In anticipation of new accessibility-related requirements coming into force through U.S. and European laws, the Library Publishing Coalition’s Professional Development Committee focused this year’s Documentation Month on accessibility-related documentation and processes! Good documentation can preserve institutional memory for yourself and for future colleagues. But between deadlines and day-to-day tasks, finding the time can be a challenge. Creating effective accessibility workflows can also involve some specific and technical know-how, which may make it feel even more challenging to get started.
The third webinar, entitled Creating Workflows for Accessibility Compliance, was held on February 24. This webinar brought representatives from Indiana University Bloomington Libraries and William and Mary Libraries to share how their libraries plan to comply with the recent Justice Department ruling on the accessibility of web content and make their digital documents accessible. They will overview how they created accessibility compliance workflows, why they created them as such, what challenges they faced and how they solved them, and how you might create yours. The panelists will share their workflows as models so attendees leave knowing how to develop procedures for complying with this ruling.
Speakers
- Rachael Cohen is the Head of Discovery and User Experience at Indiana University Bloomington, where she leads initiatives to enhance information discovery and user engagement. With a strong commitment to academic collaboration, Rachael actively contributes to several committees within the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and currently serves on its Steering Committee. Her research interests span user experience design, search query analysis, and the development of discovery tools to optimize library services. Rachael earned a dual Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Science from Indiana University Bloomington in 2012.
- Ruth Light is the Electronic Resources Access Manager and Interim Head of Electronic Resources Acquisitions at Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington. In these roles she ensures access to licensed and open access resources, with particular focus on authentication and discovery. Ruth earned her Master of Library Science from Indiana University in 2008.
- Debbie Cornell is the Digital Projects Librarian at William & Mary Libraries, overseeing the library’s digitization program, crowd-sourced transcription initiatives, and serving as a liaison for digital partner projects. With expertise in accessibility, they have developed protocols to make analog library materials available and digital library collections more inclusive and user-friendly.
Watch the recording and view the slides: Cornell | Light and Cohen