Prioritizing Screen Reader Access: A Fundamental Responsibility for Digital Archives

As archives increasingly move into the digital realm, ensuring online accessibility has become a fundamental responsibility. For users who are blind, have low vision, or experience cognitive or motor disabilities, screen readers serve as a vital gateway to digital content. These tools translate onscreen text and interface elements into synthesized speech or Braille, allowing users to navigate websites, databases, and catalogs without relying on visual cues. However, for screen readers to function effectively, digital environments must be designed with intentionality and care. In archival settings, this may be overlooked.

How Screen Readers Enable Access to Archival Materials

Screen readers rely on the structural integrity of web pages to convey meaning. If websites are not built with accessibility in mind, screen readers cannot provide accurate or helpful guidance to users. It can make even the most basic tasks—like searching for a collection, reading a finding aid, or understanding a page’s layout—difficult or entirely impossible.

Unfortunately, many archival platforms present significant barriers to screen reader users. Websites may use outdated systems, custom-built tools, or scanned documents without meaningful markup. Common issues include missing alternative text for images, unlabeled form fields in search interfaces, and navigation menus that cannot be accessed with a keyboard. Inconsistent or improper use of headings makes it challenging to understand the structure of a page, while PDFs and other digitized formats are often inaccessible if the text has not been optimized for optical character recognition (OCR). These technical oversights have real consequences for users, effectively excluding them from engaging with archival materials.

Embed Accessibility from the Start

Improving screen reader accessibility requires a shift in how archives approach digital design. Instead of retrofitting accessibility features after a website has been built, archivists and developers must embed accessibility from the start by using semantic HTML to clearly define page elements and content hierarchy, which allows screen readers to interpret and relay structure to users. Interactive elements like search bars and dropdown menus must be appropriately labeled so users can understand and operate them. Alt text for images should describe what the image depicts and its function or purpose, particularly in cases where images convey information or provide context in digitized collections.

Navigation must also be made fully functional without a mouse. Users who rely on keyboards or alternative input devices should be able to move through menus, activate links, and interact with content efficiently. Additionally, OCR should be applied to scanned documents so that screen readers can interpret the text, and links should include meaningful, descriptive text rather than vague labels like “click here” or “read more.”

Center the User Experience

Technical compliance, however, is only part of the equation. True accessibility depends on input from the communities using these tools daily. Conducting usability testing with screen reader users can reveal obstacles that automated checkers and even well-meaning developers might miss. For example, navigation may appear logical to sighted users but prove confusing or inconsistent when experienced through a screen reader. Feedback from blind or low-vision users is invaluable in refining systems and ensuring that digital archives serve all users.

Incorporating this kind of user feedback reflects a broader ethical commitment to inclusive design. Accessibility affirms the dignity and agency of users. Archives are institutions of public memory and civic trust. If users cannot access digital content, the historical record becomes gated, available only to those who fit a narrow range of physical and cognitive norms. This approach undermines the foundational archival values of openness, transparency, and public service.

To truly live up to these values, screen reader accessibility must be understood as an essential part of digital stewardship. As technologies evolve and user expectations grow, accessibility practices must adapt. Maintenance, training, and evaluation are necessary to keep digital spaces usable and inclusive.

Design for Belonging

By centering screen reader accessibility in archival design, institutions make a powerful statement about who belongs in the archives. They acknowledge the range of human experience that deserves equal respect and accommodation. In doing so, archives expand their reach, uphold their ethical responsibilities, and ensure that the stories they preserve remain accessible to all in theory and in practice.