“There is access and then there is accessibility” is a phrase used by C. Booth in “Why Accessibility?” authored for the American Library Association. This may sound like a Jane Austen title, but, in fact, it’s a clever way to show the distinction between access and accessibility.
Accessibility in STEM
Creating accessible materials is important for everyone. Let’s take that for granted. However, it’s important to ask about science’s particular relationship with accessibility. According to an article in Nature, ableist cultures in science have made it harder for science people to declare a disability. This means that there are more science people with disabilities than we know of. This is in keeping with a National Academies report that shows a predominant attitude in STEM that “innate talent” is the key to success in STEM fields.
Knowing this helps me to realize that it is more important than ever to create accessible materials in my role as a science librarian.
Accessibility in STEM Libraries
As a librarian who has worked with science and engineering materials, I can tell you that there is a challenge to creating and maintaining accessible information. I think there are two fronts to the battle:
- Librarian created material
- Publisher created material
In this post, I’ll talk about Librarian created material.
Accessible Research Guides
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working to update Research Guides at my temping gig. Research Guides are online pathfinders created to help students learn the best sources to find books and articles for their research papers.
What have I found?
- A lot of pdfs that need to be replaced with machine-readable material
- Guides that have little navigation or hierarchy
- Images without alt-text
- A feeling that the guide was more about the creator’s knowledge than the reader’s path to success
I don’t want to sound like I’m just complaining — these guides are rich with very good content. The access is there. Just not the accessibility. I’ve also found that revising and remediating for accessibility has improved them in so many ways that will benefit everyone. I’ve been chanting the W3.org mantra “Essential for some, useful for all.”
I’ll roll up my sleeves and get back to work on it!
Question for you
Gentle reader, I ask you to comment on this:
Have you ever introduced the concepts and practice of accessible design to fellow colleagues? If so, were you met with any negative reactions? Did they ease over time? When I first was introduced to these concepts, I will admit that I encountered a mix of emotions: overwhelmed and guilty as well as motivated to change the way I work. I think it’s important to realize that it may take a little time to adjust to these ideas. What has been your experience?
Hi Jill! Great post,
Answering your question directly, the short answer is yes 100%! I graduated Seton Hall undergrad with a degree in Graphic Design. A major component with graphic design is combining accessibility with your design. A lot of the time what you think is right can be viewed as wrong and vice versa. What I have learned is that you will not be able to please everyone with what you are making, you are just trying to satisfy the majority. Specifically with STEM, you bring up innate talent when declaring a disability (which I find bizarre). Instead of trying to fix all the issues with their “guidelines,” focus on the smaller things and I think it will be easier to find success. Thinking locally but acting globally is a great way to view it. Great post!
Jill,
I would like to say first off, great blog post, your writing is very engaging and I love how you can get all your ideas/opinions across in such a condensed yet detailed manner. I think that I have never encountered a situation where I ad to propose adjustments for accessibility in my lifetime thus far, so I can’t comment on that. But I like that you based your experiences on this to identify existing issues with accessibility thus far.
Hi Jill! I enjoyed reading your blog post and agree with the points that you have made. I love the video you included, which helps a reader get a better understanding of digital accessibility. I also enjoy how you focused on different areas and broke them each down. Pertaining to your question I have also felt all sorts of those exact emotions. The addition of the question makes for the reader to be even more engaged! Great job!
Hi Jill,
Great post! I think there is a misconception that some people with disabilities could not hold certain occupations therefore one does not need to worry about making content accessible. Another issue is that some databases or online journals do not ensure that their content is accessible (at least that was the case a few years ago). So much work still needs to be done to support accessibility efforts!
Hello Jill,
I really enjoyed reading your second blog post and I believe you did a great job talking about digital accessibility. I enjoyed reading the article you linked right away in your first paragraph as it makes the readers become aware of what digital accessibility is and how it is incorporated in the library. I like how you spoke about accessibility in different areas including in STEM and STEM libraries. I think that you did a great job mentioning the accessibility issues that occur in STEM and the STEM libraries. Great question included at the end that makes readers engaged with your work.