3/9/2015

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility

News

Opinion

Tech

Reviews

Events

Webcasts

JobZone

Newsletters

SocialMedia
MANAGEYOURACCOUNT

MARCH8,2015

CONTACTUS

AWARDS

SUBMISSIONS

ABOUT

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility
ByCharBoothon

October14,2010(20101014T16:51:49+00:00)

AcolleaguesperspectivehelpsguestcolumnistCharBoothseethedifficulties
librariansfaceinbuildingtheirebookcollections.
Ifdigitalliteracyisexploding,thevisuallydisabledare
takingtheshrapnel.Iwouldwagerthatmostlibrarians
considerourselvescommittedto

photobyAndySnow

accessibility<http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/index.cfm>
andmakeindividualandorganizationaleffortstocomplywith(andoften
exceed)theAmericanswithDisabilitiesAct<http://www.ada.gov/>(ADA)inour
buildingsandtheRehabilitationActSection508<http://www.section508.gov/>
standardsonourwebsites.Wemaynot,however,havehadthesobering
experienceoftryingtoaccessanebookorejournalusingscreenreading
softwareorotherassistivetechnology.Despiteourbestintentions,thislimited
insightcanleadusunwittinglytocollectiondevelopmentandwebdesign
decisionsthatmakedigitalliteracyfarmoredifficultfortheprintdisabled.
Overthepastyear,IvebeenworkingcloselywithLucyGreco,acolleagueand
disabilityadvocateattheUniversityofCaliforniaBerkeley(UCB).Lucy,who
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/10/technology/ebooks/etextsforallevenlucyebooksandaccessibility/#_

1/6

3/9/2015

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility

hasbeenblindfrombirth,hastransformedmyunderstandingoftheword
access.Notonlydolibrariansneedtounderstandtheaccessibilityfrontofthe
ebookwars,wehavetheresponsibilitytoembraceouradvocacyrolein
shapingitsoutcome.Asoneofthefewpublicsectoragencieschargedwith
recognizingtheaccessrightsof
all<http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm>,
librariesmustcollectivelyexaminehowwecansteertheetexttrajectoryfrom
ebookstoejournalstoanyotherformatinamoreuniversallyusable
direction.
EbooksandDRM
Lucyispartialtoafewsayingsthathavehelpedmeunderstandtheetext
accessibilityparadox.Thefirstisthatebookswerecreatedbytheblind,then
madeinaccessiblebythesighted.
OnlinetextformatslikeDAISYandEPUBwerepioneeredinpartbythe
accessibilitymovementasanalternativetoexpensiveandcumbersomeBraille
texts.Asebookshavegainedpopularity,however,digitaltextbecame
inexorablylessaccessibleasforprofitreadersliketheKindleandSonyReader
muscledontothescene.Apatinaofdigitalrights
management<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management>(DRM)has
beenaddedinordertoprotecttheintellectualpropertyofvendors,contraryto
theopenandaccessibleorientationlibrarieshavelongheldtowardliteracy
andlearning.
Deviceandinterfacespecificebooksareoftenlockeddowntootherreaders,
meaningthatbydefaulttheyblockattemptstobereadby
JAWS<http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/jawsproductpage.asp>andother
screenreadingsoftware.TheKindlestillthedominanthardwareereader
hastexttospeechcapability,butitsspeechmenusremaininaccessibledespite
a2009
promise<http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/12/08/amazon_works_to_make_kindle_more_accessible/>
fromAmazon.[TheKindle3,announcedlastweek,hasaddressedthis
particularflaw<http://blog.libraryjournal.com/ljinsider/2010/07/30/kindlesget
accessiblebutwilltheygetbackoncampus/>.Ed.]HencetherecentDepartmentof
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/10/technology/ebooks/etextsforallevenlucyebooksandaccessibility/#_

2/6

3/9/2015

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility

Justiceletter<http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague
20100629.html>tocollegepresidentswarningagainstinaccessibleemerging
technologyuseandasuitbroughtbytheNationalFederationforthe
Blind<http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=449>againstArizona
StateUniversitysKindleDXpilot.
Dollars=leverage
Whilewemightonlyrepresentaportionoftheebookmarket,our
organizationsarethelargestcollectivesubscriberstoejournalandothere
textvendors,meaningwehavetheclouttoacquirefrompublishersinaway
thateffectspositivechange.Thisadvocacycanoccuratbothanindividualand
programmaticlevel.Forinstance,inadditiontopursuingEPUB,validated
HTML,andotherscreenreadableformats,whynotspecifyinourconsortial
licensingagreementsthatetextandsearchinterfacesmuststrictlyadhereto
accessibilitystandards,orwewillnotrenew/purchasethem?Already508
compliantaremanymajorvendors,suchasSafariTech
Books<http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/508compliance>(Proquest),
EBSCO<http://www.ebscohost.com/thisTopic.php?topicID=844&marketID=1>,and
Ebrary<http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/Digest/ebraryAddsNewTechnologyforPeople
WithPhysicalDisabilities60116.asp>,butcountlessothersdonotfocusasclearlyon
textualaccessibility.
Wehandoverthefundsthatkeepcontentprovidersafloat.And,asanyone
whohasevermetahardsellwithabluffandwonadiscountfromoneofthese
companiescanattest,suggestingyoumightwalkelsewherewithyourdollars
unlessaninterfacebecomesmoreusableisproductiveleverage.
Wemustalsobecarefulnottotakeaccessibilitystatementsatfacevalue,as
some508compliantsitesaresoinnameonly.Wecancollaboratewithour
disableduserstoevaluatetrueusability,handson.LucyandIareworking
togethertodevelopausabilityevaluationrubric,forexample.
Usabilityisaccessibility
Ourownwebsitesaresomeoftheworstoffenders.Librarysitesaswellase
textplatformsandinterfacessufferfromanabjectlackofstandardization,
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/10/technology/ebooks/etextsforallevenlucyebooksandaccessibility/#_

3/6

3/9/2015

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility

spawningadizzyingarrayoflearningcurves,tricks,andworkarounds.Lucys
secondsayingisthataccessibledesignisusabledesign.Whatisthegoodof
providingaccessibletextsiftheyareimpossibletonavigatetoandthrough?
Beyondbuyingusableetexts,wehavetomakeastrongcommitmentto
usabilitystandardsinourownsitesandservices.Thesameprinciplesthat
makeadigitaldocumentvisibletoascreenreaderareuniversaldesignbest
practices.Screenreadersrelyonbehindthescenescodingtonarrateapages
structuretoavisuallyimpaireduser.Ifthatinvisibleunderlyingarchitecture
isshoddy,theinformationaccessprocessbreaksdownandinalmosttheexact
samewayitwouldfor,say,amobiledeviceuser.
Lucysthirdsayingisthatwhenitcomestoetexts,separateisnotequal.
Userswithvisualimpairmentsshouldnothavetorequestaseparatefilefrom
avendor,butthatisoftenexactlywhattheyareforcedtodo.Moreebookand
ejournalplatformsthanyoumightbelievehavedeepaccessibilityflaws:
AdobeDigitalEditions<http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6701693.html>and
Flashtextshavesignificantaccessibilitybarriersasevincedbyproblemswith
OverDrivebooks;nonOCRPDFfileshaveprovenquiteproblematic;and
CourseSmart,thelargestonlinemarketplaceforetextbooks,producesby
admission<http://www.coursesmart.com/508compliance>whatcanonlybe
characterizedasdismallyinaccessibleetexts(although,accordingtoLucy,itis
workingtowardimprovement).
Educatingourselves
Thereisadearthofenduserstudiesthatevaluatetheuniversalusabilityof
researchdatabasesandebookplatforms.Whilenoteverylibrarianhasthe
timeordesignexpertisetoevaluateindividualresources,wecanensurethat
thetoolsourinstitutionsprovideandcreatefollowcorebestpractices:
consistency,flexibility,accessibility,andsimplicity.Inthisvein,resourceslike
ASCLAsThink
Accessible<http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/ascla/asclaprotools/thinkaccessible/default.cfm>
siteandtheVoluntaryProductAccessibility
Template<http://www.itic.org/index.php?
submenu=resources&src=gendocs&ref=vpat&category=resources>(VPAT)areinvaluable.
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/10/technology/ebooks/etextsforallevenlucyebooksandaccessibility/#_

4/6

3/9/2015

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility

Forourowndiscoveryinterfaces,theWAVEWebAccessibiltyEvaluation
Tool<http://wave.webaim.org/>andotherWebAIM<http://webaim.org/>and
WC3<http://validator.w3.org/>productshelpvalidatewebsitesforsounddesign.
Therearealreadyaccessibleetextinitiativesamongopenaccesscontent
providers:theInternetArchiverecentlyannounceditismakingonemillion
booksavailableinDAISYtalkingbookformat,whilemorevendedebook
platformsarecomingaroundtotheirresponsibilitiesinthisarea.Openaccess
textsingeneralarecreatedaccessiblytheopentextbookmovementledbyFlat
WorldKnowledge<http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/>operatesonanuniversal
accessmodel.The(hopefully)soontobereleased
Blio<http://www.blioreader.com>isapromisingcrossplatformreaderthatcould
givetheproprietarydeviceparadigmarunforitsmoney.
BymakingaccesspositivedecisionsandpartneringwiththeLucysofthe
world,wecanresistereadinginaccessibilityandpromoteuniversalusability.
CharBooth(charbooth@gmail.com<mailto:charbooth@gmail.com>,
@charbooth<http://twitter.com/charbooth>),ELearningLibrarianattheUniversity
ofCaliforniaBerkeleyanda2008LJMover&Shaker,blogsatinfo
mational<http://infomational.wordpress.com/>.SheisalsotheauthorofReflective
Teaching,EffectiveLearning<http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2896>and
InformingInnovation<http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2704>.
FiledUnder:DigitalContent<http://lj.libraryjournal.com/category/digitalcontent/>,Digital
Resources<http://lj.libraryjournal.com/category/digitalresources/>,
Ebooks<http://lj.libraryjournal.com/category/technology/ebooks/>,
Literacy<http://lj.libraryjournal.com/category/literacy/>

(PrintFriendly)
(Facebook)

(Google+)

(Email)

(Twitter)

(Tumblr)

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/10/technology/ebooks/etextsforallevenlucyebooksandaccessibility/#_

(Reddit)
5/6

3/9/2015

ETextsforAll(EvenLucy)|EbooksandAccessibility

CONNECTINGINDIEAUTHORS,LIBRARIESANDREADERS
SELFeisaninnovativecollaborationbetween
LibraryJournalandBiblioBoardthatenables
authorsandlibrariestoworktogetherand
exposenotableselfpublishedebooksto
voraciousreaderslookingtodiscover
somethingnew.Finally,asimpleandeffective
waytocatalogandprovideaccesstoebooksby
localauthorsandbuildacommunityaround
indiewriting!

COPYRIGHTLIBRARYJOURNAL2015

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/10/technology/ebooks/etextsforallevenlucyebooksandaccessibility/#_

6/6