical information

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Bruno Splendiani (2013) – splendiani@ub.edu 5

Sources: [1 -4]

“If I can’t see the image I read its description”

Recommended by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Incorporated to the publishing workflow guidelines of

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Readers

Access to the content

Publishers

Advantages in article retrieval

Fulfil accessibility regulations

Comply with social responsibility

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Analysis Do actual practices of image submission fulfil

basic recommendations on accessibility?

Proposal What should be done for including accessibility

practices and principles in the submission process of academic journals?

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Follow accessibility policy?

Submission policy and guidelines related to the visual content?

Follow international guidelines on image submission?

10 journals in computer science in JCR

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Are figures “readable”?

Image format Color contrast and coding Label font type and size Minimum resolution Minimum dimensions

Do figures have alternative text?

Source: [4]

1 paper for each journal in PDF version

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The practices do not fulfill basic recommendations on accessibility

Images lack alternative descriptions

Lack of consistency between image submission policies and their application

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The visual information of computer science articles is not accessible to people with visual disabilities

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Common set of international guidelines for image submission

universal accessibility improved

Easier graphical authoring: shared guidelines

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Start from existing guidelines on image description

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Some depth work done in common charts (bar, line, pie...)

ButNO clear foundation for describing

other types of images

The image is….It shows….Panel a shows..Panel b shows..Legend shows…

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Currently computer science articles are not accessible to everybody

Accessibility of scientific papers and their figures should gain relevance in computer science research

Research in the field will improve image accessibility

Improve retrieval

Improve the efficiency of the submission process

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Domain - specific ScienceTechnologyEngineeringMathematics

Graphic type - specificIllustrationDiagramPhotograph………

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Adapted to the image role/function within the article

Support the article results?

Offer a visual example?

Show numerical data?

Emphasize special details?

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In the context of all image-related textual information

Source: [5]

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Linked to the publishing workflow

Supporting formats

Recommendations in submission system

Automatic image check (contrast, resolution, font size..)

Alt text check

Questions?

splendiani@ub.edu

22Bruno Splendiani (2013) – splendiani@ub.edu

1. Zargar, S.T., J. Joshi, y D. Tipper. «A Survey of Defense Mechanisms Against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Flooding Attacks». IEEE Communications Surveys Tutorials, Volume PP Issue 99 (2013):1 -24 .

2. Wu, Gin-Der, y Pang-Hsuan Huang. «A Vectorization-Optimization-Method-Based Type-2 Fuzzy Neural Network for Noisy Data Classification». IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 21, n.o 1 (2013): 1-15.

3. Toews, Matthew and William M. Wells III. «Efficient and robust model-to-image alignment using 3D scale-invariant features». Medical Image Analysis 17, n.o 3 :271-282.

4. Chen, Zhihu, Kwan-Yee K. Wong, Yasuyuki Matsushita, y Xiaolong Zhu. «Depth from Refraction Using a Transparent Medium with Unknown Pose and Refractive Index». Int. J. Comput. Vision 102, n.o 1-3 (2013): 3–17.

5. Splendiani, B., Ribera,M. « Do physicians make their articles readable for their blind or low-vision patients? An analysis of current image processing practices in biomedical journals from the point of view of accessibility» (under review)

23Bruno Splendiani (2013) – splendiani@ub.edu