Search

PurposeStatistical charts are an essential source of information in academic papers. Charts have an important role in conveying, clarifying and simplifying the research results provided by the authors, but they present some accessibility barriers for people with low vision. This article aims to evaluate the accessibility of the statistical charts published in the library and information science (LIS) journals with the greatest impact factor.Design/methodology/approachA list of heuristic indicators developed by the authors has been used to assess the accessibility of statistical charts for people with low vision. The heuristics have been applied to a sample of charts from 2019 issues of ten LIS journals with the highest impact factor according to the ranking of the JCR.FindingsThe current practices of image submission do not follow the basic recommended guidelines on accessibility like color contrast or the use of textual alternatives. On the other hand, some incongruities between the technical suggestions of image submission and their application in analyzed charts also emerged. The main problems identified are: poor text alternatives, insufficient contrast ratio between adjacent colors and the inexistence of customization options. Authoring tools do not help authors to fulfill these requirements.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is not very extensive; nonetheless, it is representative of common practices and the most frequent accessibility problems in this context.Social implicationsThe heuristics proposed are a good starting point to generate guidelines for authors when preparing their papers for publication and to guide journal publishers in creating accessible documents. Low-vision users, a highly prevalent condition, will benefit from the improvements.Originality/valueThe results of this research provide key insights into low-vision accessibility barriers, not considered in previous literature and can be a starting point for their solution.

The violettomania is attributed to the Impressionists by a 19th century critical tradition, which, influenced by the physiology of the eye and the psychiatric sciences, links the use of dazzling blue-violet tones in painting with an aspiration to go beyond the conventional limits of the visible. The question conveys a larger notion of chromomania related to the artificial culture of mauve and the scientific fascination with the ultra-violet. The psychopathologization of the painter’s gaze also leads to reading violettomania through the critical paradigm of hysteria in fin-de-siècle French visual culture. The rise of colour psychology therefore influence critics to question the abilities of the artist, to who is ascribed the mental power of seeing beyond the limits of the senses., La violettomanie est attribuée aux impressionnistes par une tradition critique dix-neuvièmiste, laquelle, influencée par la physiologie de l’œil et les sciences psychiatriques, lie le recours à des tons bleu-violet éclatants en peinture au dépassement des limites conventionnelles du visible. La question s’inscrit dans le cadre plus large d’une chromomanie qui s’affirme dans la culture visuelle du second XIXe siècle (de la culture du mauve à la fascination pour l’ultra-violet). Le regard du peintre s’accompagne d’un phénomène de psychopathologisation qui, dans la culture décadente de la fin du siècle, conduira à lire la violettomanie à travers le paradigme critique de l’hystérie. L’essor d’une conception psychologique des couleurs pousse la critique à questionner les capacités de l’artiste, auquel est attribué de plus en plus la faculté mentale de voir au-delà du sensible.