Digital accessibility in the era of artificial intelligence—Bibliometric analysis and systematic review

Abstract

IntroductionDigital accessibility involves designing digital systems and services to enable access for individuals, including those with disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to enhance accessibility for people with disabilities and improve their overall quality of life.MethodsThis systematic review, covering academic articles from 2018 to 2023, focuses on AI applications for digital accessibility. Initially, 3,706 articles were screened from five scholarly databases—ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Springer.ResultsThe analysis narrowed down to 43 articles, presenting a classification framework based on applications, challenges, AI methodologies, and accessibility standards.DiscussionThis research emphasizes the predominant focus on AI-driven digital accessibility for visual impairments, revealing a critical gap in addressing speech and hearing impairments, autism spectrum disorder, neurological disorders, and motor impairments. This highlights the need for a more balanced research distribution to ensure equitable support for all communities with disabilities. The study also pointed out a lack of adherence to accessibility standards in existing systems, stressing the urgency for a fundamental shift in designing solutions for people with disabilities. Overall, this research underscores the vital role of accessible AI in preventing exclusion and discrimination, urging a comprehensive approach to digital accessibility to cater to diverse disability needs.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Creation of Future Education: Possibilities and Challenges

“…Studying the impact of AI tools on the educational process, it was found that it leads to more personalized learning landscape (Lin et al, 2023), automation of administrative tasks, such as grading and scheduling (Rahm, 2023), and providing more access to education through online learning platforms, digital resources, or intelligent tutoring systems (Chemnad & Othman, 2024). According to the survey results, AI enhances students' learning outcomes, automates the routing tasks, and makes the educational process more accessible to students with disabilities.…”

Accessible Metaverse: A Theoretical Framework for Accessibility and Inclusion in the Metaverse

“…This omission underscores the need for real-world applications and solutions to better understand and tackle these barriers. Evidence in the literature indicates a prevalent focus on AI-driven digital accessibility for visual disabilities, which highlights a significant gap in addressing other types of disabilities [37]. Individuals with disabilities often experience limited access to information and communication technology (ICT) and internet connectivity, which can be attributed to various factors such as financial constraints, physical impediments, low levels of digital literacy, and inadequate support [38].…”