Equal Access: Making Print Accessible

For the blind and visually impaired

Zoe Rath Reference Librarian Berklee College of Musiczrath@berklee.edu

How do the blind and visually impaired access written text?

● Braille and large print are still used, but nowadays the blind and

visually impaired are mostly relying on audio texts, voice-

recognition software or other technology.

Blind people can comprehend speech up to 25 syllables per

second. Example of audio

What kind of assistive technology is used?

Screen Readers

Apps for iOS and Android

Why did Berklee staff decide to create a resource guide?

● We discovered that knowledge and resources concerning visual

disabilities were scattered across departments.

● Staff, faculty and more importantly the blind and visually impaired

students were not aware of crucial resources that could help them

access print.

Important Lawsuits -ADA Compliance

"Audiobooks Aren't Enough." Settlements Put Colleges' Duty to

Ensure Blind Students Access to Materials. Inside Higher ED, 26 July

2013. Web. 25 May 2014.

Louisiana Tech University South Carolina Technical College System University of California at Berkeley

AHEAD (Association for Higher Education and Disabilities)

"A Clear Standard for Access to Instruction"Adaptive Technology Conference

● Compliance with ADA is a campus-wide issue that requires a

cultural change.

● Suggestions were made for libraries to only subscribe to

databases with OCR and to avoid lending out e-readers.

Learning Ally ● Leading provider of over 80,000 audiobooks including textbooks.

● Apps for android and iOS.

Bookshare.org● Audio formatted electronic books, textbooks, magazines, and

journals.

● Bookshare encourages students to sign up on their own.

● Ability to request titles.

● Apps available .

Recommended additional student resources

● List ways of obtaining braille books.

● Braille printer?

● List of Apps such as Nook, Kindle, iBook, BARD

● List scanners specifically for the blind and visually impaired

● List of eBooks databases and other article databases that are

ADA compliant.

Additional suggested services

● Disability office:

Ability to request note taker, or a reader.

Classroom and exam accommodations.

● Assistive Technology Lab:

Student can have a book or certain chapters scanned.

● Have a resource guide available online and in various formats.

Ways for faculty/instructors to make their class and teaching more accessible

● All documents including powerpoint presentations should be sent

in most current Microsoft format.

● All handouts should be scanned in OCR format.

● The original print document should be easy to read.

Faculty/instructor guidelines continued

● Faculty need to provide students with syllabus and assignments

before class begins.

● Any assignments or handouts should be uploaded to class site.

Final thoughts: Universal Design for Learning

Works CitedEasy braille. Digital image. Easy Braille with USB - 40 Cell. Foundation for Blind Children.Web. 4 June 2014.

Fields, R. Douglas. "Why Can Some Blind People Process Speech Far Faster Than Sighted Persons?" Scientific American Global RSS. 13 Dec. 2010. Web. 04 June 2014.

Grasgreen, Allie. "Audiobooks Aren't Enough." Inside Higher ED, 26 July 2013. Web. 25 May 2014.

Jackson, Richard M. "Audio-Supported Reading for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired." National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials, 16 Jan. 2012. Web. 04 June 2014.

SARA scanner. Digital image. Simply Out Scanning: A Review of SARA and ScannaR. Web. 4 June 2014.

Udl_wordle. Digital image. Universal Design for Learning and the Common Core. Blog,. Web. 4 June 2014.

"Using JAWS (assistive Technology for Blind Computer Users) as a Student." YouTube. YouTube, 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 June 2014.