DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

UM ESTUDO COMPARATIVO

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the digital accessibility of Brazilian scholarly journals in the fields of Information Science and Computer Science through a comparative approach, considering criteria identified in the scientific literature. It is an exploratory and descriptive study with a mixed-methods approach, developed through bibliographic research, document analysis, and website accessibility evaluation using the WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool). Sixteen Brazilian scholarly journals were analyzed, including eight from Computer Science and eight from Information Science. The results indicate that, although some journals present reasonable accessibility conditions in their digital interfaces, limitations related to published content persist. A widespread absence of textual descriptions for images, graphs, and tables was observed, as well as the limited incorporation of accessibility guidelines into editorial policies. Furthermore, the existence of specific editorial guidelines did not necessarily translate into accessible published content. It is concluded that digital accessibility remains incipient in the journals analyzed, highlighting the need for monitoring and review mechanisms throughout the editorial workflow.