5 Key Points for Implementing a Web Accessibility Policy for a Large Library

I have created five key points for explaining the need for a web accessibility policy in a large library. Web accessibility for users with disabilities is crucial because there has been a major shift in services “performed in person, over the phone, or by mail” to services offered on the web and yet “the area that this debris has piled up the most is the information superhighway” (Hensley, p 124). The sad truth is that, according to the BBC News, “most of the leading websites around the world are failing to provide the most basic accessibility standards for people with disabilities.” (BBC News, “Most websites failing disabled”). As a large library, our mission is to provide access to the public, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and in the spirit of the Library Bill of Rights.


Image: Universal Web Design http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1562057383.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg


1. Universal Design for web accessibility used for library website with no or extremely limited Java.
According to the recent survey on web accessibility, only “ninety seven percent of websites did not provide even minimum levels of accessibility” and “93% failed to provide adequate text descriptions for graphics” (BBC). As with a physical library building, the library’s website must take the ADA principles of access “which mandated disability access to public facilities,” and put them into practice by ensuring access to the library’s virtual site and the services offered therein (ALA, Universal Design).

Therefore, the library’s website must follow the following recommendations by the ALA on web accessibility:

• Use written explanations, captioning and/or transcripts to explain all visual and audio content such as pictures and animations;
• Employ a simple design that is easy to navigate through headings, lists, a consistent structure, and cascading style sheets for layout and style where possible;
• Make sure that text and graphics can be understood without color;
• Clarify natural language and use text labels for all links so that they make sense when read out of context. For example, avoid phrases such as "click here";
• Summarize graphs and charts;
• Avoid embedding textual information in graphics;
• Make line-by-line reading sensible in tables; and
• Use tools, checklists, and guidelines at www.w3c.org/wai to validate your web site.
(ALA, Web Accessibility)

In addition, “universally designed technology may reduce the need for a separate assistive technology device. For example, a program with scalable digital content that permits the user to change the font size, layout and background color may be an adequate substitute for a special magnifying device.” (ALA, Universal Design).


Image: No Java www.evergamer.com/image/noJava.png

The reason for avoiding the use of java on the library’s website is because for users with disabilities, “items such as Java applets and completely graphical interfaces remain impenetrable” (Hensley, p 124). The library must ensure that their website is accessible to all users. Also, according to the web accessibility study, “73% relied on JavaScript for important functionality. JavaScript does not work with some screen readers used by those with impaired vision” (BBC). Therefore, although Java may be offered for certain items offered by the library, our organization’s website must not.

2. The library will create and strictly follow an accessible library materials purchasing policy.
The ALA’s Considerations in Purchasing Accessible Library Materials must be instituted as policy for any purchasing of library materials to ensure accessibility. These considerations include:

• Are there accessible digital versions of the print materials available?
• Is there an accessible online version of the print materials?
• Is the print material available in large print?
• Will the publisher grant the library permission to transform the print material into an accessible digital format?
• For database and online services, is the service compatible with screen readers and does it offer non-visual access (command prompts)?
• For video materials, are there captioned and/or video described versions of the materials available for purchase?
• For digital materials, can you confirm that none of the text is embedded as graphics?
(ALA, Considerations in Purchasing Accessible Library Materials).

Image: Digital Rights Management www.mediaculture-online.de/.../cdroms160.jpg

3. Training for all librarians on Digital Rights Management and Accessibility.
Although “the Chafee Amendment has provided the right to the right to authorized entities to make copies of works in alternate formats to meet the needs of people with print disabilities” as part of the fair use doctrine,

“the promise of broader accessibility has been greatly compromised by digital rights management technologies that are increasingly "wrapped around" digital content to protect from unauthorized use. Those technologies often interfere, either inadvertently or more often intentionally, with a variety of special technologies employed by people with print disabilities to access digital content.”
(ALA, Digital Rights Management and Accessibility).

According to a study done by the American Association of the Blind, “more than 50% of the electronic book titles offered for digital sale were "locked" and therefore not available via a common screen reader interface. What is worse, the lack of accessibility of the e-book was not apparent until the book was purchased and downloaded.” This means that librarians have a responsibility to determine, prior to purchasing such digital resources, that they are “fully accessible, and if they are not, demand that the technological "locks" that shut out people with visual and print disabilities be deactivated.” (ALA, Digital Rights Management and Accessibility). Training for librarians must implemented so that librarians and library professions fully understand the copyright and digital management legal issues and how they conflict with assistive technologies and accessibility issues.

For example, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), had until recently
“prohibited ‘circumvention’ of a technological protection measure in order to obtain access to a protected work”, making it “illegal both for a savvy user of screen readers to figure out how to break the lock in order to gain access and for a software developer to develop a program to engineer around the DRM in order to allow assistive technology devices to work.” However, the United States Copyright office, has recently

“granted a limited exemption from the prohibition to ‘literary works distributed in -book format where all existing e-book editions of the work…contain access controls that prevent the enabling of the e-book's read-aloud function and that prevent the enabling of screen readers.’”
(ALA, Digital Rights Management and Accessibility).

Therefore, librarians must be trained and ready because “the full impact of this exemption is not yet clear since few people with print disabilities will have the know how to circumvent the DRM to enable read-aloud functions or screen reader software.” (ALA, Digital Rights Management and Accessibility).

4. The library must provide at least minimal assistive or adaptive technologies.
On the advice of Dawn Hunziker, Assistive Technology Coordinator at the University of Arizona’s Disability Resource Center, the library must provide at the minimum the following assistive technologies: screen reader, text to speech, and screen magnification programs. According to Hunziker, these three resources will allow anyone with a disability to be able to use the library computers. From the Hunziker handout, text to speech “allows you to listen to [class] materials you have scanned, text you have written, email or internet material.” Screen magnification allows users to “enlarge the screen for visually impaired individuals and has limited speech reading capabilities.” And screen reader will “read all information shown on the computer screen and allows access to the computer for visually impaired individuals.”

Furthermore, all library professionals are required to be trained in their use in order to ensure that any library professional can provide assistance and seamless service to all users either with or without disabilities.

5. Building accessibility costs into the budget.
Accessibility doesn’t come cheap; therefore budgets must reflect the priority of equal access. This includes budgeting for
• Library staff training for using assistive and adaptive technologies as well as training on legal issues involved with the DRM
• Website evaluation and restructuring, if needed, to comply with “the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)” and “Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973” as recommended by Dunlap
• Adaptive or accessible materials purchases such as e-books and other accessible technologies such as screen readers, text to speech and screen magnification programs.
• Upgrades or “investing in a maintenance agreement” (Hensley, p 132) for the assistive/adaptive equipment

Besides only budgeting for training and equipment, Hensley recommends looking for additional resources “contacting state and federal agencies for help in locating any grants or one-time funding vehicles to help get technology established” (p 132). He also recommends libraries “investigate special pricing or promotions” (p 132).

References:

ALA, “Considerations in Purchasing Accessible Library Materials.”
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/oitp/emailtutorials/accessibilitya/16.htm

ALA, “Digital Rights Management and Accessibility.”
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/oitp/emailtutorials/accessibilitya/10.htm

ALA, “Universal Design.”
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/oitp/emailtutorials/accessibilitya/20.htm

ALA, “Web Accessibility.”
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/oitp/emailtutorials/accessibilitya/18.htm

Dunlap, I.H. “How Database-Driven Web Sites Enhance Accessibility”, Library Hi Tech
News 23:8 (2006): 34-38. http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/2390230809.html (accessed December 07, 2006).

Hensley, “Adaptive Technologies” in Technology for the Rest of Us: A Primer on
Computer Technologies for the Low-tech Librarian, ed. Nancy Courtney, 15-22 (Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2005).

Hunziker, D. Assistive Technology lecture and handout, University of Arizona, December 6, 2006.

“Most websites failing disabled”, BBC News, December 5, 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6210068.stm

Digitization Topics in Recent News:

I ran across two articles in my RSS feeds that deal with a few of our digitization topics.

One is dealing with the new Microsoft Zune music player, which is a competitor to Apple’s iPod. The marketing hook with Zune, is that it has the following features: “Wi-Fi connectivity, video playback, Xbox integration and some sort of community feature for letting music lovers interact with each other.” (Buskirk, Microsoft IPod 'Killer' Is Doomed.) But best of all, Zune was to “offer music at a variety of download and subscription prices, rather than the flat $1 per-song standard inaugurated with Apple's iTunes Music Store.” .” (Buskirk, Microsoft IPod 'Killer' Is Doomed.)


Image: http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72172-0.html?tw=rss.technology

However, in “ Zune, Creative Commons Don't Mix”,
the latest news is that “the Zune only frees up tunes for a limited free sampling period -- a policy that actually interferes with the rights of artists who want people to share their works freely.” (Buskirk. “ Zune, Creative Commons Don't Mix”). This is where the Creative Commons licensing comes in- artists who are releasing their work under it, are being blocked by “the Zune's blanket hardwired sharing limitations -- a compromise hammered out to appease the record labels.” (Buskirk. “ Zune, Creative Commons Don't Mix”). If you read anything in the digitizationblog, I would recommend the Ariadne, Issue 49 article by Naomi Korn and Charles Oppenheim, “Creative Commons Licences in Higher and Further Education: Do We Care?“ for a good understanding of the Creative Commons issue, and especially how it pertains to education.

The second article I read is David Pogue’s November 21st post, “The Truth About Digital Cameras”. It’s an interesting experiment he did to test the effect of megapixels of digital cameras.


Image: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/21pogues-posts-2/

The point being is that the common assumption is that with a higher the megapixel camera, the higher the quality of an enlarged digital image should be. The results really surprised me; take a look if you’re interested into either digitization or (digital) photography.

Digiprojects and the Cornell Digital Imaging Tutorial

Three of the projects that I learned about from reading the blog entries in digitizationblog include the Fedora and the Preservation of University Records Project, the File Format and Media Migration Pilot Service (FFMM), and the CIHR Policy in Development. I will discuss what the projects are, identify the issues, and discuss them within the context of the Cornell tutorial.

1. Fedora and the Preservation of University Records Project

This project is a research grant project of the Digital Collections and Archives of Tufts University and Manuscripts and Archives of Yale University that sought “to combine electronic records preservation research and theory with digital library research and practice.” Specifically, this project looked at using the Fedora digital repository system to determine whether it has “the ability to serve as an electronic records preservation system.”

Findings were that

“Even though some preservation policies may be articulated and managed through Fedora, an institution still must formulate these policies—they are not pre-set in Fedora. Rather than an out-of-the-box, limited repository solution, Fedora is a repository architecture upon which an institution can shape a repository in many different ways. Thus, the suitability of Fedora as the basis of a preservation system depends significantly on its implementation.”
(Glick, Wilczek and Dockins).

Therefore, the Tufts-Yale project created “three main products” to provide baseline guides: “the requirements for recordkeeping systems and preservation activities, the Ingest Guide, and the Maintain Guide”. However, the project results acknowledge that these baseline guides “all suggest areas of further work.”

Issues that I identified in this project, that were also conceptually discussed in the Cornell digital imaging tutorial, include: preservation of digital records and content, technical infrastructure management and management policies.

From the Cornell digital imaging tutorial, I learned about digital preservation whose goal “is to maintain the ability to display, retrieve, and use digital collections in the face of rapidly changing technological and organizational infrastructures and elements.” Preservation decisions are considered an “integral part” of digitization projects, because they coincide with any “long-term retention plans.” There are many technical and organizational and administrative challenges associated with preservation.

The first challenge is technical infrastructure management, or file management, which is done by “through careful evaluation, and the avoidance of unique, proprietary solutions.”

According to the Cornell tutorial, file management “consists of a set of interrelated steps designed to ensure that files can be readily identified, organized, accessed, and maintained.”

Finally, to address the organizational/administrative challenges, management policies are crucial because they

“boil down to correlating resources and processes with project goals. Project goals, such as enhancing access or promoting efficiencies must be translated into project deliverables, such as digital image files, accompanying metadata, and Web-accessible databases.”

According to Cornell, part of this management policy is to find a “holistic approach that recognizes the interdependencies between technical and organizational components”, one example of which is OAIS (Open Archival Information System).

I learned about OAIS which, according to Cornell, is a “reference model [that] provides a framework for long-term digital preservation and access, including terminology and concepts for describing and comparing archival architectures.”

The OAIS framework was built upon such holistic management principles, in order to find “practical approaches to digital preservation”. In the Fedora Tufts-Yale project, OAIS provided the framework. Furthermore, “the OAIS Reference Model, the requirements, the Ingest and Maintain guides, the resources and services that support the guides, and the implementation of the guides should be viewed as a tightly related set of steps that build on each other” (Glick, Wilczek and Dockins).

2. File Format and Media Migration Pilot Service (FFMM)

This project offered to “Cornell’s scholarly community, the Cornell University Library Research and Assessment Services unit” is a free service whose goal is to “get a better read on the scope and seriousness of digital obsolescence in the unmanaged digital holdings.”

Issues that I identified in this project, similar to the Tufts-Yale project, include: digital preservation, technical infrastructure management, and project planning and management.

From the Cornell tutorial, I learned about digital preservation in both Technical Infrastructure and Strategies of Preservation.

However, the technical infrastructure, or file management, in this project was unique in that the goal was to find old or obsolete technical components (hardware and software) to preserve digital data from obsolete media (like old floppy disks).


Source: http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20987#article1

This illustrates one of the technical challenges in digital preservation technical infrastructure, because the most up-to-date tools which institutions usually look to invest in, also have “limited backward compatibility.” This project demanded the reverse, which posed its own challenges: the project team resorting to going through their scrap heap and purchasing equipment from ebay. The focus of the digital preservation technical strategies was performing migrations.

3. CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) Policy in Development - Access to Products of Research

This project’s focus is creating “a process to develop a research policy that will promote access to the knowledge and resources generated from CIHR-funded research” by implementing a formal institutional policy that requires, rather than only encourages, researchers to make their results “publicly available.” The goal of this policy “is to position Canada as a world leader in the creation and use of knowledge for health benefits” by making sure this information is “disseminated as widely as possible so that all parties benefit from these research outcomes.” This digitization project, unlike the other projects, involves outsourcing. However, it still has some of the same issues as in house projects and digitization in general has allowed information to be widely disseminated, which is the ultimate goal of this policy.

Issues that I identified in this project include legal restrictions and project management.

Similar to any digitization selection process, legal restrictions must be identified at the project onset. CIHR has identified open access eligible materials as:

1. physical products of research (i.e., cell lines, DNA libraries, PCR primers);
2. structural and functional data typically deposited in public databases (i.e., genomic data, DNA sequences, protein sequences);
3. peer-reviewed published results.

The project management consists of a governing Advisory Committee, whose first step is an online survey concerning “the general scope and content of a proposed policy” the results of which are to be considered by the committee in their policy development.

Furthermore, the project management approach is to outsource the information to any “Open Access Initiative compliant digital archive” which is CHIR’s most effective “publishing cost-recovery model” (Harnad).

From the Cornell tutorial, I learned about the advantages and disadvantages of the outsourcing management approach. Specifically,

“outsourcing is viable if an institution has a good understanding of the near- and long-term goals of an imaging initiative and can fully specify imaging, metadata, and derivative requirements; locate reliable vendors; evaluate products and services; adopt policies and procedures for various functions; and define institutional and vendor responsibilities.”
(Cornell University Library/ Research Department)

Although the OAI model may be the management approach chosen by institutions like CHIR, there is a major debate over the fiscal soundness of OAI publishers. Statistics have shown that “41 percent of OA journals are losing money, 24 percent are breaking even and only 35 percent are in profit” (Data Conversion Laboratory). This could have a chilling effect on the open access management approach, because the OAI publishing model may not be "reliable" publishing vendors. It will be an interesting case study to see how well the new CHIR development policy functions.

References:
Entlich, R. and Buckley, E. “Digging Up Bits of the Past: Hands-on With Obsolescence.” RLG DigiNews 10(5), October 15, 2006. Accessed 25 November 2006, online: http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20987#article1

Glick, K., Wilczek, E., and Dockins, R. “Fedora and the Preservation of University Records Project.” RLG DigiNews 10(5), October 15, 2006. Accessed 25 November 2006, online: http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20987

Harnad, S. “CIHR Proposes 99.99% Optimal OA Self-Archiving Mandate." Open Access Archivangelism, October 12, 2006. Accessed 28 November 2006, online: http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/144-CIHR-Proposes-99.99-Optimal-OA-Self-Archiving-Mandate.html

“Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging Tutorial.” Cornell University Library/ Research Department. Accessed 23 November 2006, online: http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/contents.html

“Open Access debate still rages.” Data Conversion Laboratory. Accessed 29 November 2006, online: http://www.dclab.com/open_access_debate_still_rages.asp

Podcast A5: Societal Issues

Heather Hawley's Podcast Script:
This podcast is on the societal issues module. I talk about the numerous ways I have found that librarians are implementing social software. I delve into the ways that librarians use these types of social technology software, including blogs and wikis created for sharing ideas and I also include some websites in which libraries are using these same technologies. I also discuss the reasons and benefits for using social software tools.
Download file