ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 56 | April 2002
Library Services for People with Disabilities
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| From left to right: Pam Wansynk (National Information and Library Service), Natalie Sandon (Australian Association for the Deaf), Kirsty Williamson (Monash University) |
In March representatives of Australian library, disability and government organisations attended a one-day Forum on Library Services for People with Disabilities at the National Library of Australia. The purpose of the Forum was to identify areas in which library services to people with disabilities could be improved through action taken at a national level. The background papers for the Forum, prepared by a range of the participants, are available at www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/disabilities/ and cover areas as diverse as the emerging DAISY (Digital Audio-based Information System) standard for audio books and other alternative formats, Braille production, services to library users with vision and hearing impairments, services in university, school and public libraries, and services to Indigenous and remote communities and users. The web page also lists the participants for the Forum. Dr Jan Murray of Melbourne facilitated the Forum. Discussion ranged over a number of areas including collecting, copyright, legal deposit, adaptive technologies and web accessibility and staff training and awareness of the needs of disabled users.
The Forum agreed on a range of actions that will facilitate access to materials for people with disabilities through the promotion of standards and guidelines, including web accessibility; promotion of the availability of library materials for people with disabilities and further dialogue aimed at easing copyright compliance for organisations producing alternative format materials. The National Library has undertaken to assist in measures to have the DAISY standard for audio books, and the Unified English Braille Code, adopted as Australian standards. DAISY, recently adopted as a national standard in the United States, promises to greatly facilitate the production of many alternate format materials.
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Stella, guide dog for Lynne Davis of Blind Citizens Australia |
Steps will be taken to increase access to alternative format materials. Representatives of disability organisations identified a number of difficulties in accessing libraries and their collections. The needs of the users encompass more than the obvious wheelchair accessibility, and can extend to book spine readability, shelf height and visible as well as audible alarms and announcements. Several participants detailed the lack of coverage of alternative format materials in library catalogues, and the inaccessibility of many catalogues to users with disabilities.
Library staff need to be aware of the needs of patrons with disabilities, and this means all staff need to be trained regularly. It was made clear that most peak disability bodies are more than happy to assist libraries in this regard, and a list of organisations offering training assistance will be developed and publicised. Where adaptive technologies are provided in libraries, it is essential that staff are available to provide advice and assistance with the equipment at all times.There was mention of the need for library outreach to users with disabilities. In addition to traditional homebound services, some libraries are offering home delivery of items selected by their users in the library, and at least one public library represented at the Forum assists users to travel to the library on a regular basis. It is clear that to provide effective services librarians need to go outside their library, and meet with interested community groups and other potential users, and provide services that meet their needs.
The Copyright Agency Limited was invited to send a representative, because many of the issues being dealt with in academic libraries and resource production have copyright implications. Partly as a result of the discussions at the Forum, the Copyright Agency has undertaken to convene a group to discuss ways in which copyright compliance can be simplified for those providing materials to users with disabilities. CAL will also discuss with the Library mechanisms for sharing of copy masters among educational institutions, to reduce duplications of effort.While the issue of services to Indigenous users was on the agenda, discussion focussed on the lack of culturally appropriate material for Indigenous users generally, not just those with disabilities. A similar problem exists for non-English speaking library users, and those with low literacy levels. It is apparent that there are very few online services suitable for these user groups. It was decided that initially it would be useful to raise the awareness of the problems facing Indigenous users through contact with appropriate interest groups.
The Library has agreed to host a follow-up meeting in 12 months time, to
discuss progress on the recommendations and identify further areas for action.
The Forum represented a significant step for the Library, and it is hoped that
by bringing the stakeholders together some progress towards improved library
services for users with disabilities will be achieved.
Sandra
Henderson
| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au