ARL launches blog on web accessibility in research libraries

ARL’s Accessibility and Universal Design Working Group has launched a blog devoted to facilitating web accessibility in research libraries.

The blog is an enhancement of ARL’s Web Accessibility Toolkit, which aims to:

• Promote the principles of accessibility, universal design, and digital inclusion;
• Help research libraries achieve digital accessibility; and
• Connect research libraries with the tools, people, and examples they need to provide accessible digital content.

The inaugural blog post, 'Publishing Accessibly – Open Access and Your Library as a ‘Publisher’, by ARL visiting program officer Katya Pereyaslavska, explores areas of opportunity for libraries to participate in open access publishing, with a focus on what libraries can do differently from other publishers.

Pereyaslavska concludes: 'Developing successful business cases for the establishment of library publishing processes will enable libraries to reclaim rightful ownership of information, assuming a leadership role in information creation and dissemination and working towards the de-‘magazinification’ of the web and towards building more sustainable digital learning resources.'

Ed Van Gemert, chair of the ARL Accessibility and Universal Design Working Group and vice provost for libraries and university librarian at University of Wisconsin–Madison, said: 'The working group is delighted to offer this new feature of the ARL Web Accessibility Toolkit. We hope the blog will stimulate discussion of accessibility issues in the research library community and we encourage individuals to share their ideas and knowledge by contributing posts to the blog.'

Future blog topics are likely to include accessibility audits, online learning, and special projects of interest.