Foundations of Accessibility in Publishing (Module 1 of 3)

Slides from Module 1 of the three-part workshop series “Accessibility in Publishing”, offered in the context of the DFG-funded project "Servicestelle Diamond Open Access (SeDOA)" on 20 October 2026. This introductory module explains what accessibility means in scholarly publishing and why it matters. Topics include: Who relies on accessible publications (e.g., blind and low-vision readers, people with colour vision deficiency, motor, cognitive or hearing impairments) The four WCAG principles (perceivable, operable, understandable, robust) and the most common barriers in web pages and PDFs The legal framework: EU Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102), European Accessibility Act, and their implementation in Germany (BGG, BITV 2.0, BFSG), as well as the standards EN 301 549, PDF/UA and EPUB Accessibility The difference between a tagged PDF and a PDF/UA-compliant PDF Checking PDFs with free tools such as PAC, axesCheck and veraPDF, and the limits of automated testing A practical example: the automated Word → JATS-XML → PDF/UA workflow of the MAK Collection at ZB MED The slides also include a list of resources for further learning. Module 2 covers accessibility in editorial workflows; Module 3 covers accessibility in XML-based publishing pipelines.