
handle: 10234/779253
In the digital age, online dictionaries have become fundamental tools for language learning and for immediate access to lexical information. Yet, the mere availability of lexicographic data is insufficient. For an online dictionary to be truly useful, it must be accessible, that is, its information must be organised in such a way that it can be easily found, perceived and understood by any of its users. This study hypothesises that user support strategies are not always consistently or explicitly presented across online dictionaries. Given the potential of online dictionaries as valuable resources for language learning, it is essential to classify these support mechanisms and promote their explicit instruction (Margalitadze & Márkus, 2024) to enhance accessibility and pedagogical effectiveness. As pointed out by Arias-Badia and Torner (2023), accessibility in lexicography is two-fold: accessibility as the path users follow to solve their linguistic needs, and accessibility as addressing and trying to meet diverse users’ needs. We should point out that in our view both are interdependent. If a dictionary addresses, for instance, insufficient contrast in their entries but the user does not know where and how a particular information is given, then the tandem is broken, and vice-versa. This chapter argues for a systematic classification of user support types and that the design of such a classification can be a useful tool within the framework of online content accessibility. To that aim, we will analyse five online dictionaries to ascertain whether the dictionaries analysed provide explicit guidance as to which kinds of support the dictionary contains. Lack of explicit explanation of available user support may indicate that there is room for improvement in online dictionary accessibility and usability.
online dictionaries, user accessibility
online dictionaries, user accessibility
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