Appendix C
Special Libraries with Adaptive Technology Programs
The following libraries represent a cross section of those making efforts to ensure that all members of the community they serve are able to access information. These libraries were brought to the attention of the author in various ways, but mainly through word of mouth-people and patrons who justifiably have something good to say about these institutions. With one exception, these institutions did not have a "fairy godmother" wave a magic wand to make their buildings and computer systems accessible. They did it by planning, creative budgeting, and hard work.
Librarians were asked various questions, such as the equipment that is available, the policies for using the equipment, the costs of the equipment, the source of their funding, the staff training that is required, and the usage by the community. A staff name was also provided for those who may wish to contact someone for advice.
All of the libraries are not at the same level of access to information and are included to illlustrate that any organization can start the process and attain ongoing success.
College Center for Library Automation (CCLA)
1238 Blountstown Highway
Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Voice: (850) 922-6044
Website: www.ccla.lib.fl.us
Background: CCLA delivers Library Information Network for Community Colleges (LINCC) to the 28 community colleges in Florida. The center does not serve the user directly, but rather it trains the library staff, who are then able to assist the end users.
CCLA developed the LINCC Assistive Technology Workstation to provide independent access to services of the community college library. One workstation is provided at each dedicated site in Florida for a total of 60 workstations in the state.
Population Served: The population is a publicly funded academic one in both rural and suburban settings. One million students and teachers are served by these libraries.
Adaptive Equipment: CCLA maintains a large-print monitor, screen reading software, and large print keytops. It uses a standard dot matrix printer.
Do Procedures Allow for the Downloading of Information onto Disk? No.
Usage: Unknown.
Expenditures: $5,000.
Funding Source: Special allocation from funding agency.
Development Time: One year.
Staff Training Module: Two hours were needed to train staff and all staff were trained. Facilitated by a training manual. See "Other Comments" that follow.
Website Design: The LINCC Website, LINCCWEB, was specifically designed to be used by both text-only browsers and graphical browsers. It can be successfully accessed by screen-reading software.
Other Comments: Each workstation is provided with a two-volume set of documentation, LINCC Assistive Technology Workstation User Guide, to introduce the library's public service staff to the workstation's basic functionality. The guide includes a 20-minute introductory video and is supplemented by vendor documentation and other materials for troubleshooting and maintenance.
Contact: Amy Chapman, Administrative Information Specialist, CCLA.
San Jose State University Library (SJSUL)
One Washington Square
San Jose, California 95192-0028
Voice: (408) 924-2818
Library Website: www.library.sjsu.edu
Disability Resource Center (DRC) Website: www.drc.sjsu.edu
City of San Jose Website that cites disability access design standards: www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/access.html
Background: San Jose State University is located in one of the few cities that have established "Disability Access Design Standards" for its World Wide Web pages with the hopes that citizens with disabilities would be able to navigate freely throughout the Net. The university also incorporates a Disability Resource Center (DRC) that operates a High-Tech Center on the first floor of the library where an additional eight accessible workstations are located.
Population Served: Public institution in urban setting. Total students registered is 26,000, of which approximately 1,250 students are disabled.
Adaptive Equipment: The library maintains ten large-print display PCs (five Web-based), one CCTV, nine PCs with screen-reader modifications (five Web-based), four large-print/Braille keytops, one OCR reader. Alternate keyboards and mouse adaptions are on order. The DRC also supports a Braille printer, adapted keyboards, OCR machines, voice-recognition technology.
Do Procedures Allow for the Downloading of Information onto Disk? Yes.
Usage: Ten to twenty students a week; maybe more as students activate adaptions as needed.
Expenditures: Approximately $1,500 per station at the SJSUL; $400,000 over five years for the DRC.
Funding Source: SJSUL: 5 percent Special Allocation, 95 percent General Operating Fund; DRC collaborative effort from the Chief Information Officer, the Director of the DRC, and the President's Office.
Development Time: The SJSUL has been acquiring and retiring equipment for ten years; the DRC is working with a five-year plan.
Staff Training Module: Twenty-five percent of service staff are trained in use of adaptive equipment. Training time is two hours.
Website Design: Launched in May of 1998. The site follows the Universal Design Standards of Trace Institute. The site carries the NCAM logo.
Contacts: Library: Donna Pontau, Library Liaison to Users with Disabilities. DRC: Eric Christienson.
San Francisco Public Library
Blind Services Center and Deaf Services Center
100 Larken Street
Civic Center
San Francisco, California 94102
Voice: (415) 557-4253; TTD: (415) 557-4433
Website: www.sfpl.lib.ca.us
Background: The San Francisco Public Library houses both a Blind Services Center (which is a subregional library of the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) and a Deaf Services Center. The Blind Services Center houses a collection of popular reading materials on tape and the largest assembly of print-accessibility equipment in the United States. The Deaf Services Center was established in 1977 and relocated to the main library in 1996. It is considered the "ideal deaf library," for it is located in a room without windows (preventing glare). Additionally, shelves are low and tables are round so users who communicate with sign language or speech reading can see one another comfortably.
The library also houses a Resource Collection for Learning Differences, believed to be the largest of its kind in the United States. It is located on the third floor near the reference desk for the general collections. A librarian is devoted to developing collections and services for people with learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. Adult new reader material is located nearby.
A 1994 report to help the library identify problems that people with learning disabilities (LD) have in using its services and to shape technology-based solutions, Technology to Improve the Accessibility of the New San Francisco Main Library for Learning Disabled Users, was written by John Anton and Jerome Elkind of the Lexia Institute, Greg Miller of Stanford University, and Marshall Raskind of the Marianne Frostig Center, all experts in technology for people with LD. It was funded by the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation.
Population Served: A public library serving the greater San Francisco area.
Adaptive Equipment: The library has 33 PCs with large-print software modifications, three CCTVs, 33 PCs with screen-reading devices, one PC with a refreshable Braille display and keytops, 11 laser jet printers with large-print fonts, one Braille printer, 11 OCR readers and closed-captioned decoders. Additionally, several of the library's meeting rooms are equipped with listening devices that make communication easier for the hearing impaired.
There also are 13 "added access terminals" or "ADA OPACS" available for using the online catalog and accessing the Internet through a non-graphical browser. As of early 1999, the added access terminals have ZoomText and Vocal Eyes programs installed. These terminals may be used by anyone, but priority is given to persons with disabilities.
As a result of the above-mentioned 1994 technology report on learning disabilities, "enhanced workstations" were installed in selected small study rooms throughout the library. These include various programs that can be used to magnify text; hear text spoken aloud from a screen; scan in materials that are then spoken aloud, printed out, or copied to disk; and write documents and control the computer by dictating into a microphone.
Enhanced workstations accommodate people with disabilities in addition to those with learning disabilities. Their use is restricted to people with disabilities who have a valid San Francisco Public Library card and check in at the paging desk. The adaptive technology technician employed by the library conducts interviews with prospective users and registers them.
Cost: When originally installed, the enhanced workstations cost approximately $15,000 each. Prices for both hardware and software have dropped precipitously, making comparable setups much less expensive, estimated to be in the $5,000 to $6,000 range. Software has also been improved in terms of ease of use and, where necessary, training time required.
Usage: Because the equipment is distributed throughout the building, it is impossible to determine.
Expenditures: Unable to estimate, for much of the expenditures for the centers came from a grant from the Charles Schwab Foundation when the main library was being built.
Funding Source: LSCA, Library Foundation Grant, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation.
Development Time: Six years. Updates and improvements ongoing.
Staff Training Module: Few staff are actually trained; the position of adaptive technology technician has been established specifically for training staff and patrons.
Other Comments: Talking signs are used throughout the building to help guide visitors unable to read signs to their destination. The Deaf Services staff has bilingual members who are available to act as interpreters throughout the building. The Deaf Services Center also provides interpreter services or real-time captioning for library programs and events, when requested in advance.
The Resource Collection for Learning Differences is part of a service that includes a librarian and occasional programs and speakers on learning disabilities and related topics through the Schwab Foundation for Learning.
Contacts: Martin Magid, Head, Blind Services Center; and Marti Goddard, Head, Deaf Services Center; Marilyn Dong, Librarian, Resource Collection for Learning Differences.
Seattle Public Library
Library Equal Access Program (LEAP)
1000 4th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
Voice: (206) 386-4690
Website: www.spl.org
Background: LEAP was established to make the Seattle Public Library a valuable resource for the visually impaired. Through the use of adaptive equipment, print-disabled individuals can now benefit from the library's collection of more than 1,000,000 items otherwise not available in large print, Braille, or sound recordings.
Population Served: A public library serving a large metropolitan area. In 1996 in the city of Seattle, an estimated 534,732 people used the library.
Adaptive Equipment: In the Seattle Public Library, LEAP provides three oversized monitors, five PCs with large-print screens and keyboard modifications, a CCTV, an OCR reading machine, a refreshable Braille display, two laser jet printers with large-print fonts, and a Braille printer.
Usage: Approximately 140 patrons use the equipment (40 are very active users).
Expenditures: $50,000.
Funding Source: Combination of General Operating Funds, Friends Group, LSTA grants and special grants.
Development Time: Seven years.
Staff Training Module: Two hours; only 2 percent of library staff is fully trained, the head of LEAP.
Website Design: By Cleo Brooks, the LEAP Website is straight text (no frills), which means that it can easily be read with accessible resources.
Other Comments: LEAP provides wonderful promotional brochures for its site and services. The LEAP guide (in large print) states what resources are available as well as what services are provided. LEAP offers orientation to the library and escorts within the library. The library provides assistive-listening devices for use within the library and will provide interpreters for special programs. Additionally, a "looped" meeting room is available for group events.
Contact: Cleo Brooks, Head, LEAP.
Johnson County Library
9875 West 87th Street
Overland Park, Kansas 66212
Voice: 913-495-2400
Website: www.jcl.lib.ks.us
Background: With the passage of the ADA, the staff of the Johnson County Library began an intensive program of building modification, new-equipment acquisition, staff education, and community-awareness promotion. In October of 1996, the library celebrated its first-ever Disabilities Awareness Month. The staff realize their work is still not complete and look to improve access.
Population Served: A suburban public library serving a population of 334,200.
Adaptive Equipment: The Johnson County Library provides patrons with 12 oversize monitors, with large-print software modifications, one CCTV, and an OCR scanner. Additionally, one PC has a screen reader with speech output. The library had several telephone devices for the deaf (TDDs) installed and had assistive-listening devices installed in public meeting rooms. Budgeted for fiscal year 1999 are large-print/Braille keytops, a Braille printer, and keyboard and mouse adaptions.
Do Procedures Allow for the Downloading of Information onto Disk? Yes.
Usage: More than ten people weekly.
Expenditures: $60,000.
Funding Source: Special allocation from parent agency.
Development Time: Two years.
Staff Training Module: Two hours; all staff are trained in using the equipment.
Website Design: In-house, with links to other ADA/accessibility sites.
Other Comments: Adaptions at the Johnson County Library were added at the suggestions of the ADA committee. The committee and the library hope to find funds to expand access services. The library also has 25 handheld and table magnifiers, which are extremely helpful for persons with declining vision who are not psychologically ready for high-tech devices. The ADA committee prepared handouts on equipment use and in 1996 completely revised all marketing materials to better explain the library's services to the disabled. The committee additionally formed a community advisory group and surveyed the public to see what improvements could be made.
Contact: Kent Oliver, Branch Services Manager.
Fairfax County Library
Access Services
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 123
Fairfax, Virginia 22035-0012
Voice: (702) 324-8380; TTY: (703) 324-8635
Background: Access Services has just moved to a new centrally located facility so it will be easier for people with disabilities to visit. The Fairfax County Library System, in its commitment to making services accessible to everyone, established Access Services with emphasis on Services for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, Services for People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Services for People Who Are Homebound, and For People with Any Disability and Family, Friends, and Caregivers.
Population Served: A suburban public library serving a population of 899,650.
Adaptive Equipment: Four oversize monitors, five PCs with large-print software modifications, six PCs with screen-reading software, one PC with a refreshable Braille display, two large-print/Braille keytops, two laser printers, one Braille printer, three OCR readers, and one ergonomic workstation.
Usage: In addition to patron usage of equipment, demonstrations are given for people who are thinking about using the technology. When a series on Southern literature was presented, special services such as captioning, recorded books, and audio enhancement were offered. Six percent of the 800 who attended specifically asked for assistive listening devices. It was not determined how many used the closed-captioning display, the large-print, or the recorded versions of the books discussed.
Expenditures: $300,000.
Funding Source: A combined effort of special allocations from the parent agency, small gifts from patrons and Lions groups, LSCA, LSTA grants, and other grants.
Development Time: Ten years.
Staff Training Module: All staff know how to use the equipment and training is ongoing.
Website Design: Developed by the Fairfax County Network Coordinator, the Website is totally accessible with adaptive technology and rightfully displays the "Bobby Approved" symbol.
Other Comments: The library describes users of some of its adaptive technology: a father of a blind student who uses the Braille printer to print tests forms for his son, and a visually impaired student who uses CD-ROM material displayed in large print on a large-screen monitor.
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Adaptive Technology for the Internet, by Barbara T. Mates
ISBN 0-8389-0752-0
© 2000 by the American Library Association. All rights reserved except those which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976.
Links located within Adaptive Technology for the Internet are not maintained by the Author or Publisher. Any broken links can be reported to the Webmaster, and will be promptly removed from the Website.
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Mates Adaptive Technology for the Internet Appendix C