If asked to imagine healthcare, you might envision a doctor and patient in a sterile room filled with medical equipment and the sharp scent of disinfectant. The patient describes physical, emotional, mental, or mixed symptoms while the doctor types rapidly, logging details and perhaps searching online for answers. This familiar scene plays out worldwide, yet it only hints at the complexity of care. The more complex the condition, the harder it becomes for patients without medical knowledge to explain their experiences, obtain a diagnosis, and receive treatment. We are often told that knowledge is power. Yet societal access to medical knowledge is largely limited and imperfect. Thus, medical publishing must ask: how can we close these gaps?
The Promise and Limits of Open Access
The rise of accessibility as a core value in publishing marks crucial progress. Services like Open Access address widespread technical and financial barriers globally. However, when we focus on individuals within the group, we observe that standard publishing practices fall short. Consider those who cannot absorb information through written text, whether due to temporary or permanent visual impairments or those who use assistive technologies for other reasons. Similarly, individuals with hearing impairments face accessibility barriers when audiovisual materials lack captions, making it difficult or impossible for them to engage with the content. Recognizing these challenges, publishers worldwide have established informed and effective publishing practices.
Standards That Center the User
One of the most important examples of ensuring digital accessibility is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), enforced by both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the European Accessibility Act. Publishers and content creators strive to make text and images more readable by applying four principles of accessibility to their work: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Perceivable, operable, and understandable mean that people need navigable interfaces that they can properly perceive with at least one of their senses and understand. Robust refers to the capacity of being interpreted by user agents like screen readers or other assistive technologies. Unlike standard publishing processes, the WCAG values prioritizing users’ needs at the center of each project. Karger, like many publishers, is dedicated to compliance with these guidelines to make content accessible to all.
Rethinking Formats for Real-Life Use
Beyond interacting with text on a page or screen, the diversity of materials in our toolkit allows for not only accessibility of content but also accessibility of application. Focusing on user needs, publishers must also consider a range of experiences and needs. For example, healthcare professionals who are overwhelmed by demanding, fast-paced work may find it difficult to sift through academic journals for relevant, digestible information. Similarly, non-professionals seeking to understand health or medical advancements may find accessing and interpreting reliable resources even more challenging. That is why branching out beyond the traditional medium of long-form scientific text to include podcasts, webinars, animations, plain language summaries, magazines, and even online courses is a facet of accessibility that cannot be ignored. Time and energy are limited resources, and adapting avenues for learning to maximize the impact of these materials is the future of publishing.
While digital publishing relies partially on readers’ clicks to stay in business, publishers are working hard to provide open access and quality content to justify traffic to their platforms. Beyond these clicks, however, there is the value of getting information to ‘click’ with users by meeting their learning needs. Medical publishing undoubtedly holds this responsibility to close the gaps between patient knowledge and receiving the right treatment. By accepting this calling, publishers in healthcare have the incredible capacity to help society thrive.
