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Enhancing Web Accessibility of the National Archives of Korea through Evaluation by Visually Impaired Users

  • Journal of the Korean Biblia Society for Library and Information Science
  • 2026, 37(3), pp.255~291
  • DOI : 10.14699/kbiblia.2026.37.3.255
  • Publisher : Journal Of The Korean Biblia Society For Library And Information Science
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Library and Information Science
  • Received : August 22, 2026
  • Accepted : September 14, 2026
  • Published : September 30, 2026

Seunghyeon Jung 1,  Ji Hyun Kim ORD ID 1

1이화여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study aims to identify the web accessibility barriers that severely visually impaired screen reader users encounter when using the archival information services of the National Archives of Korea website, and to derive measures for enhancement. To this end, a task-based user evaluation was conducted with ten severely visually impaired screen reader users, comprising five tasks corresponding to the types of web-based archival information services. Four types of data were collected through observation of task performance, retrospective think-aloud, pre- and post-session questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed using directed content analysis. Twelve accessibility barriers were identified, concentrated in information search and viewing services. Full-success rates were lowest for the record search task (30%) and the original-text access task (20%). The barriers affecting the largest number of participants were difficulty operating advanced-search filters, missing alternative text for general images, and the requirement to re-enter search keywords. Barriers specific to archival information services were also identified, including the loss of the hierarchy between file-level and item-level records under linearized auditory access, and the divergence of original-text accessibility according to media format. Some participants completed tasks without recognizing that access had been blocked, demonstrating that accessibility cannot be diagnosed through automated evaluation or self-report alone. Based on these findings, enhancement measures centered on users without workaround strategies are proposed by service area: providing alternative text, redesigning the advanced-search interface, offering alternative formats for original texts, restructuring the information architecture, and ensuring accessible authentication.

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