Better Late Than Never

I took the following notes during our discussion at the SSHELCO meeting. Please chime in if I forgot anyone or have attributed a comment to the wrong person or just plain misunderstood what you said:

Linda Neyer (Bloom) began with a retrospective of what we discussed at the 2005 SSHELCO meeting. She also passed out copies of the article that was published following the 2005 meeting.

I (Katie Yelinek--Bloom) introduced this blog to those of you who had not seen it before. Remember, if you would like to be added to the list of contributors, you should email Linda Neyer.

David Magolis (Bloom) highlighted the changes that have taken place at the Bloomsburg library regarding accommodative services within the last year. For instance, we have created links to the text-only version of our EBSCO databases. We are in the process of moving our accommodative services workstation to a more accessible position on the first floor.

Darla Bressler (Bloom) moderated a discussion among the other participants about what has been going on in their libraries concerning accommodative services:

Loring Prest (CUP) led a discussion on the importance of using the correct tags when coding a web page. The title tag should only be used to describe what an image does (for instance, click on this image to open a pop-up window); the alt tag should only be used to describe what an image is (for instance, this is an image of the California University logo).

Blaine Knupp (IUP) described his success in finding a reader that will read PDF documents by means of character recognition.

Clayton Garthwait (West Chester) is working on an LSTA grant for an accommodative services workstation in the library. There is a person from the university office of disability support who works in the library and is able to make the necessary arrangements for students needing to use the library.

Liz Richardson (Edinboro) related the story of the new facade on the library, which requires students in wheelchairs to actually move out of the way of the automatic doors after pressing the button to open these doors. She also put out a request for information: does any one know of a device that allows a person with limited dexterity to more easily manipulate a fiche/film reader, possibly by means of a clicker?

I also have listed that Barb Rotz from Shippensburg attended our meeting, and I apologize for not having recorded your comments. If any one can fill in this regrettable hole in my notes, please do so.

Also, I know we had a long discussion about a workstation in an information commons, which was outfitted for use by those with disabilities. There was a sign on the workstation that said first priority for use went to those who needed the specialized workstation. At whose university is this workstation located? Is it California?

Thanks everyone for another informative discussion!

EASI listserv on BlackBoard

Norm Coombs' web site EASI is an excellent source of info on library accessibility since he closely monitors the technology used in elearning and its impact on people with disabilities. I highly recommend subbing to his library accessibility list.

At the end of March he announced a new list discussing problems with BlackBoard's accessibility. I thought his email was worth sharing in case any of you might be interested:

We want either current Blackboard users with disabilities or support people helping users with disabilities. We want to share what problems we have found. We also want to share work rounds or other tips that people have found useful. Our goal is first to help one another and second to make the relevant Blackboard people aware of our findings as the continue working on
improving their system. If you fall into this category and want to join the discussion, send email to
listerv@listserv.icors.org
In the email say:
sub easiplan (and then include your name)

Linda

Hi from SSHELCO!

I'm blogging live from the SSHELCO meeting!

Has anyone reading this blog worked with DAISY? Norm Coombs of EASI is running a series of 2 free, online workshops about using it. One already took place & one is on May 9. I sub to his list and got an announcement about the workshops and the following info about what it is:

Perhaps you don't know what a DAISY book is! DAISY is a new electronic book format that gives the user fantastic abilities to manipulate a text that they are reading. It permits skipping to selected pages, skipping ahead by header or sub header, paragraph and sentence. Many believe it provides better ability for a reader to manipulate a text than anyone would have with a hard copy print book. The Library of Congress program providing books for the blind, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic as well as the books that will soon be available for k-12 students, will use DAISY or a version of DAISY. Within 2-3 years, anyone involved in using or obtaining books in alternate formats will be familiar with it.

This is the first I've heard of it. Anyone used it?