Evaluating the Accessibility of Electronic Resources & Other Digital Content

Abstract

With an estimated 16% of the population having a disability, it is vital for all types of libraries that accessibility and disability inclusion are at the forefront of their work. One important step libraries can take towards this goal is evaluating electronic resources, websites, and other digital content for accessibility, particularly when paying for that content. Not only is this essential so that all community members can access the library, thereby maximizing the library’s impact and value to the community, but it is also crucial in ensuring that these licensed or purchased platforms are widely used. This session will give attendees the tools necessary to start evaluating electronic resources and other digital content to best allocate resources and to accelerate use of these materials. This workshop will start with an introduction to the topic with the facts and statistics needed to make the case for integrating accessibility evaluation into the assessment and evaluation work done at your institution. After learning about the accessibility standards that apply to digital content, participants will learn how to interpret one of the standard tools used to track the accessibility of electronic products, the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). VPATs are used by many vendors of electronic resources to share information about the accessibility of their products and to track changes to both the platform and the related accessibility. Understanding these VPATs is the first step in creating an accessibility evaluation workflow that fits each library’s needs. Next, participants will learn how to evaluate the accessibility of digital content and the accuracy of the VPATs. Using freely available automated testing tools and questionnaires developed by librarians for librarians, we will learn how to verify claims of accessibility and ensure that content is inclusive and usable for all members of the community. The workshop will also cover how to combine these components to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the digital content purchased and licensed by the library and offer examples of how libraries have used this information to increase the value they offer to their patrons. The goal of this session is to leave participants with the tools necessary to critically evaluate their digital collections and increase the impact of their subscriptions. A presentation at the "Demystifying Statistics and Evaluation in Libraries" Satellite Meeting, organised by the Statistics and Evaluation Section and held at the University of Utrecht in Utrecht, The Netherlands from 17–18 August 2023.