Tending a Wild Garden: Library Web Design for Persons with Disabilities

Making It Work for Everyone: HTML5 and CSS Level 3 for Responsive, Accessible Design on Your Library's Web Site

“…As Vandenbark (2010) points out, "Because the Internet and its design standards are evolving at a dizzying rate, it is difficult to create Web sites that are both cutting-edge and standards-compliant" (p. 23). Likewise, any literature review on the subject will quickly become outdated.…”

“…Vandenbark (2010) explains section 508-the amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which requires that Federal agencies make Web sites and other technologies accessible to those with disabilities-in great detail, breaking out the different points of the law and explaining what each means to libraries, and how they can be implemented, as well as providing additional background. McHale (2011) provides a comparison of the U. S. government's Section 508 law with the now-outdated WCAG 1.0, which remains nonetheless useful for librarians who are having difficulties aligning the two sets of criteria.…”

SLIS Connecting, Volume 3, Issue 2

“…Libraries today have many of their main resources located on the Web; this makes it even more important that they conform with Section 508 guidelines to create Web pages that are accessible to all individuals. Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act (RA) was changed in 1998 and 2000 to include the federal government's standards addressing accessible information technology (Vandenbark, 2010). Providenti and Zai (2007) state that Section 508 is based off of the WCAG 1.0, which mandates accessibility for federal Web sites only.…”

“…According to Vandenbark (2010), the W3C creates international standards for Web accessibility standards. They created a specific subgroup known as the WAI to fill the mission of creating accessibility standards, supporting materials needed to both help and understand Web accessibility, and collaborating with international bodies.…”

An Evaluation of Finding Aid Accessibility for Screen Readers

“…12 Vandenbark provided a clear explanation of US regulations and standards for accessible design and outlined basic principles of good design and how to achieve it. 13 Recent works by Samson and Willis addressed best practices for reference and general library services to disabled patrons. Samson found no consistent set of best practices between eight academic libraries studied, noting that five of the eight based their services on reactions to individual complaints instead of using a broader, proactive approach.…”