Tag: literature

Sources of Research Articles on Cognitive Web Accessibility

~ John Rochford ~ 3 Comments

On The Clear Helper Web Site, I published my

Sources of Research Articles about Web Accessibility for People with Cognitive Disabilities.

Most are vertical search engines of research from related fields.

Each listing is annotated with an edited quote describing the source.  At the top of the page, I note the approximately twenty search terms I used.  The following blog posts are about the results of this effort.

Since I published the above, I have significantly increased the number of articles for each list.

50+ Readability Resources Related To Cognitive Web Accessibility

~ John Rochford

I have created an index of readability resources related to plain language; measurement tools; guidelines, research; content; symbols; and  free- and commercial products and services. At the time of this writing, there are over fifty. I will add more as I find them.

Characteristics Of Readability Listings

  • All have links to the original sources.
  • All are annotated with related information, primarily edited quotes from source pages.
  • The majority are free- and commercial products and services.  The rest are research articles.
  • The publication dates of original studies and articles range from 2001 to 2009 / present.

Links to Readability Index & RSS Feed

Notes

Technorati Verification Code = 63S9AZXDSA9K

50+ Resources Related To Cognitive Web Accessibility Guidelines

~ John Rochford

I have created an index of resources related to cognitive Web accessibility guidelines. At the time of this writing, there are over fifty. I will add more as I find them.

Characteristics Of Guidelines Listings

  • All have links to the original sources.
  • All are annotated with related information, primarily edited quotes from source pages.
  • A few are original studies.  The majority are Web articles. The remainder are organizations that develop such guidelines.
  • The publication dates of original studies and articles range from 1999 to the present.

Links to Guidelines Index & RSS Feed

Future Indexes

I will soon publish other such indexes. To see a list, please refer to my previous post, “Upcoming Indexes of Resources Related to Cognitive Web Accessibility“.

Notes

50+ Assistive Technology Resources Related To Cognitive Web Accessibility

~ John Rochford

I have created an index of assistive technology resources related to cognitive Web accessibility. At the time of this writing, there are over fifty. I will add more as I find them.

Characteristics Of Assistive Technology Listings

  • All have links to the original sources.
  • All are annotated with related information, primarily edited quotes from source pages.
  • About half are original studies and articles. The rest are free- and commercial products and services.
  • The publication dates of original studies and articles range from 2001 to 2009 / present.

Links to Assistive Technology Index & RSS Feed

Future Indexes

I will soon publish other such indexes. To see a list, please refer to my previous post, “Upcoming Indexes of Resources Related to Cognitive Web Accessibility“.

Notes

100+ Resources Related To Cognitive Web Accessibility Research

~ John Rochford

I have created an index of research resources related to cognitive Web accessibility.  At the time of this writing, there are over one hundred.  I will add more as I find them.

Characteristics Of Research Listings

  • All have links to the original sources.
  • All are annotated with related information, primarily edited quotes from abstracts.
  • Most are original studies. Others include literature reviews, articles that cite research, and organizations that conduct related research.
  • Many have publication dates, from 1999 to the present.

Links to Research Index & RSS Feed

Future Indexes

I will soon publish other such indexes.  To see a list, please refer to my previous post, “Upcoming Indexes of Resources Related to Cognitive Web Accessibility“.

Note: Have a resource suggestion? Please contact me.

Public computing options for people with cognitive disabilities

~ John Rochford

New research has just been published in the Journal of Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, Volume 4, Issue 5.  The article, entitled “Public computing options for individuals with cognitive impairments: Survey outcomes,” examines the availability and the accessibility of public computing for people with cognitive disabilities living in the United States.

The researchers found that, of the facilities surveyed, libraries had the highest percentage of access barriers.  This is disappointing.  Public libraries are a great source of free access to the Web.  If people with cognitive disabilities can’t use them, or have significant trouble using them because of access barriers, then their access to the Web is problematic at the outset.

Relevant Literature: Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities

~ John Rochford

The Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities has a Cognitive Technology Literature Database.  At the time of this writing, if the term “Web accessibility” is entered into the database’s search page, references to almost 30 research studies are produced.  Some are not strictly related to Web accessibility, but it is an informative collection.

Literature Reviews, Part 2: Paul R. Bohman

~ John Rochford

Web Accessibility for Cognitive and Learning Disabilities: A Review of Research-Based Evidence in the Literature, by Paul R. Bohman of George Mason University, is a working paper that, at the time of this writing, was last edited July 20, 2007.

This review summarizes and critiques seven relevant studies, and has an extensive discussion on potential reasons for the paucity of relevant research.  It notes common findings across studies, such as user difficulties typing text, understanding context, and navigating Web sites.

I was intrigued by the observation that Web sites could be more navigable / accessible to people with cognitive disabilities if the need for text input is reduced.  I imagine one way that could be done, at least for Web site searching, would be to enable users to select from a common set of search terms, rather than require them to enter the search terms themselves.

I found enlightening the brief discussions on resistance to the idea that people with cognitive disabilities are entitled to accommodations, and on the possibility there is reluctance to accommodate people with cognitive disabilities because it may require significant Web site redesign.

Literature Reviews, Part 1: WebAIM

~ John Rochford

A few years ago, Robert Bass, the director of New England INDEX, and I were helping the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services think about providing Web-based content to its constituency.  As part of this work, we had been asked by the department to determine best practices for developing Web content accessible to people with intellectual / cognitive disabilities.  I scoured the Web for such literature.  I found almost nothing.  We then contracted with the good folks at WebAIM at Utah State University to look for the same information.  They too found very little.  At the time, they told us they would have to conduct extensive research into the topic (on their own initiative).  Indeed they did.

WebAIM: Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Literature Review, found 159 related articles, and describes the process used to discover them.   Results from the review were broken down into six categories:

  • Conformance with standards / best practices
  • Common design elements
  • Language Use / Reading
  • Enhance Comprehension
  • Structure
  • Attention / Distraction

WebAIM’s literature review is a summary of the findings.  It does not provide references / links to the articles found.  It does list the numbers of literature articles that referenced the elements listed above, and their sub-elements.