Universal Accessibility Interest Group

last person joined: 13 days ago 

Charge: Offers librarians, support staff, students, and other advocates networking and collaboration opportunities, information sharing and programming to promote accessibility in academic libraries, including web accessibility, assistive technology, reference and instruction for users with disabilities and captioning processes.
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  • 1.  More on ACRL...

    Posted Mar 27, 2015 07:16 AM

    Axel Schmetzke did get back to me and allowed me to share his and his co-presenters' slides on their program dealing with collection development, e-resources, and accessibility. I posted a message on ALA Connect with the slides attached, but Connect seemed to be acting wonky because of the attachments. Just in case the attachments got garbled, please note that you can access the slides via this link, which will take you to a posting on the Libraries for Universal Accessibility (LUA) page:



     

    Axel wanted a link to share with the audience at ACRL, so I created the LUA post. This post includes a plug for LUA as well as the ACRL, ASCLA, and LITA accessibility interest groups.


    I also went through the ACRL conference proceedings, which are posted online individually -- http://www.ala.org/acrl/acrl/conferences/acrl2015/papers. [Note that not all presenters submitted conference proceedings.]


    Some items of interest regarding accessibility in the proceedings:


    Ebook Showdown: Evaluating Academic Ebook Platforms from a User Perspective -- Christina Mune and Ann Agee

    * There is extensive coverage about accessibility of ebook platforms from vendors (ABC CLIO, EBSCO, etc.) including a nice chart that details features such as JAWS (screenreader) compatibility.


    Looks Matter: The Impact of Visual and Inclusive Design on Usability, Accessibility, and Online Learning -- Sigrid Anderson Cordell and Melissa Gomis


    * Discusses the creation of a plagiarism website with accessibility/universal design in mind.

     
    And on a final note...If you were one of the lucky ones to attend ACRL and a program that highlights accessibility, I encourage you to post your notes, thoughts, and/or take-aways. Even if your write-up is brief, this is extremely valuable to others as we work to enhance and promote accessibility in our libraries. One ACRL-goer had mentioned she was going to attend Axel's session and share her comments. (Thanks, Teresa!)


    Happy weekend!

    John


    --
    John Siegel, MLS | Convener, ACRL Universal Accessibility Interest Group (2014-2015)
    Library Instruction Coordinator/Reference Librarian-Assistant Professor
    University of Arkansas at Little Rock | Ottenheimer Library | Collections & Archives |
    501.682.3536 | jxsiegel@ualr.edu | ualr.edu/library