Accessibility in academic publishing is often overlooked, treated as a compliance checkbox rather than an essential tool for facilitating inclusion. While open access removes paywalls, true accessibility ensures research is usable by everyone, including those with disabilities or linguistic barriers. Akhilesh Ayer explores the gap between open access and meaningful accessibility, and how transforming accessibility from obligation to opportunity can benefit academia and beyond.

Accessibility is often treated as an afterthought, a box to check for compliance rather than a fundamental need. While open access publishing ensures that research is freely available to all with digital means, accessibility goes a step further, making sure knowledge can be understood by everyone, regardless of educational, linguistic or technological barriers. It allows all stakeholders, researchers and the public, to engage with the latest scientific findings regardless of their location, (dis)abilities or resources.

The gap between Open Access and accessibility

Recent studies have revealed a significant gap between open access and true accessibility. For instance, Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Julia Perrone and Christie A. Bahlai found that most open access journals overlook accessibility features such as alt text and colour contrast in their submission guidelines, sidelining the needs of readers with disabilities. The study examined 300 English-language journals to assess image accessibility in author guidelines and openness in open access statements. Among 289 journals with submission guidelines, 13 per cent referenced colour choice, around two per cent mentioned contrast ratios, and none included alternative text. Of 298 journals with open access statements, 77 per cent used terms like “access” or “accessibility,” but none mentioned “disability,” and fewer than one per cent referenced “inclusion” or “inclusive.” Another study questioned:“is there really open and immediate access for everyone, if scholars and students with disabilities cannot access and use research articles?” There is clearly a significant gap: disability accessibility is often absent from current open access practices.

What does accessibility mean in academic publishing?

True accessibility involves the removal of systemic barriers through the intentional design, production, and dissemination of scholarly content to ensure equitable access for all individuals. It encompasses technical accessibility (content compatible with assistive technologies such as screen readers), structural accessibility (logical headings and navigable layouts), cognitive accessibility (quality of alt-text descriptors), and other considerations around alternative formats such as captioned videos. In this context, prominent guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for HTML content and DAISY EPUB3 standards for e-books, have led the way with what inclusive publishing means. But guidelines are not always followed, especially for legacy content, leading to inequality where some can access research and others cannot.

There are many reasons why making content accessible to all matters, first and foremost because it is simply the right thing to do. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that, as of 2021, around 1.3 billion people or 16 per cent of the global population “experience significant disability”, a number which has grown rapidly over the last few decades.

Secondly, it makes business sense. Accessible content has a much larger potential audience. No business would voluntarily exclude over a billion people from its addressable market.

Thirdly, with the associated decline in health as people age, more individuals are likely to experience some form of disability later in life. According to the WHO, the global prevalence of disability increases with age, rising from 5.8% among children and adolescents to 34.4% among older adults, as shown in the figure below. This serves as a reminder that accessibility is not just about accommodating a minority. Almost everyone will likely rely on accessible systems and environments at some point in their lives.

Addressing the challenge early on

Overlooking accessibility during the early stages of publishing leads to complex and costly issues down the line. Addressing it upfront ensures smoother workflows and more inclusive content. For instance, alt-text for images can and should be generated at the point of authoring. Manuscript preparation tools should detect when an image is uploaded and provide the author with suggested alt-text for approval or editing. Submission systems could do the same at the point of submission. Ultimately, efforts should focus on ensuring content is “born-accessible”—not only making it easier to use, but also more cost-effective and fair from the start.

Practical adoption of these measures is increasingly within reach owing to technological advancements. For example, some collaborative writing platforms now support LaTex structures that enhance screen-reader compatibility, while AI-powered tools can offer real-time alt-text suggestions during manuscript preparation.

Developing countries are also helping drive innovation alongside the Global North. In India, the launch of the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) scheme is a pivotal move towards equitable access, providing nearly 6,400 institutions and 18 million students, faculty, and researchers with resources that were previously out of reach. This milestone is helping democratise knowledge in the world’s most populous country.

However, ONOS is just the first step in the journey toward true accessibility. While it addresses access inequities, its true potential lies in how effectively it mandates inclusive content formats such as prioritising EPUB3 over PDF documents, which is crucial for usability across devices and for readers with disabilities.

It is not just governments driving accessibility; NGOs and private sector players are stepping up too. Integration with platforms like Sugamya Pustakalaya, India’s largest digital library for print-disabled readers, further enhances accessibility by providing books for people with print disabilities in formats like EPUB3. The not-for-profit organisation provides over 680,000 accessible books in multiple languages from Indian and international libraries, allowing users to download and manage their reading online. The platform also supports content producers and publishers in creating and sharing accessible formats to help end the book famine faced by those with print disabilities. Among local private sector players, Cactus Communications, a technology company, has developed AI tools aimed at improving accessibility, including automated alt-text generation, multilingual audio, AI-generated summaries and scientific illustration support. When integrated early in the publishing process, these tools can help make accessibility a built-in feature rather than an afterthought.

The way forward

Accessibility is a shared responsibility—ensuring that language barriers, disabilities and resource limitations never stand in the way of access.

Publishers must prioritise accessibility by embedding it into long-term strategies, allocating dedicated budgets, and integrating standards into all workflows. Equitable knowledge access requires offering alternative formats such as audio, translations and plain language summaries alongside structured documents and alt-text minimums. Journals should review their author guidelines, provide structured templates, and ensure all PDF elements, including headings, lists and tables, are properly tagged to enhance usability for all readers.

Research and funding institutions must advocate for systemic change by demanding accountability and supporting accessibility initiatives from research to dissemination. They should recognise and reward researchers who prioritise accessibility, embedding it into research assessment frameworks and incentivising inclusive dissemination strategies.

Researchers must champion inclusive practices by adopting accessible research methods and sharing both successes and challenges openly. Enhance accessibility by adding alt-text to images in manuscripts and testing previous papers with a screen reader to identify areas for improvement. Utilise freely available accessibility checking tools to refine documents before submission.

There is increasing recognition that accessibility in academic knowledge dissemination must go beyond compliance and focus on true inclusion. This shift presents an opportunity to improve public understanding of science, expand audience reach and ensure scientific advancements are available to all through deliberate action.

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In-text figure credit: Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Featured image Credit: Chansom Pantip on Shutterstock.