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Intellectual Accessibility in
the Library
by Mitch Jeserich, December 16, 2002, California
Foundation for Independent Living Centers
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
Public Libraries are a unique
governmental entity. A person does not have
to live under the federal
poverty line to be eligible for a
library card. There
is no medical exam, no asset limit test, not even an
interview with a
social worker for access to
all the things a library contains. A Library is a
place where African
Americans, Asians, Whites, Latinos,
the poor and the rich alike have access to all types of
information in a world where information is king. Still,
access to a library is lacking for some, especially the
disabled. "Intellectual access at
the library is what is important now," said Lynn Cutler,
accessibility coordinator at the Oakland Public Library.
When thinking about
accessibility, most people think of a ramp or an elevator.
Though these are issues with which
all libraries deal, both disability advocates and librarians
are finding it is the learning
disabled, the
blind, and the Deaf who are not accessing the library's
services. "People with learning disabilities avoid the
library because they have difficulties comprehending
printed text," said Michael Parker, Director of Access
Ingenuity. "People with learning disabilities have
strong audio processing skills, but they struggle with reading
and writing, so it is important to have the (library)
materials in an audio format." Most libraries have audio
books, but the selection is limited to the classics and
recently published books. Audio versions of newspapers
or magazines are rarely found anywhere, if at all. One
way to alleviate this problem is to install adaptive
programs that read aloud what is in print
on the libraries' computers.
Many libraries are in the process of installing such adaptive
technology. The most effective type of programs, according to
Parker, highlights the words that
are read aloud on the computer screen. This offers a bi-model
approach to learning, in which a
person visually and aurally processes the information-which
can be an invaluable tool for a person with a learning
disability. Kurzweil Educational Systems, located in
Massachusetts, markets two computer
programs that integrate text
on screen with audible accessibility.
Its' newest model, the Kurzweil
3000, has Internet capability and allows a user to access
on-line books at such websites as
www.Bookshare.org,
Project Gutenburg, or Baen Free Library. The Kurzweil
3000 also has interactive
capabilities so a user can highlight
sections of a text and can take an exam on it. The
price can be as high as $1,875. For
a price of about $800 cheaper, Kurzweil offers the 1000 model,
which still scans words and reads
them aloud. Both models have built in dictionaries and a spell
checker. A computer must have at
least Windows 2000
to run these programs. There is more information on
Kurzweil products at
www.kurzweil.com.
Kurzweil is not the only company to offer technology
that scans printed text
and converts it into an
electronic version and speech. Freedom Scientific offers two
software programs, the Wynn Reader
and the Wynn Wizard, for the personal computer. More
information on these products can be found at
http://www.freedomscientific.com/WYNN/products.asp.
The prices for these adaptive
programs are expensive, but accessibility advocates say such
programs are a necessary investment
to make public libraries accessible for all. At the same time,
California's librarians are
scratching their heads on where to find the funding, as
they fear huge cuts
are looming with a state a budget
deficit that may be as high as 30
billion dollars.
Not all actions to make a library
accessible are expensive. Access technology
expert Lucy Greco, who is blind,
said audio books found in libraries are often times not
labeled in Braille, making it impossible for the blind to
independently find what they are looking for. "I'm not
going to the photography section," Greco told a
conference on Libraries and accessibility held in
Oakland Library's Rockridge Branch.
"But I
am going to the audio section, the DVD section. And those
areas need to be
accessible. Braille labeling
is not expensive, it is just time consuming." Most libraries
now have their card catalogs on computers, but
Greco said that most of these programs are not
compatible with adaptive software, making it harder for the
visually impaired to find the books they are seeking.
The San Francisco Public Library is attempting to reach
out to the Deaf community with lectures and other
events organized by its Deaf Services Center. Orkideh
Sassouni, a library assistant in the Center, said many
Deaf people don't use the
library because they feel it's
books, lectures, and other events are geared towards hearing
people. "Deaf people want to feel welcomed,"
said Sassouni, who is deaf herself.
"If a
library wants more Deaf people to patronage it, it needs to
provide lectures in American Sign Language
(ASL). "But having an interpreter is
not enough. To get Deaf
people to attend the lectures, they need to be about Deaf
people, such as violence against Deaf women." Sassouni said
that with such an event, the library
could provide an ASL translator for hearing people - if
requested two weeks in advance. She
also said the
first step a library should take in improving
accessibility for the
Deaf is to hire at least one employee who
speaks ASL-preferably someone
who is Deaf.
The Oakland Public Library has an
annual Deaf Culture Celebration, which exhibits Deaf writers,
performers and storytellers. The
Library also has held other disability events: including
events in coordination with
Disability Advocates of Minority Organizations to highlight
the experiences
disabled people of color.
Both Cutler of the Oakland Public
Library and Parker of Access Ingenuity agree that a fully
accessible library should have
employees that speak ASL and that every computer station
should be equipped with adaptive
technology-though a couple of fully accessible stations
suffices. Main obstacles to complete accessibility,
according to Cutler, include funding for assistive
technology and convincing the library staff of the
importance of accessibility.
For more information on how
assistive technology can aide people with disabilities, check
out Michael Parkers web site at
www.accessingenuity.com.
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