Accessibility in online resources, a.k.a. the ability for users with disabilities and/or learning impairments to access content, is important to libraries, archives, museums, and other types of cultural heritage institutions: but how do you test an online resource to see if it is accessible? How do you ensure that the material you purchase and/or the material you create conforms to accessibility standards and best practices?
This class will review several freely available tools that can help you test a website’s adherence to accessibility standards. The tools can help you test content you are considering for your institution, or resources that you already provide but want to improve either internally or through advocating for improved accessibility. We will also review common standards and best practices that are used to evaluate online content.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this class, students will be able to:
Apply knowledge of best practices in accessibility to online resource decision-making processes
Use tools demonstrated in the session to test the accessibility of websites, resources, platforms, and other online content
Identify standards and best practices used to assess accessibility of web-based resources
Instructors:
Annie Peterson (she/her) is a Program Leader at LYRASIS. She coordinates LYRASIS Learning and teaches classes on preservation, digitization, and other topics related to cultural heritage institutions. Before joining LYRASIS, Annie Peterson was the Preservation Librarian for the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University. Previously, she was an IMLS Preservation Administration Fellow at Yale University, where her primary focus was writing a disaster plan for the library’s high density storage facility. Her background in library and archives preservation provides a strong basis for assisting LYRASIS members with their preservation and digitization projects. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. In 2016 Annie was awarded the Esther J. Piercy Award from ALCTS, an award that is given to recognize the contribution to areas of librarianship included in library collections and technical service by a librarian who has shown outstanding promise for continuing contribution and leadership.
Hannah Rosen holds a bachelor’s Degree in social and cultural history and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh, with a specialization in Archives, Preservation and Records Management. She comes to LYRASIS from The MediaPreserve, where she assisted clients with all aspects of their media digitization projects. She also created specialized preservation metadata using a variety of archival schemas.
Before that, Hannah worked and volunteered at a variety of archival institutions including the Carnegie Mellon Institutional Archives, the Sewickley Academy Institutional Archives, and the National Museum of American History Archives Center.
