Assistive Technology
in the Library Setting
ASCLA.
(2013). Think Accessible Before You Buy: Questions to Ask to Ensure that the Electronic Resources Your Library
Plans to Purchase are Accessible. An ASCLA Toolkit. http://www.ala.org/ascla/asclaprotools/thinkaccessible/default.
The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, (ASCLA)
is a division of the ALA. The purpose of
the ASCLA is to assist libraries in serving diverse populations of users. To
that end, the ASCLA has developed this “tool kit,” which is really a
series of checklists to help libraries analyze if products they are purchasing
for their library will be accessible to people with disabilities. There is a check list for internet and web
accessibility as well as one for computer software. The lists guide decision makers through a
series of questions to ask of vendors (such as if color settings can be set for
high contrast to aid patrons with low vision or are the captions in synch with
the video?) There is also a very helpful glossary of accessibility terms on the
home page.
Caban. J. (2000). Center On
Disabilities
Technology And Persons With Disabilities Conference 2000:
Alternatives for Access and Use of Spanish Language Assistive Technology
Equipment by Individuals with Visual Disabilities.
This is an excerpt from conference proceedings in 2000, so
it is a bit dated, but is rare in its subject matter—assistive technology that
is accessible to Spanish-speakers.
Hispanics make up a growing (16% currently) percentage of the U.S.
population and of that, 34% say they do not speak English well. Hispanics, nationally are underserved in
libraries and that goes doubly for disabled Hispanics. Caban, a blind
information specialist in Puerto Rico, points out the disadvantage non-English
speaking disabled people have in libraries.
Helpfully, he does list the AT that can be utilized in Spanish now. This brief piece is an eye-opener, calling
for thoughtful service to all library patrons.
DoIT
Helpdesk. Division of Information Technology at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. (2010).
Accessibility-Assistive Technology (AT) Examples and Resources.
This is a quick reference guide prepared by Joshua Hori,
Assistive Technology Computer Resource Specialist at the Student Disability
Center at the University of California, Davis.
It is a great resource presents a fairly comprehensive list of assistive
technology (AT) available to aid patrons with disabilities. It provides links to all types of AT-from
joysticks to special keyboards to accessibility Wizard for Windows XP. There are links to videos on Mac
accessibility and a handy free site for open source apps that are accessible
from a USB drive-which solves the licensing issues that can arise with needing
to put certain software on more than one computer. There are many types of AT listed and linked
that libraries might not consider at first glance, yet could prove extremely
helpful to patrons with little monetary investment (such as a free auto screen
reader, alternative mouse options such a trackballs, and visual aids like
whiteboards).
Guder, C. S., & Booth, C.
(2012). Making the Right Decisions about Assistive Technology in Your Library. Library
Technology Reports, 48(7), 14-21.
This article is a very good introduction to the types of
assistive technology often implemented in libraries. It goes over the basics of what assistive
technology is and why it is important in the library, and briefly explains the
most common types of assistive technology.
Guder points out the importance of thinking about your community and the
needs of patrons. He also includes a
section on marketing your technology to patrons and discusses very practical
matters, like physically setting up the space where the equipment will be used.
Hopkins, J. (2004). School
Library Accessibility: The Role of Assistive Technology. Teacher Librarian,
31(3), 15-18.
Hopkins is
a leading authority on assistive technology in the school library setting. Her ideas and research is applicable to other
library settings, as well. She discusses
the psychological reasons that AT is helpful to young people with disabilities—something
to keep in mind for patrons of all ages, as well. Using AT to access information and enjoy
literature can be a huge boost to one’s self-esteem and foster a sense of
independence and achievement, especially for patrons with disabilities who are
used to being dependent on others. It
can motivate people to set higher goals for themselves and increase their
confidence. This perspective on AT is
insightful—libraries should not only provide AT because it is federally
mandated that they provide equal services to all patrons, regardless of
ability, but also because it truly enriches patron’s lives.
Hopkins
focus is on school libraries, but her “10 ideas for addressing library
accessibility issues for students with disabilities” are useful in any library
setting. They include things like
seeking out AT experts in your community and getting advice from them and
becoming familiar with accessibility features already built-in to your computer
systems.
Institute
on Disabilities at Temple University. (2013).Pennsylvania's Assistive Technology Lending Library.
This is the website for Pennsylvania’s Assistive Technology
Lending Library, which lends assistive technology to any Pennsylvanian resident
free of charge. It is funded through a
variety of state governmental offices and administered through the Institute on
Disabilities at Temple University. Items
that can be barrowed include things like: braille note takers, touch-screen
converters for Macs, digital book talkers, screen enlargers—there is a huge
variety—and there are items for home and work use, not just library and
educational use. This unique program
lends over 3700 devices a year, which enables many people to access AT who
would not be able to afford the cost on their own. It is not specifically designed for
libraries, but could be a good resource, especially in Pennsylvania, for
library patrons to be able to test out a product before requesting its addition
it to the collection. It is also an unusual
and inspiring kind of library.
Mates, B. (2010). Twenty Years of Assistive Technologies: Celebrating 20 years of American
with Disabilities Act. American Libraries
Magazine.
In 2010 the United States celebrated the twentieth anniversary
of the American’s With Disabilities Act, which accorded disabled people the
same rights as everyone else. Mates
points out that it is a Federal mandate to provide equal services at a public
library. She also makes the point that
over half of the U.S.’s disable population is unemployed. Stressing the importance of providing equal
service to this underserved group, Mates offers links to ASCLA (the inclusion
division of the ALA) tip sheets on working with the disabled at the library,
along with useful pointers. She also
briefly examines different types of assistive technology in the library, and
introduces such things as video relay communication, which enables
sign-language users to have a conversation with non-users. This technology is actually provided, free of
charge, to libraries by the corporation that created it. This is a very brief, but informative post
that brings up the libraries need to serve the disabled population and outlines
manners in which libraries can begin to implement assistive technology.
Missouri
State Library. (2011). Assistive
Technology for Libraries.
Produced by the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and
funded by a grant from the Missouri State Library, this video is a very
accessible introduction to assistive technology in the library setting,
demonstrating AT in use. It covers what
AT is, how it can help serve library patrons, and goes over various types of AT
that libraries can implement. It also
emphasizes the importance of training staff to beware of disabilities and how
to sensitively aid patrons in using AT.
The video is helpful to libraries that are beginning to purchase or
expand their AT collection because it lays out a plan for simple devices to buy
first, how to do a needs assessment, and where to look for ideas and input when
building the collection. It also
discusses marketing and partnering with agencies that serve the disabled in the
community.
Raine, L. et all. (2003). The
Ever-Shifting Internet Population: A new look at Internet access and the
digital divide. PEW Internet: An American Life
Project.
This is a report detailing the findings of the PEW Internet
and American Life Project that looked at who, in the U.S., are the users and
non-users of the internet. The results
that are brought up when discussing the digital divide are echoed here (wealthy
use it more than economically disadvantaged, young people more than older
people, whites more than minorities, and so forth.) But the relevant findings to the discussion
of providing accessible technology in the library show that 38% of disabled
people use the internet compared with 58% of non-disabled people. And, 28% of disabled people say that their
disability prevents them from going online.
W3C.
(2013). Web Accessibility Initiative
This is a very helpful website for ideas, tips, and
suggestions on how to make a website more usable for people with
disabilities. There is an explanation of
how people with disabilities use the web, which is insightful and gives
developers and planners thinks to think about when creating a site. The website accessibility initiative points
out that when designing for inclusion, it is important to think about the needs
of aging users. This is a vital reminder
to expand out thinking about accessibility outside of our traditional mindset
and look at how libraries can provide better services for a greater percentage
of the population.
This site is the place to go for tools and detailed
explanations of how to improve websites for people with disabilities, how to
make mobile applications friendly to disabled users, and how to best serve
aging populations through easy-to-use internet technology. For example, it discusses how to make
captions more readily understandable for someone using a screen reader,
suggestions like ensuring users have adequate time to understand the content
that is displayed, and ideas for creating content that is not entirely
text-dependent.
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