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.
The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) provides informational YouTube videos about the accessible content they provide their patrons. This video describes the different accessible book formats CELA offers.
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.
This webinar brings together a panel of braille users to share their views on the braille devices they’ve used in the past, the innovations in braille technologies, their wishes for the future, and what they feel developers should know.
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.
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.
This robust handbook contains information, guidelines, education, and tools meant to improve the accessibility of digital and print media. The Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) assembled the handbook in collaboration with the Government of Ontario.
Accessibility interview questions list potential job interview questions meant to gauge someone’s understanding of digital accessibility.
This is a digital version of Canadian legislation that applies to accessibility in public spaces. It is relatively dense and technical but should be a document any Library Director or manager has on hand.
Neils Squire Society is a comprehensive website that offers various services such as accessibility auditing, website and product testing, a service to help businesses develop an accessibility plan, an assistive technology help desk to assist users with their devices, and more.
This in-depth Toolkit broadly covers accessibility as it applies to libraries. It provides information about creating an accessible collection for your patrons and standards of accessibility for a library to follow. This would be an excellent resource for a library looking to develop its accessibility policies.
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.
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.
The DLAUG is a set of digital accessibility guidelines created to support users with print disabilities who rely on screen readers to interact with digital libraries. It is heavily based on WCAG rules, but the focus is on the relationship between digital libraries and patrons who use assistive technology such as screen readers.
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 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.
This paper reports an investigation, from the perspective of public libraries, of the factors that influence access to public libraries for children with disabilities. This could be a valuable reference for any library or children’s department looking to form its accessibility policy or guidelines.
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.
WebAIM provides users with a list of accessibility resources and tools to help them learn about web accessibility. It includes an introduction to web accessibility, their WCAG checklist, and a Word and PowerPoint evaluation checklist.
This is a great quick summary and infographic detailing the ways people are motivated to implement accessible changes. It is a pyramid hierarchy similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, with Guilt being at the bottom and Inspire being at the top.