Abstract
The importance of the internet in modern society cannot be overstated. Over the past several decades, society has become reliant on the internet as a means to perform everyday tasks such as paying bills, scheduling appointments, and interacting with friends and family. However, accessing the internet is not always a simple matter, and not everyone has as easy a time using this tool that most take for granted. One such cohort that is often disadvantaged in the modern internet landscape is people with disabilities. There are a wide variety of disabilities, with many making use of the internet significantly more difficult. Visual disabilities, in particular, can make internet use a serious challenge in a myriad of ways. Websites are often made to be eye-catching, or to convey the aesthetic visions of their creators, with this being done often through visual design choices that can leave users with visual impairments struggling to utilize them. Because of this, measures have been taken to promote accessible web design with standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the passing of laws in various nations, and other general pushes in the field of web design to create more equitable media. Despite this, a substantial part of the internet landscape remains visually inaccessible, either because of minor design quirks, or because of wide-ranging issues in the websites’ fundamental designs. This begs the question of how websites can be made more visually accessible, and how has the concept of visual accessibility reached this point?
What are some ways in which the internet can be made more accessible to those with visual disabilities? One way I explored was to create a visual accessibility internet browser extension. This browser extension, made specifically for the Google Chrome web browser, manipulates a website’s style data, based on the choices of the user, in order to improve the user experience. To start, I researched what visual accessibility tool features existed, along with how viable they were to be implemented, and made a list of features I intended to realize. Next, I wrote code to fetch the location of the website’s style settings in its CSS to be altered using jQuery, and replace the settings as specified by the user. These choices would then be stored in the browser for future visits. I then created a user interface with various text boxes and drop down menus to allow the user to specify what parameters of the website would be changed and to what values. In the end, the extension allowed the user to alter a website’s background color, font and font size, line height, and letter spacing, while storing all these choices for use in future visits, though this feature list could be extended in the future given further development.
How has internet visual accessibility progressed, and what can we learn from this? To answer this question, I examined academic literature on visual accessibility, both technical and ethnographic, alongside legal cases, standards, and regulations, to analyze how internet visual accessibility has changed over time, and by what means the change occurred. I found several motives for the progression throughout my research. One motive was the charitable actions of developers, such as the development of IBM’s Screen Reader, which came alongside articles detailing not only the creation process, but also the motivations behind it, and can also be seen in modern day free and open-source visual accessibility tools. Another motive was the several business incentives of having an accessible internet presence, including the expansion of the businesses market, improved social standing, and protection from legal trouble. There is also the fact that improvements in visual accessibility help not only visually impaired users, but also non-disabled users as well, with many visually accessible design choices enhancing the experience of all users. Finally, there is the work of activist and social justice groups, who have fought for a more equitable internet through legislation, lawsuits, pushes for change in design practices, and the creation of accessibility standards. These causes, and the parties involved in such changes, can help us better understand how the internet has become as visually accessible as it is, and where, how, and by whom future changes may occur.
Although I achieved some of what I wished for in my technical report and STS research paper, there is still more work that could be done. For my technical report, more advanced features such as screen readers and magnifiers could provide more tools for those with visual impairments and make my browser extension a more versatile aid. For my STS research, while I was able to find trends and academic research to justify my claims, I had difficulty finding more socio-behavioral and ethnographic research on the topic. For further research, I would explore the first-hand accounts of those with visual disabilities, and study their views on both the current state of visual internet accessibility and how it has changed throughout their lives. I also recommend exploring a less America centric view of the topic, and examining laws and movements outside of the United States. Despite these possibilities, the work I have done this year has helped me understand the importance of accessible design, the challenges faced by those with visual disabilities, and that much more work is necessary to make the internet a truly equitable space.
