Accessibility
Journal publishing now entails delivery through a wide range of output devices including
phones, handhelds, eBook readers, and personal computers, as well as the more historically important
print pages and CD-ROMs. Journal articles are provided in a variety of formats including XML, PDF,
HTML, several eBook formats, and DAISY for pronouncing software. At the same time, governmental
regulation and web best practice (as promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)) have led to
requirements for better access for the visually and motor impaired. For papers that fall in the purview of the United States government, the relevant accessibility guidance comes from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 § 508, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105 – 220), 29 U.S.C. § 794d (typically known as Section 508). For the web, the W3C has published the WCAG 2.0: Web Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). The two specifications have been declared to be complimentary, with the techniques of the WCAG 2.0 used to meet the stated Section 508 guidelines. At the level applicable to this Tag Set, both of these accessibility frameworks concern themselves with how those with impaired sight or motor control operate a website built for a seeing, fully manipulatory world.
Section 508 deals with such visual and handling aspects as screen flicker, electronic forms,
scripting, and color. The WCAG 2.0 guidelines range from the recommendation that web pages be well
formed, through techniques for pausing and linking, to specifics on web page design. Since the
Journal Article Tag Set does not deal with the look and feel or the behavior of a journal article, but rather with the intellectual content, many of the Section 508 guidelines and WCAG 2.0 techniques do not apply directly to this Tag Set. But certain elements and attributes in this Tag Set enable a publisher, archive, author, aggregator, or other interested party to implement Section 508-compliant or WCAG-accessible display of material based on XML documents tagged with this Tag Set. The intent is that this Tag Set should not prevent and should actively enable Section 508 compliance and WCAG techniques of best accessibility practice.
For example, the Section 508 website (http://www.section508.gov), under 508 Standards,
Subpart B -- Technical Standards, § 1194.22 Web-based intranet
and internet information and applications, states that
“A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided”. This Tag Set does not require that each graphic, for example, also have a non-text companion, but there are three enabling elements
available within each <graphic> element to make that
possible. A <graphic> may contain:
- an <alt-text> element, to hold a brief description of the graphic for pronouncing software;
- a <long-desc> element, to hold a full description of the graphic; and/or
- an <ext-link> element and/or a <uri> to hold a link to an even more complete description of the graphic.
This model for a graphic also enables WCAG 2.0: Techniques and Failures for Web Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (December 2008) #G73: “Providing a long description in another location with a link to it that is immediately adjacent to the non-text content” and #G95: “Providing short text alternatives that provide a brief description of non-text content”.
Using @alt for Pronunciation
Sometimes an abbreviation (<abbrev>) needs to be
pronounced in a way that is not reflected in its content or its tagging. The @alt attribute (available on many elements) can be used to record the
pronunciation for screen readers and other accessibility devices. For example, the abbreviation
“WHO” might be better pronounced as “World Health Organization”
(alt="World Health Organization") or as “W.H.O.” than as the word
“who”. The @alt attribute can also be used to provide
the textual interpretation of a symbol such as an emoticon (e.g., for “;-)” use an
@alt attribute value such as “alt="smile-wink"”).
Sometimes a <label> needs to be pronounced in a way that is not reflected in its content or its tagging. The @alt attribute can be used to record the pronunciation for screen readers and other accessibility devices. For example, the element figure that follows might be pronounced as “Figure 3”.
<label alt="figure 3">Fig III.</label>
In the same way, an <xref> may need to be pronounced in a way that is not reflected in its content or its tagging. The @alt attribute can be used to record the pronunciation for screen readers and other accessibility devices. For example, the cross-reference to a figure that follows might be pronounced as “Figure 4”.
... See <xref alt="figure 4">Fig IV.</xref>...
Short Pronouncing Abstract
For accessibility purposes, it is useful to provide a very short synopsis abstract
(much like a Table of Contents blurb or a dek in some journals) whose
purpose is to tell a non-sighted reader what the document is about. This
abstract can be given
the @abstract-type value such
as “meta-description”, “description”, or
“dc:description” to indicate that, when making web
pages from this XML, the abstract can be used to create the NISO JATS XHTML-inspired metadata description.
Use of <alt-text>
Best practice reserves the <alt-text> element
for accessibility uses such as pronouncing screen readers. This element should not be used as a replacement for <caption>, which is a visual element that is typically displayed alongside a figure, table, etc. The <alt-text> is not a visual element, unless the figure, caption, or other major element that holds the <alt-text> is not available or cannot be processed by the person or device-type being addressed. Since it is not visual, <alt-text> does not allow face markup inside it; a simplified textual alternative for a graphical object (including face markup) can be created using the <textual-form> element.
Use of <alternatives>
The <alternatives> element provides a
container for collecting multiple versions of a single graphical or media object, for example, to provide a textual
alternative to a graphic or media object or to provide an additional enlarged graphic for
accessibility. By providing this container element for a graphical or media object, this
element enables certain W3C Techniques for WCAG 2.0 (December 2008):
- #G58: “Placing a link to the alternative for time-based media immediately next to the non-text content”
- #G68: “Providing a descriptive label that describes the purpose of live audio-only and live video-only content”
- #G69: “Providing an alternative for time based media”
- #H86: Providing text alternatives for ASCII art, emoticons, and leetspeak
WCAG 2.0 Techniques and Failures Guidelines
Here are some additional examples of elements and attributes in this Tag Set that enable techniques as described in the WCAG 2.0 Techniques and Failures guidelines:
- The @xml:lang attribute was added to the section-level elements and paragraph-level elements to enable #H58 “Using language attributes to identify changes in the human language”.
- The <ext-link> element, by providing textual content which can identify the link as well as an explicit URI in an attribute, enables #G53: “Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with the text of the enclosing sentence” as well as #G91: “Providing link text that describes the purpose of a link”.
- The long description element (<long-desc>) was defined as part of elements such as <fig>, so it can be added to figures and many other display objects to provide an accessible description of the object. (The <long-desc> element is available on: <array>, <chem-struct>, <chem-struct-wrap>, <disp-formula>, <disp-formula-group>, <fig>, <fig-group>, <graphic>, <inline-supplementary-material>, <media>, <preformat>, <supplementary-material>, <table-wrap>, and <table-wrap-group>.)