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Accessibility Specialist

Accessible Formats

The National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) provides an online repository for library patrons with print disabilities. NNELS works with organizations, libraries, and publishers to create accessible books. The accessible book formats available in NNELS are listed in this accessibility resource.

All about reading disabilities: how libraries can support readers with dyslexia

The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) provides content for people with print disabilities and has webinars for libraries and library staff to help them create accessible services and support the needs of their patrons with disabilities. This webinar explores how libraries can support readers with dyslexia.

Quick Reference: Accessibility 101 For Public Libraries

To get you started on your accessibility journey, we’ve summarized information from the Accessibility 101 webinar. The fact and links in this training resource will help you establish foundational knowledge that you can build on.

What is printbraille?

The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) creates informative videos about the accessible content they provide their readers. The “What is printbraille?” video introduces viewers and gives examples of some of the titles available in that format at CELA.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Quick Reference

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendations that were developed by Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) using the W3C Process. WCAG are the standards for digital accessibility and should be consulted throughout the development and maintaining of digital technologies.

What is a print disability?

The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) provides libraries with informational YouTube videos. This video discusses the term “print disability” and the content CELA provides to serve those patrons.

The 7 Principles of Universal Design

The National Disability Authority (NDA) is an Irish organization that works with the Irish Government on policies and practices relevant to the lives of persons with disabilities. The NDA promotes universal design and provides the 7 Principles of Universal Design to help ensure buildings, spaces, information, and products are accessible to all.

A11Y Project

This website provides a WCAG compliance checklist that you can use to evaluate your digital content and a very comprehensive list of resources relevant to digital accessibility. This is one of the broader resource lists available online, and they do a great job breaking them down into relevant categories.

Accessibility Interview Questions

Accessibility interview questions list potential job interview questions meant to gauge someone’s understanding of digital accessibility.

Guidelines on Library and Information Services for People with Disabilities

This is a set of accessibility guidelines from 2016 written by the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA), in consultation with experts, for all Canadian libraries. This document is a good general outline of recommended accessible and inclusive service practices.

Digital Accessibility Courses & Accessibility Reference Library

Deque University provides an extensive curriculum of self-guided online courses so you can focus on the skills you need with the flexibility your schedule requires. Along with courses, this site also offers valuable resources such as guides to using screen readers, an ARIA JavaScript pattern library, and a page with a detailed breakdown of disability demographics.

Knowbility

Knowbility is a nonprofit organization with the mission of improving technology access for millions of youth and adults with disabilities all over the world. They provide several services, including accessibility testing, auditing, training, and a regularly updated comprehensive blog on web accessibility.

MDN Web Docs: Accessibility

The Mozilla Developer Network’s (MDN) main page on accessibility contains a series of training modules on HTML, CSS and Javascript, ARIA, Accessible Multimedia, and Mobile Accessibility.

Audio Description Style Guide v 2.3

Netflix’s partner help center page contains some great resources for producing accessible content. Along with their captioning style guide, they also provide a style guide for adding audio descriptions to video content. Although the guide is meant for Netflix content, the information provided is more generally about videos and is applicable to anyone producing captions and audio descriptions.

English Timed Text Style Guide

Netflix has a comprehensive and well-written style guide for timed text/subtitles, which goes into great detail about handling the many situations in subtitles. As well as the English guide, there are also several other guides written in English that explain how to style timed text in 37 different languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese.

Disability is a spectrum, not a binary

This blog post clarifies what is meant by “disability” and provides web design tips that could help with accessibility. The article does a good job of putting the importance of universal design in perspective. It explains how removing barriers is ultimately beneficial to everyone using the library.

Project Enable

Project Enable provides a comprehensive set of training designed specifically for public, academic, or school librarians. This is a completely free resource and contains a group account option that allows your library staff to register and complete the training together.

Rick Hansen Foundation

The Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF) offers training and auditing primarily based on building accessibility. They offer unique programs, professional training, and in British Columbia, a grants program that provides funding to improve the accessibility of spaces that have received the RHF certification.