Presented at 8:00am in Independence on Thursday, November 9, 2023.
#38253Speaker(s)
- Anaya Jones, Accessibility and Online Learning Librarian, Northeastern University
- Fin Lavoie, Collection Development Specialist, Benetech
- Trisha Whiteman, Digital Information Accessibility Coordinator, Rice University
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Panel
- Expertise Level: Beginner
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Join Fin, Anaya and Trisha to discuss the intersection of accessibility, learning materials, and your university library. Students acquire learning materials through their bookstores, libraries, and elsewhere, requiring a multi-pronged approach to addressing accessibility barriers. Fin, Anaya and Trisha will discuss considerations for accessible library collections and how partnering with Bookshare by Benetech can provide many accessible textbooks for your institution.
Abstract
Libraries partner with many vendors to provide students with course readings, research material, educational videos, data sets, and more. Without a thoughtful and systemic approach to accessibility, users are often hampered by accessibility barriers. Librarians should consider formalized product review processes that include system and content review, specific accessibility contract language, and collaborative plans for future accessibility. As accessibility professionals, it is important to understand the accessibility landscape in libraries, and partner with library colleagues to best serve our students. Anaya and Trisha will speak to the accessibility landscape within libraries, and Trisha will offer her perspective having moved from the library into Digital Accessibility.
Partnering with Bookshare can provide a solution to your institution’s need for accessible textbooks and course materials. Bookshare is a digital library service that remediates materials required for school and makes them available to its members in a variety of accessible formats, including Braille, DAISY (with images), Audio, accessible EPUB, Word, and Human Narrated Audio, and Bookshare’s accessible Web Reader. There are over 1 million titles already available on Bookshare and that number is growing through our Global Certified Accessible program, our publisher partnerships, our international library relationships, and our relationships with learning institutions across the country.
Making textbooks and other materials accessible benefits everyone, not just disabled students, and this panel aims to make it easier for institutions to offer accessible materials. Accessibility experts outside the library should attend to better understand the library landscape and collaborate with their colleagues. Bookshare by Benetech is one accessibility resource that is particularly beneficial for libraries. Partnering with Bookshare can provide a solution to your institution’s need for accessible textbooks and course materials. Bookshare is a digital library service that remediates materials required for school and makes them available to its members in a variety of accessible formats, including Braille, DAISY (with images), Audio, accessible EPUB, Word, and Human Narrated Audio, and Bookshare’s accessible Web Reader. There are over 1 million titles already available on Bookshare and that number is growing through our Global Certified Accessible program, our publisher partnerships, our international library relationships, and our relationships with learning institutions across the country. Making textbooks and other materials accessible benefits everyone, not just disabled students, and this panel aims to make it easier for institutions to offer accessible materials.
Keypoints
- Accessibility of textbooks, course and library materials is essential at institutions of higher education.
- Your campus or institution will need to develop a plan for ensuring that materials are meaningfully accessible
- Resources are available that can assist in making these materials accessible for your institution.
Disability Areas
All Areas
Topic Areas
Accessible Educational Materials, Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Anaya Jones
Anaya (she/her) is the Accessibility and Online Learning Librarian at Northeastern University. She has ten years of experience in librarianship with a focus on accessibility, distance learning, and information literacy. You can find her at ana.jones@northeastern.edu. MLIS, CPACC.
Fin Lavoie
Fin Lavoie (he/him) is a Collection Development Specialist at Benetech and a reviewer for Booklist. He also teaches in the MFA, MA, and BA programs of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. In 2017, Fin was awarded a Bookbuilders of Boston scholarship for his dedication to amplifying marginalized voices and advocating for an equitable publishing and media industry. Fin's work has been published in the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, The Boston Globe Magazine, Refinery29, The Oprah Magazine, Bitch, Glamour, The Chicago Tribune, and more. Fin lives in Boston with his wife, their three literary cats, and a rainbow bookshelf.
Trisha Whiteman
Trisha joined Rice University in October 2022 and is working remotely from New Hampshire. She comes to Rice from Southern New Hampshire University, where she was a librarian and faculty member for eight years. Prior to SNHU, Whiteman worked at Nova Southeastern University as a research and teaching librarian. She has been working with accessibility since 2016 and is an active researcher, presenter, and accessibility/disability advocate.