Digital Cultural Heritage Access for Individuals with Disabilities from a Digital Humanities Perspective: New Technologies and Digital Accessibility Dijital Beşerî Bilimler Perspektifinde Engelli Bireylerin Dijital Kültürel Mirasa Erişimi: Yeni Teknolojiler ve Dijital Erişilebilirlik
Bilgi Dunyasi, cilt.26, sa.2, ss.608-635, 2025 (Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 26 Sayı: 2
- Basım Tarihi: 2025
- Doi Numarası: 10.15612/bd.2025.855
- Dergi Adı: Bilgi Dunyasi
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Index Islamicus, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Directory of Open Access Journals
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.608-635
- Anahtar Kelimeler: cultural heritage access, digital accessibility, digital cultural heritage, Digital humanities, individuals with disabilities
- Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study examines, from a digital humanities perspective, how persons with disabilities access digital cultural heritage and assesses the accessibility opportunities afforded by emerging technologies. It analyses key technological domains deployed to support the access of people with visual, hearing, cognitive, physical and multiple impairments to digital cultural heritage, including explainable artificial intelligence, three-dimensional modelling, virtual and augmented reality applications, and sign language-supported systems. Methodologically, the study combines qualitative content analysis with a review of the literature. It also evaluates institutional practices in light of international accessibility guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) specification, relevant European Union directives, and the policies of open access platforms such as Europeana, DARIAH and Time Machine. The findings indicate that making digital cultural heritage accessible for persons with disabilities requires not only technological transformations but also ethical, social and political changes. Accordingly, the study proposes a set of recommendations for the holistic design of digital accessibility policies and underscores that persons with disabilities should be positioned in these digital environments not as passive users but as active participants and co-creators.