Effects of Visual Communication Design Accessibility (VCDA) Guidelines for Low Vision on Public and Open Government...

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Accessibility Design
• Information Science

Background:

• Government investments in open data have surged, yet accessibility for low-vision individuals remains a challenge.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated information disparities for visually impaired populations due to increased reliance on digital platforms.
• Low-vision individuals are an information-vulnerable class facing disadvantages in accessing public data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose visual communication design accessibility (VCDA) guidelines tailored for people with low vision.
• To evaluate the impact of VCDA guidelines on the visual information recognition speed of low-vision and normal-vision individuals.

Main Methods:

• Developed and implemented VCDA guidelines for digital interfaces.
• Conducted a study involving 16 low-vision and 16 normal-vision participants.
• Measured and analyzed the speed of visual information recognition before and after applying VCDA enhancements.

Main Results:

• While not statistically significant due to sample size (p > 0.05), results indicated a trend towards improved visual recognition speed for low-vision individuals using VCDA.
• Intervention with VCDA guidelines led to enhanced visual information recognition speed in both low-vision and normal-vision groups.
• The study suggests VCDA positively impacts information processing efficiency across different vision capabilities.

Conclusions:

• VCDA guidelines show promise in bridging the information gap for low-vision individuals.
• Implementing VCDA can improve digital information accessibility and usability for a wider audience.
• Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to confirm the statistical significance of VCDA's impact.