In a new Web Accessibility in Research Libraries blog post, ARL visiting program officer Katya Pereyaslavska writes about “what it takes to be an ‘Accessibility Librarian’”—an emerging position that is expected to use and share extensive knowledge of “accessibility standards, policies, regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and guidelines.” In her blog post, Pereyaslavska discusses the institutional benefits of having an in-house accessibility specialist and she reviews the key competencies that such a specialist should possess. She also notes, “While the accessibility librarian might be the expert in the field of specialization, it is critical that they are able to train and educate other library staff in this area in order to ensure that all library staff have basic competencies to handle entry-level queries from patrons or provide basic tech support to assistive technology users.” Read the blog post, “Accessibility Librarian Competencies.”
About the Blog
The Web Accessibility in Research Libraries blog is an enhancement of ARL’s Web Accessibility Toolkit, which aims to:
- Promote the principles of accessibility, universal design, and digital inclusion.
- Help research libraries achieve digital accessibility.
- Connect research libraries with the tools, people, and examples they need to provide accessible digital content.
The ARL Accessibility and Universal Design Working Group hopes the blog will stimulate discussion of accessibility issues in the research library community and encourages individuals to share their ideas and knowledge by contributing posts to the blog.
Future blog topics might include:
- Accessibility audits
- Online learning
- Special projects of interest
If you are interested in contributing a blog post, send e-mail to accessibility@arl.org.
Subscribe to the RSS feed for ARL’s Web Accessibility in Research Libraries blog.
About ARL
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in the US and Canada. ARL’s mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at https://www.arl.org/.
