[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Visual accessiblity in the catalog

[Kathy Lussier]

Hi all,

I know there has been a lot of discussion lately regarding a new OPAC for
Evergreen, and I'm interested in knowing if any thought has been given to
accessibility and usability for the visually impaired. 

A high priority identified by the MassLNC consortia is to ensure that the
catalog is not only accessible to the visually impaired, but that it also
has good usability for this group of users. Several months ago, we had
contacted staff at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA, who
said they would be willing to test the accessibility of the Evergreen
catalog for people using screen readers and those using screen magnification
software. At the time, the KCLS catalog was still under active development,
and we were planning to wait and test accessibility using the KCLS skin so
that we would be testing something current.

However, now that the community is working towards a re-write of the
catalog, I'm wondering if there is a way we can get these volunteer involved
in the process a little earlier so that some attention can be paid to
ensuring that the catalog is accessible. In searching the mailing list
archive about accessibility, I see that the SlimPAC was thought to be
friendlier to screen readers, but there was no account access from the
SlimPAC. I know the new mobile catalog will have account access, but the
needs of mobile users are a lot different than the needs of
visually-imparied users. I think this would be a great opportunity to make
sure we reach out to a group of users who may not have always had good
access to their library's catalogs.

Thanks!
Kathy Lussier

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Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 756-0172
(508) 755-3721 (fax)
klussier at masslnc.org
IM: kmlussier (AOL & Yahoo)
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier