Library and Information Science Commons^™

Do You Hear What I See? Assessing Accessibility Of Digital Commons And Contentdm, Wendy Walker, Teressa M. Keenan

Mansfield Library Faculty Publications

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This article discusses the accessibility of two content management systems, Berkeley Electronic Press’ Digital Commons and OCLC’s CONTENTdm, widely used in libraries to host institutional repository and digital collections content. Based on observations by a visually-impaired student who used the JAWS screen reader to view the design and display of digital objects in both systems, we provide a general overview of the accessibility of each system. We discuss potential suggestions for accessibility-related improvements, and we offer ideas for library administrators of these systems about how to maximize the back-end configurations for accessibility.

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Apps And Technology Share - A Student Disability Services And Library Collaboration, Rebecca Arzola

Publications and Research

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The Library and Office of Student Disability Services at Lehman College provide a collaborative presentation on engaging students in sharing apps and technology they use in higher education to support their educational needs for a successful academic career. Presented at the 6th Annual CUNY Accessibility Conference, Student Success in the Digital Age, May 1st, 2015, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City.

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Assessing The Accuracy Of Vendor-Supplied Accessibility Documentation, Laura Delancey

DLTS Faculty Publications

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Purpose

– In an effort to ensure vendor compliance with Section 508, some libraries have begun requesting Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) or other documentation of accessibility compliance. The purpose of this paper is to assess the accuracy of vendor-supplied compliance documentation, and to identify common accessibility issues highlighted by the VPATs. A detailed discussion of vendor responses to each Section 508 checkpoint is provided in the Appendix.

Design/methodology/approach

– Researchers compared 17 VPATs with the results of an automated accessibility scan to identify inconsistencies and common problems.

Findings

– Vendors reported being fully compliant with 64 percent of the …

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Accessing Academic Library Services By Distance Learners, Samuel Owusu-Ansah, Chris K. Bubuama

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

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This study seeks to investigate the accessibility of academic library services to distance learners, with specific reference to University of Ghana Library System (UGLS). A survey was conducted and one hundred and thirty eight (138) Level 400 distance learning students. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) is used to analyze the completed questionnaire.

The results revealed that a greater proportion of the respondents were not aware of the library services because they were not available on the UGLS. Distance learners had no remote access to library electronic resources and other databases and therefore did not strongly agree to …

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