The California State University Accessible Technology Initiative and the Academic Library

1. The California State University Accessible Technology Initiative and the Academic Library Presented by Linda Salem Education Librarian/Head, Reference Services Division San Diego State University Library

2. Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) California State University's (CSU) ongoing commitment to provide access to information resources and technologies to individuals with disabilities.

3. System Response to Legislative Mandates To ensure compliance with accessibility standards for information and electronic technology (Section 508).

4. CSU Policy on Disability Support and Accommodations "It is the policy of the CSU to make information technology resources and services accessible to all CSU students, faculty, staff and the general public regardless of disability.“ The chancellor’s office ATI website http://www.calstate.edu/accessibility/

5. Three-Point Program • Accessible web sites. • Accessible instructional material. 3. Procurement of accessible electronic and information technology .

6. Vision To create a culture of access for an inclusive learning and working environment. Mission To help CSU campuses carry out the CSU policy by developing guidelines, implementation strategies, tools and resources.

7. Principle of Universal Design To apply universal design, an approach to the design of products and services to be usable by the greatest number of people including individuals with disabilities.

8. Strategy To stimulate collaboration to effect changes that will ultimately benefit all.

9. California State University Campus CENTRALIZED DECENTRALIZED 23 campuses There is varied leadership for ATI planning and implementation at individual campuses based on what works best for any campus. ATI Office@Chancellor’s Office • website information • ATI history • Model campuses • Newsletters • Communities of practice for information sharing • Much more…

10. CSU Libraries CENTRALIZED DECENTRALIZED Academic libraries at 23 campuses. Departments in libraries Instruction/Info Literacy Web Design Collections Research/Reference Public Services Technical Services/Metadata Media center etc… The Digital Library Systems office ensures accessibility in digital library systems under development and in use.

11. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to find out who is working on ATI in California State University libraries, and to find out what expertise they have developed, what lessons they have learned, and what topics they most want most to discuss with colleagues at other CSU libraries.

12. Survey People working on ATI topics in a CSU academic library. 15 out of 23 campuses have responded so far.

13. Responses Q. What is your main area of work in the library? Most worked in the areas of instruction, reference, electronic resource management, and web design. There were fewer from technical services and access services but there were some.

14. Responses Q. Of the three ATI areas of web accessibility, instructional materials accessibility and procurement, which is your area of focus? Most respondents were focused on instructional materials and web accessibility development. Far fewer reported procurement as something they worked on.

15. Responses Q. Would you like to participate in a discussion forum on these topics? 71% would like to participate in some discussion forum.

16. Topics You Most Want to Discuss Universal design plans and individual accommodation Timely and accurate provision of instructional materials

17. Topics You Most Want to Discuss cont’d Understanding how much can be done with current resources. Methods used to measure success.

18. Topics You Most Want to Discuss cont’d Needs assessment of the library research intensive student. Pitfalls encountered in moving to library compliance with ATI.

19. Topics of Lesser Interest What the library set out to achieve. Legacy materials and access. Database negotiation approaches. Vendor information related to compliance.

20. Would Most Like to Know How Others Are Addressing? • Mobile technology use in the library • Communication/collaboration with disability services and IT • Identifying and accommodating student needs while maintaining privacy • How do we best accommodate student from Disabled Student Services who need research help but have difficulty using the databases. • Training for creating accessible documents • Captioning videos and other multimedia

21. Successes • Designed top-level library web pages with focus on accessible content and design. • Have kept the software up-to-date in the assistive technology lab. • Made instructional and other documents accessible. • Participated in campus website migration to Drupal with accessibility features incorporated.

22. Successes • Library faculty and staff have been trained on how to create accessible content and materials. • Many librarians attended training sessions on ATI/UDL offered through the campus teaching and learning center. • We are up-to-date on software and resources to achieve goals.

23. Successes • We added common language to our catalog records to facilitate retrieval of closed captioned items. • We partnered with student disability services and IT to provide equipment and software for accessibility workstations in the library. • Drafted an instructional materials checklist for faculty.

24. Successes • Greatly increased number of accessible computer workstations. • Moved accessible workstations from isolated rooms into open labs and other open library spaces. • Website is compliant as possible, given software limitations. • Did an inventory of accessibility issues related to the library and its resources.

25. Successes • Created captioned and fully accessible video tutorials. • Continue to add captioned videos and films to the collection. • Have an accessible website and documents on the website.

26. Successes • Created accessible handouts. • Use Text/SMS and Skype capabilities for communication. • Made the website accessible in short time through cooperation with library systems, web librarian and instruction librarians.

27. Challenges • Clarification of who on campus is the point person for procurement for Information Technology, the library, Disabled Student Services, for the software/hardware we buy. • Procurement of special databases. • Not enough staffing, training, funding.

28. Challenges • Lack of funds to convert all of our videos and films to captioned format. • It can be confusing to determine what formats are best for accessible instructional materials. • No budget, unclear focus, shifting priorities within ATI, and limited staffing.

29. Challenges • Lack of software (inter) compatibility. • Conflicting demands from disability services. • How to educate faculty that compliance with ATI implementation is not a barrier. • Have not fully addressed how to convert legacy information literacy instructional materials to accessible format.

30. Challenges • High turn over of student assistants who are trained to work with library faculty on making documents accessible on a continual basis. • Need to build more campus support and cooperation. • Working with software vendors whose solutions are not as flexible in meeting ATI standards.

31. Next Steps • Seek grant funding to hold a forum or discussion list on the cogent topics one at a time. • Research library school curriculum on these topics and identify professional development or training opportunities that address these topics in a course. • Follow new publications, like the newly published American Library Association book on accessible technology.

32. Areas for Further Research • What is the assistive technology/accessible technology competency of librarians? • What are the needs of the research intensive student? • What is the best way to keep software and hardware up-to-date and to keep librarians trained in their use?

33. Contact Linda Salem Head, Reference Services Division Education Librarian San Diego State University salem.sdsu@gmail.com 619-594-5148