Virtual presentation given at the Technology: Unintended Consequences of Legislation and Policies in Libraries, Feburary 8 2012

1. Nina McHale
Arapahoe Library District
milehighbrarian.net

2. The Library Accessibility
Problem, 1 of 2
 Library web sites are complex blends of
locally created content and online (often
hosted) tools
 Those tools are created and managed by
different entities, internal and external to
the library
 Library vendors are notoriously
unsupportive of/non-compliant with Section
508/WCAG
 Tatomir and Durrance: 78% of databases
“marginally inaccessible” or “inaccessible”

3. The Library Accessibility
Problem, 2 of 2
 Library web sites tend to be homegrown
 Library web masters tend to be self-
taught
 Few (if any?!) members of the library
staff have adequate web accessibility
knowledge
 Inaccessible sites-not just library web
sites- can look and function fine to
sighted users

4. Our Agenda
 (Free!) Accessibility Testing Tools
 Putting Library Resources to the Test
 Tips for Fixing Problems

5. (Free!) Accessibility Testing
Tools
 ChromeShades (Chrome)
 Web Accessibility Toolbar (Internet
Explorer)
 Fangs (Firefox)
 WebAIM WAVE
 Site (browser independent)
 Toolbar (Firefox)

6. ChromeShades (Google
Chrome)
 https://chrome.google.com/webstore/
 Screen reader emulator
 Shows an approximation of what a
screen reader would say
 ChromeVox: a screen reader
 ChromeVis: a screen magnifier

7. Web Accessibility Toolbar
(Internet Explorer)
 http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/ais/tool
bar/
 Not so much an integrated a browser
tool as the others; more a suite of useful
tools collected into a bookmarks bar

8. Fangs (Firefox Plug-In)
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/fangs/
 Provides a transcript of a screen reader’s
output (examples to follow)
 Future of development uncertain, but current
version works with Firefox 9.0.1
 Install plug-in, then restart Firefox
 To run in Firefox:
○ Browse to the page to evaluate;
○ Select “Tools,” then “Fangs”

9. WebAIM WAVE
(Site and Firefox Plug-In)
 Site: http://wave.webaim.org/
 Browse to site and:
○ Enter URL, OR
○ Upload code to analyze
 Firefox Plug-In:
 Install plug-in, then restart Firefox;
 Select “Tools,” then “WAVE” for options
 Benefit: not third-party server
 Index to icons: http://wave.webaim.org/icons

10. Sample Tests
 Library catalog (III Millennium)
 LibGuides (SpringShare)
For each of these:
 Screen capture
 Fangs and WebAIM tests
 Summary of issues revealed

11. Library Catalog
 Arapahoe Library District:
 http://aspen.ald.lib.co.us/
 Innovative Interfaces, Inc., Millennium
 A “hybrid” library resource: vendor-
created, but customized locally by library
systems staff

15. Issues Revealed, III’s
Millennium
 Order of content not logical or intuitively
structured as a screen reader would
render it (Fangs output)
 Image file name renders as gibberish
(Fangs output)
 Alt text for images missing for library
logo and sculpture pictures (WebAIM
output)
 Search (HTML form) not coded properly
(WebAIM output)

16. LibGuides
 Auraria Library English 090 Guide:
 http://guides.auraria.edu/ccdenglish090
 SpringShare
 A specialized library CMS for creating
and organizing guide content

20. Features Revealed,
SpiringShare’s LibGuides
 Skip navigation links are present (Fangs
output)
 “Alternate Page” for screen reader users
is present (Fangs output)
 HTML headings (h1-h6) are used to
structure the page (Fangs output)
 Alternative text is present for all but one
image (WebAIM output)

21. Caveat:
 Even resources that pass the tests
these tools and conform Section 508
and/or WCAG 2.0 may still have
accessibility issues
 Testing with screen reader software is
the best way to test thoroughly

22. Tips: What Can We Do?
 Content Creators
 Acquisitions
 Web Services

23. For Library Content Creators,
1 of 2…
 Alternative text
 Section 508 §1194.22 paragraph a; WCAG
2.0 1.1.1
 Provide text descriptions for non-text
elements, i.e., images
 Enforce inclusion of alt text with software
features (Dreamweaver, Drupal)
 Learn to write quality alternative text:
○ http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/

24. For Library Content Creators,
2 of 2…
 Captions
 Section 508 §1194.22 paragraph b; WCAG
2.0 1.2
 Provide transcripts for video-only and audio-
only content
 Digital learning objects such as tutorials,
online orientations, videos, etc., should all
have equivalents for blind and deaf users
 Enforce use of captions with software
features (Camtasia, Captivate)

25. For Acquisitions…
 Make accessibility evaluation part of the
purchase evaluation process
 Pay close attention to the accessibility of
discovery layer tools when making a
decision
 Communicate to library vendors the
importance of accessibility to librarians
and library users

26. For Web Services, 1 of 2…
 Make accessibility part of the design and
development process
 It’s much more difficult to retrofit a site than develop an
accessible site to begin with
 Educate yourself and colleagues about
web accessibility as it relates to their job
requirements
 Use freely-available tools to assess
accessibility of locally-created and
purchased products

27. For Web Services, 2 of 2…
 Conduct usability testing with users with
disabilities
 Contact community disability resources
 Become familiar with and test your sites
with screen reader software:
 NVDA (open source, for Windows):
http://www.nvda-project.org/
 VoiceOver: native to OS X (10.4+) for Mac
users

28. A Final Thought
“Sometimes I think sighted people
have handicaps of their own.
Vision can be very deceptive.”
-Pat Laing, blind computer programmer

29. Questions? Comments?
@ninermac
milehighbrarian.net
Column: “All Access,”
Journal of Web Librarianship