YOUR GO-TO INTELLIGENCE RESOURCE FOR THE SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

The CHORUS Accessibility Forum, held on June 18, 2025, brought together experts from academia, publishing, and research institutions to examine how accessibility in scholarly communications can be scaled and normalized. Discussions focused on the ethical and economic imperative for accessibility, practical frameworks, and stakeholder roles.

Panelists emphasized the importance of shared responsibility for accessibility, referencing legal frameworks such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the European Accessibility Act (EAA). One perspective underscored that the ADA places responsibility on content-licensing institutions like libraries and research firms, while the EAA holds content providers directly accountable. This divergence points to the need for collaboration between publishers, authors, librarians, and users.

Speakers highlighted that accessibility is often framed as a compliance issue, which can limit ambition to meet only the bare minimum. There was consensus that effective accessibility initiatives require leadership, sustained investment, and cultural change. The panel also encouraged reframing accessibility as an opportunity to expand reach, excluding an estimated 1.5 billion people due to inaccessible content, presents both a business and ethical challenge.

Scalability remains a hurdle, particularly when verifying the usability of accessibility features. Panelists noted difficulties in identifying and engaging end users with disabilities for feedback. Librarians were seen as potential partners in bridging this gap. There was also concern that publishers may implement features without adequate impact validation.

Use cases presented during the forum illustrated practical challenges. Examples included inaccessible federal training materials and institutional audits that exposed gaps within both publishers and libraries. One panelist emphasized the need for responsive support when users report barriers to access, while others shared how authors and editors can be engaged early in content production to improve accessibility outcomes.

Recommendations from the session included integrating closed captions, alt text, and accessible file formats as standard practices. Enhancing metadata was identified as a key strategy to improve content discoverability and enable more personalized user experiences. The forum also pointed to the evolving Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which are expected to broaden their scope to include functional needs, personalization, inclusive design, and new scoring models.

Panelists concluded by reinforcing the idea that accessibility should be embedded in everyday publishing practices and not treated as an optional feature. They called for ongoing dialogue and vigilance to ensure that accessibility efforts are continually improved, benefiting all users.

A recording of the event is available on the CHORUS event page.