Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Creating Accessibility in Your Virtual Programming

[Updated 4/23/20]
Now, more than ever, it's important to consider accessibility when we are doing so much of our programming virtually. There are a number of resources that are being shared during this time of library closures including:
Friday April 24 11AM CST  Sponsored by ASGCLA
Is your library working towards improving online accessibility to customers with disabilities? Have you developed new programs and services that intentionally welcome individuals with disabilities, but are struggling to connect with your target audience? Developing inclusive library services will be more effective if your library connects with the disability community, and leveraging your organization's virtual presence will help you do that. Dakota County Library's Youth Manager Renee Grassi will share strategies to optimize your library's website, social media, and digital resources to welcome individuals with disabilities at the library. Librarians, library technology and social media staff members, and library managers can learn about innovative, easily replicable and cost-effective ways to increase awareness of your library services and reach new users in your community. 

In an outstanding blog post, Jessica Frederickson of CLEL (CO Libraries for Early Literacy) breaks down why creating accessible online programming is necessary, as well as providing tips and resources to help you make your online presence accessible for everyone.

  • Also from CLEL's recent Virtual Storytime webinar (4/10/20) is this outstanding resource list that includes an excellent resources on accessibility and tools to help you caption your videos.





  • Above is an  examples of virtual storytime video from Katherine Schoofs, Aram (WI) Public Library in English and ASL. She also has a Spanish English storytime you can find on their library's Facebook page
  • Keeping Equity at the Forefront: Emergency Remote Learning - Important considerations on equity and accessibility from the ISTE Librarians Blog 4/6/20

  • Project Enable (Expanding Non-Discriminatory Access By Librarians Everywhere) Training resources for libraries on accessibility issues (design, programming, assistive technology and more. Syracuse University
  • WAVE Web Accessibility Tool - if you are looking at ways to make your website more accessible this free site assists you. They have an upcoming webinar May 6, 2020 at 1:30 CST explaining the tools.  From their site: "WAVE is a suite of evaluation tools that helps authors make their web content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. WAVE can identify many accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors, but also facilitates human evaluation of web content. Our philosophy is to focus on issues that we know impact end users, facilitate human evaluation, and to educate about web accessibility." 



A great place to go to discover resources and information in guiding you in making your service inclusive and accessible.


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