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