Enhancing Web and Language Accessibility in Electronic Informed Consent Documentation (eICDs) for Web-Based Human Subjects Research
Category
Business, Education and Humanities
Department
Communication
Student Status
Graduate
Research Advisor
Dr. Alicia Mason
Document Type
Event
Location
Sunflower
Start Date
10-4-2025 10:20 AM
End Date
10-4-2025 10:20 AM
Description
Informed consent is a cornerstone of ethical and legal principles that uphold research participants' voluntary involvement in applied and clinical studies. In the United States, informed consent documentation (ICD) is most commonly required in medical, research, legal, educational, and digital contexts, ensuring individuals understand and voluntarily agree to participation. Regulatory bodies, institutional review boards (IRBs), and clinical trial sponsors have yet to establish uniform guidelines to ensure readability and comprehension of ICDs. Electronic informed consent (eICDs) have been found to be hindered by habituation (Karegar, et al., 2020), design (Mclnnis, et al., 2024), and comprehension challenges (Foe & Larson, 2016). To understand informed consent practices in the Communication discipline a comprehensive web and language accessibility analysis was conducted using both manual and computer automated analysis techniques. Research studies included in this analysis were sampled through COMMNotes, a public forum hosted by the National Communication Association (NCA). Findings, interpretation, and limitations are reported.
Enhancing Web and Language Accessibility in Electronic Informed Consent Documentation (eICDs) for Web-Based Human Subjects Research
Sunflower
Informed consent is a cornerstone of ethical and legal principles that uphold research participants' voluntary involvement in applied and clinical studies. In the United States, informed consent documentation (ICD) is most commonly required in medical, research, legal, educational, and digital contexts, ensuring individuals understand and voluntarily agree to participation. Regulatory bodies, institutional review boards (IRBs), and clinical trial sponsors have yet to establish uniform guidelines to ensure readability and comprehension of ICDs. Electronic informed consent (eICDs) have been found to be hindered by habituation (Karegar, et al., 2020), design (Mclnnis, et al., 2024), and comprehension challenges (Foe & Larson, 2016). To understand informed consent practices in the Communication discipline a comprehensive web and language accessibility analysis was conducted using both manual and computer automated analysis techniques. Research studies included in this analysis were sampled through COMMNotes, a public forum hosted by the National Communication Association (NCA). Findings, interpretation, and limitations are reported.
