Web Resources (Organizations, Reports, etc.)

Associations and Committees 

• Alternative Education Resources Ontario (2013). Alternate Education Resources Ontario. Retrieved from http://alternativeresources.ca/Aero/Public/WelcomePage.aspx

Alternate Education Resources Ontario (AERO) is an organization based in Ontario which offers materials in alternate formats. It caters to students with perceptual disabilities who are attending publicly funded educational institutes in Ontario. This resource is significant because of how it opens access to alternative format materials. If students need to read certain print materials for class but do not have access to those text in a form which they can use, AERO will assist them. AERO loans out physical materials in large print and braille, as well as e-books and other digital formats. This resource would be incredibly useful for both students and staff working in public schools in Ontario. AERO's services are free, which makes it easier for students and education staff facing tight budgets or economic difficulties to access the material they require to provide print-disabled students with equal opportunities. LO

• Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) (2013). CNIB Library. Retrieved from http://www.cnib.ca/en/services/library         

The CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) is a Canadian organization which offers a wide variety of services to blind and visually impaired people. These services include advocacy, various forms of counselling, training. One of the CNIB's most important resources is their library of materials in various alternative formats intended for use by people with print disabilities. This library includes books, magazines, and newspapers in alternate formats such as audio, e-text and braille. The library also offers audiovisual material such as closed captioned films. The CNIB also conducts various kinds of research in the area of blindness and vision loss, as well as offering grants to allow others to conduct related research. Due to the high quantity of service, information, and materials offered by the CNIB, it is a resource likely to be incredibly useful to those who experience or are seeking information about print disabilities. LO

• City of Toronto: Disability Issues Committee 

• Learning Disabilities Association of Canada

• Learning Disabilities Online 

Research Groups 

• Adaptech Research Network. (2013). Publications. Retrieved from http://adaptech.org/en/publications

This web page lists the publications of Adaptech, a research group based at Dawson College, Montreal since 1996. Adaptech is devoted to studying various disabilities among post-secondary students, with a particular focus on the ways in which assistive technologies and software can be used to broaden accessibility for students. This is especially relevant as assistive technology is one of the most important sub-topics related to print disabilities. Additionally, Adaptech compiles and makes available a database of adaptive technologies (e.g. magnification software and alternative computer mice). Noting that adaptive technologies are often prohibitively expensive, the researchers have taken financial accessibility into account, and list only freely available or inexpensive materials. Adaptech’s publications and database will be useful for educators and other service providers who work with post-secondary students, as well as for students with print disabilities.

Search tip: Adaptech’s publications are organized by type (e.g. journal article, refereed conference proceeding). If you wish instead to search by keyword, use the Find (Command-F) function of your web browser.

 
Accessibility and Print Disabilities

•  Beneficent Technology, Inc. (2002-2013). Bookshare Canada. Retrieved from http://www.bookshare.

Bookshare.org is an American based website that provides members with access to multitudes of reading materials at the same time that these reading materials are made available to others. While this website is based in the United States, it is also available to Canadian members and organizations. It provides many books, newspapers and other print resources in accessible formats for those with print disabilities. People with visual impairments, physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities can access both old and new books and other materials in the form of digital texts, digital Braille, audio books and other formats through this web site. 

The service it provides is free to American students with print disabilities, though organizations and non-American students with print disabilities must pay a onetime start up fee and an annual fee. For individuals, this onetime fee is $25, with a $50 annual fee. Members can download up to one hundred resources a month, and special permission can be provided for those who want to go above this maximum amount. Many popular publishers that contribute to the website, such as Scholastic, HarperCollins, and Random House. This resource could be used to study the interactions of people with print disabilities and various different types of accessible media. Furthermore, it provides a valuable service to people with print disabilities.

• DAISY Consortium

• Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, June 28, 2013

• A User Guide to the Marrakesh Treaty

• Vision IP (WIPO): "Facilitating Access to Copyright Works for Visually Impaired Persons"

• WebAIM & Center for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University. (2013). WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind. Retrieved from http://www.webaim.org/ 

WebAIM is a website that is dedicated to providing tools and information on print disability and web accessibility. It is a non-profit website works with the Center for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) at Utah State University. It provides information on technical skills, tools, and organizational leadership strategies so that people and organizations can become informed on how to make their websites accessible to people with print disabilities. It provides many tools connected to web accessibility such as WAVE,which is a free tool that evaluates the accessibility of a website.

It also contains a wealth of resources, such as surveys on web accessibility in which people with print disabilities provide a great deal of information on their experiences with web content. It also has information regarding assistive technology. For example, there are results from a survey of screen reader users which reveals useful information about their use. WebAIM provides accessibility training and technical assistance as well, which would prove useful to anyone seeking to assure the accessibility of their web pages.

Libraries and Print Disabilities

• ARL, CNI & SPARC. (December 2012). Special Issue on Services to Patrons with Print Disabilities. ARL Digital Publications: Research Library Issues, 281. Retrieved from http://publications.arl.org/rli281/

This special issue of Research Library Issues, jointly authored by the Association of Research Libraries, the Coalition for Networked Information, and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Collection, introduces librarians to the issue of print disabilities and provides an overview of current issues to be aware of as libraries strive for full accessibility. One section addresses copyright issues as librarians work to provide materials in alternative formats amid threat of litigation from publishers, and explains how recent legal decisions have clarified this issue for librarians. Another major section deals with the practical challenges associated with serving patrons with print disabilities, such as the challenges associated with providing alternate formats for licensed electronic resources and designing accessible library web sites. This resource will be of greatest interest for librarians and archivists, especially those working in research/academic environments. 

• “Collections and Services Available” webpage of the San Francisco Public Library for the Blind and Individuals with Print Disabilities

• (IFLA) Key Performance Indicator Handbook for Libraries Serving Print Disabled People

• IFLA Manifesto for Libraries Serving Persons with a Print Disability

Technical Reports:

• Junus, S. G. R. (2012). E-books and E-readers for users with print disabilities. Library Technology Reports, 48(7), 22-28. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1179004589?accountid=14771

This report is a technical guide to some of the various E-book formats and E-readers which are commercially available, with a special focus on each product’s potential as an effective tool for users with print-related disabilities. Accessibility issues with each product are at the forefront of the discussion, and receive particular attention. The report also advocates for these types of technologies as barrier-breakers for the print-disabled, and provides a relative assessment of the most effective and reliable among the currently available options. This piece, considering both its currency and thoroughness, should prove a very useful tool both for those with print-related disabilities - who require these sorts of devices to access print resources in their private lives - as well as for library and other institutional staff tasked with deliberating among, acquiring, and implementing these technologies in order to accommodate the accessibility needs of their patron populations.

Professional Publications:

• Michaud, D. (2013). Copyright and digital rights management: Dealing with artificial access barriers for students with print disabilities. Feliciter, 59(1), 24-25, 30. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1286679756?accountid=14771

This article discusses a number of the barriers to timely and equitable access to educational materials faced by print-disabled students which are imposed not only on students, but also library professionals and institutional staff, by various copyright regulations and restrictions in Canada and Ontario. It details how, in a practical sense, copyright regulations can delay or bar the conversion of (primarily electronic) resources into accessible formats for those with print disabilities. Michaud, the Accessibility Services Librarian at Ryerson University, devotes a lengthy part of the article to copyright issues as they pertain specifically to video materials and audio-impairments, as well. This piece, despite being an experience-based report rather than a peer-reviewed, research-based journal article, calls to attention a hugely relevant issue in the world of academic libraries, and poses a number of recommendations to work towards a solution. The staff of any library which includes those with print disabilities among its user population will find Michaud’s report bears great interest.