Universal Design (UD) Practices and Accessibility Discourse Statements: Best Practices in Web- Based Research

Web-based research involves scholarly efforts to collect data online. Although online data collection technologies offer the potential for greater inclusivity, the development and implementation of accessible research design (ARD) practices are often overlooked, or worse, ignored. ARD is particularly crucial in applied and experimental research settings that rely on online surveys and questionnaires. Many scholars have noted that persons with disabilities (PwDs) and those with limited English proficiency (LEP) are underrepresented in web-based social science research, and today, most journalism and communication studies research methods textbooks omit the subject and importance of ARD altogether. Still, scholars continue to emphasize the need for more attention to accessibility in our research, teaching, and practice. This chapter has three key goals: (1) to draw attention to the benefits of web-based accessible research design (ARD), (2) to introduce a best practice framework for implementation of ARD principles, and (3) to present strategies for disclosing ARD efforts within scholarly writings and administrative reports.