Source: allanet.org

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As a companion to my ALLA/AACRL Best Practices Mini-Session, I’ve compiled Access to Electronic Resources for Patrons with Disabilities, a collection of resources for those who would like to learn more about library services and people with disabilities. The list is hardly exhaustive, but I hope it will provide interested persons with a good start. The links are also available via the Delicious social bookmarking service: mbfortson’s alla_access Bookmarks on Delicious.

Those seeking additional information on library services and people with disabilities may also be interested in this Crash Course in Library Access & People with Disabilities.

Feel free to contact me via the “contact” link or the comments below, and thanks for visiting.

As a companion to my Young Librarian Series contribution, I compiled this set of links for those who would like to learn more about library services and people with disabilities.  This short list is hardly exhaustive, but I hope it will provide interested persons with a good start.  The links are also available via the Delicious social bookmarking service: mbfortson’s yl_crash Bookmarks on Delicious.

A Young Librarian’s Crash Course in Library Access & People with Disabilities

Association of Specialized & Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA)
From the site: “The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) enhances the effectiveness of library service by providing networking, enrichment and educational opportunities for its diverse members, who represent state library agencies, libraries serving special populations, multitype library organizations and independent librarians.” Recommended reading: ASCLA’s Issues, Libraries Serving Special Populations Section, and Publications pages; the Library Accessibility: What You Need to Know and Think Accessible toolkits; the ASCLA Wiki.

Other resources from the American Library Association:

ALA Connect
ALA’s online professional network offers several disability-related Member Communities, including ACRL’s Universal Accessibility Interest Group and communities associated with ASCLA’s Libraries Serving Special Populations Section.

Library Services for People with Disabilities Policy
From the policy: “Libraries should use strategies based upon the principles of universal design to ensure that library policy, resources and services meet the needs of all people.”

Schneider Family Book Award
From the site: “The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.” Recommended reading: listing of past winners and the Select Bibliography of Children’s Books about the Disability Experience.

Services to Persons with Disabilities: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Applies principles of the Library Bill of Rights to library services and people with disabilities.

Other sites:

AccessLibraries | DO-IT
DO-IT = “Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology.”

Awareness & Etiquette resources from Easter Seals, United Cerebral Palsy, and VSA arts.
From the UCP site: “The rules of etiquette and good manners for dealing with people with disabilities are generally the same as the rules for good etiquette in society. These guidelines address specific issues which frequently arise for people with disabilities in terms of those issues related to disability.” Recommended reading: UCP’s Interaction & Etiquette Tips and “suggestions on how to relate and communicate with and about people with disabilities”; Disability Etiquette, Myths and Facts About People With Disabilities, and Understanding Disability from Easter Seals.

Disability.gov, a federal web site whose mission is “to connect people with disabilities, their family members, veterans, caregivers, employers, service providers and others with the resources they need to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in the workplace and in their communities.” Recommended reading: the Assistive Devices & Equipment and Laws & Recommendations sections. Visitors can use the Information by State feature to locate information and resources close to home.

The Disability History Museum and Museum of disABILITY History both offer collections whose focus is the history of people with disabilities. The latter also offers resources for educators.

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
From the site: “The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.” Recommended reading: the Introducing Accessibility section and its Introduction to Web Accessibilityand Introduction to How People with Disabilities Use the Web.

Looking for a particular kind of resource? Have a favorite site or publication to share? Please post a comment below.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Feel free to look around; you might find the “Blog Categories” section of the right sidebar a good place to start.

I’ve compiled A Young Librarian’s Crash Course in Library Access and People with Disabilities, a set of links for those who would like to learn more about library services and people with disabilities.  The list is hardly exhaustive, but I hope it will provide interested persons with a good start.  The links are also available via the Delicious social bookmarking service: mbfortson’s yl_crash Bookmarks on Delicious.

While I’ve worked in the information profession long enough to consider myself an information professional, I am hardly an authoritative voice.  I can only speak from the perspective of a budding librarian who seeks to unite my avocation and my vocation, eager to share what I learn along the way.

Thanks again to Leah for creating a space in which to share our experiences as young information professionals.  If you’re reading this and haven’t sent in a submission, I hope you will.  I look forward to hearing your stories.

Disability.gov (@Disabilitygov) is one of my favorite Twitter accounts. The tweets are so useful, in fact, that I don’t just follow them on Twitter; I subscribe to the account’s RSS feed, making it easier for me to bookmark links and refer back to older posts.

Last month, a couple of tweets informed followers about changes to the Disability.gov site. An ODEP News Release describes the redesign: Disability.gov offers social media tools, upgrades to complement information from 22 federal agencies on disability-related programs and services.

In my work providing information and referral in the disability community, I regularly visited the old site. I usually accessed it via Google search results, though, and didn’t think of it as a starting point for disability resource information. Today’s site seems to be more comprehensive and current than the former site and more user-friendly, too. The How to Use this Site page is clear, informative, and a good “gateway” to the site, and were the site mine to manage, I would actually feature it more prominently (I accessed it from a link in the upper right corner, next to the “Skip to page content” option). The site appears to be fairly accessible: the main page passed WAVE and Section 508 automated evaluations (there were a couple of WAI errors). I can’t attest to its functional accessibility, though.

Tennessee Disability Pathfinder’s is another disability-related site that recently made some changes in order to become more usable.

As Disability.gov does with its How to Use this Site page, Pathfinder provides users with guidance in navigating the site. The descriptions provided by Pathfinder’s “On this site…” feature help visitors decide to which areas of the site they might go to find the information they seek. I also like how, at every turn, users are reminded of the availability of telephone and e-mail assistance. The site truly conveys a sense of invitation and welcome:

seen on the Tennessee Disability Pathfinder website

I must confess that I am a bit biased, as Pathfinder’s is the information and referral program where I served as Program Coordinator before leaving to attend graduate school. I regret that I cannot claim any involvement in the redesign, though, because the site looks great! Here’s a shot of the services database interface (click to enlarge):

Pathfinder services database screen shot

I think that a website whose primary aim is to provide resource information can easily become self-defeating. Lots of information doesn’t necessarily equal lots of useful information, and information loses its value when it can’t be a) found and b) used.  The recent changes to both Disability.gov and the Tennessee Disability Pathfinder website (www.familypathfinder.org) result in sites that are both attractive and more usable for people with disabilities and their families.

LINKS IN THIS POST

• Disability.gov
• Disability.gov: How to Use this Site
• ODEP: Disability.gov offers social media tools, upgrades to complement information from 22 federal agencies on disability-related programs and services
• Tennessee Disability Pathfinder
• Tennessee Disability Pathfinder: Search the Pathfinder Database
• Twitter: @Disabilitygov

Images of the Braille and talking book library where I began work yesterday (click on each image to enlarge).