1. Staff Training Program for Serving Visually Impaired Patrons Samantha Eva MLIS 7180

2. This guide is divided into four parts. 1.Information about the Visually Impaired 2.Changes Libraries Can Make Today 3.Improving Computer Use for Library Patrons 4.Technological Additions & How To Use Them A black and white sign with a figure holding a book. “Library” is written in bold and Braille type.

3. Information The more librarians and paraprofessionals know their patrons, the better they can customize their service. Here are some important facts about the visually impaired and how they relate to the library. Tucker (2007) defines blindness as “a scale of measures from seeing absolutely nothing to having partial sight up to the level that the government sets as the limit to be registered as blind” (p. 849).

4. Information In 2010, the National Health Interview Survey reported 21.5 million adults (aged 18 and older) in the US experiencing vision loss (which can mean trouble seeing, even with glasses or contact lenses, up to total blindness.) According to the American Foundation for the Blind, in the same year, the Prevalence Rate of Visual Loss for Georgia was 223,374.

5. Information 1.The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in public or private entities (Epp, 2006, p. 415). – Titles II and III…guard against discrimination by institutions that provide service to the public (Wade 2003 308). A cartoon figure of a blind man using a white walking stick and carrying a book.

6. Information The U.S. Rehabilitation Act (Section 508) states that federal government websites must be accessible to disabled people, and also “prohibits federal agencies from buying, developing, maintaining, or using electronic and information technology that is inaccessible to people with disabilities” (Brophy, 2007, p. 953).

7. Information 1.They must rely on other technologies to access the same materials as a sighted patron. – “Experts estimate that only 5 percent of the world’s publishing output in English is ever made accessible in alternate formats for people who cannot use print” (Epp, 2006, p. 412). 2.It is the patron’s choice to accept assistance from the library staff or the assistive technology the library has adopted; this is a provision in the ADA (Wade, 2003).

8. Information To give perspective of how great of an effect these libraries’ assistive technology can be on a visually impaired patron’s life, please click on the video. It is about a visually impaired journalist slash author, who discusses the difficulties she had writing at home, and how the programs and computers at her library helped her, and others, with their careers and self reliance.

9. Changes Libraries Can Make Today Maneuverability: When you are not a disabled person, it might be difficult to spy problem areas of your library’s arrangements for these patrons. Here are some suggestions to prevent issues from arising.

10. Maneuverability Suggestion #1: Post signs using bold letters to help users navigate your library. This means using “high contrast colors (dark letters on light background or the reverse) and in a large font” (Wade, 2003, p. 308). A blue and white sign with three figures. “Elevator” is written in bold and Braille type.

11. Maneuverability Suggestion #2: Create brightly colored pathways on the library floors, with different colored trails for different sections (Wade, 2003). A bright blue arrow pointing the way on a brown stone floor.

12. Maneuverability Suggestion #3: Use tactile alternatives for the signage or pathway markers for patrons whose vision cannot see color. This includes Braille type or raised lettering for the signs, and some sort of raised hazard bumps for patrons to feel underfoot (Wade, 2003). A bright yellow path with raised bumps on a gray tiled floor.

13. Maneuverability Suggestion #4: The library staff can walk visually impaired or blind patrons through the library so that they can create a mental map and become more independent (Wade 2003). A woman in a red sweater and jeans is guiding a blind man in a gray jacket and jeans.

14. Improving Computer Use for Visually Impaired Patrons Patrons today have a wide variety of materials offered to them at the library, and it is important that disabled patrons have equal access to them. Some examples of their options are: Large print books, Braille books, and audio books. A cartoon logo of a magnifying glass hovering over a book, with the words becoming magnified.

15. Improving Computer Use for Visually Impaired Patrons While those traditional resources for the visually impaired can be helpful, libraries must also ensure that computers, one of the most used services at the library, are just as accessible. One fast way is to teach low vision patrons how to use the accessibility features that are included in the popular operating system, Windows.

16. Increasing Accessibility on Windows 1.If you are using Windows 2007, click on the “Start Menu.” 2.Click on “All Programs.” 3.Click on “Ease of Access” folder. 4.There are five options in this folder. The image is a screen shot of the Ease of Access list in the Start menu.

17. Increasing Accessibility on Windows If you click on the first option, the “Ease of Access Center,” a new window will open, which show four tools that can help a visually impaired user. It also offers recommendations for new users. The image is a screen shot of the Ease of Access Center window.

18. Increasing Accessibility on Windows Here is a brief video in which I show how to use the Magnifier and the On Screen Keyboard. The Magnifier goes up to 1600%, and the On Screen Keyboard has the option of predictive text.

19. Increasing Accessibility on Windows Here is a brief video of using the Narrator.

20. Increasing Accessibility on Windows This is a screen capture that shows how users can change the contrast of their screen so that the words are easier to read.

21. Increasing Accessibility on Windows This is what it looks like when you change the high contrast.

22. Increasing Accessibility on Windows This is a video on how to use the Windows Speech Recognition. This can be used when the user has an input device, such as a head set with a microphone.

23. Improving Library Websites Computers and online resources have become a vital part of libraries’ collections, and even “multimedia material needs to be provided in an alternate format so that all aspects of information become accessible” (Epp, 2006, p. 415). One easy place to begin is the library’s homepage, where, like the signage mentioned in “Maneuverability,” the text should be used in high contrast colors, and in large font.

24. Improving Library Websites The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has provided a helpful set of guidelines that libraries can use to make sure their websites are accessible to all. http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources Some quick tips include: having descriptive text for every image, captioning for the audio parts, using related words for hypertext links, using consistent structure for the layout throughout the website (Brophy, 2007).

25. Improving Library Websites The website for the American Foundation for the Blind even gives users options for different colors and text size.

26. Technological Additions & How To Use Them Computers serve other purposes than providing internet access to the patrons. Visually impaired patrons can use computers, along with other tools, to help them use the same print materials sighted patrons enjoy. Large print books and Braille texts have fewer available titles and need costly processing and storage. Taking these factors into consideration, it may be wiser “to invest in equipment that can render their existing materials useful to their users with visual impairments” (Wade, 2003, p. 309).

27. Technological Additions & How To Use Them Text Reader: One example of this software is called Open Book, which requires a computer, a scanner, and a soundcard. Open Book scans the text and reads it aloud for patrons with visual or learning disabilities. The cost is approximately $1000.00 (Wade, 2003). A cheaper software is Dragon, which has several different versions, and can range from $100 to $700.00 (Wade, 2003).

28. Technological Additions & How To Use Them In the following two brief videos, I demonstrate how the features on the computer specially reserved for the visually impaired in my library works. Along with the Windows accessibility features, the computer is equipped with a scanner that can be used to automatically scan and magnify books, and a program called “Lightning with Speech.”

29. Technological Additions & How To Use Them In this video, I place a book on the scanner, and wait for it to scan. The scanned image is automatically saved to the documents folder, which pops up after the scanner is done. When I click on it, it shows the magnified view of the book pages.

30. Technological Additions & How To Use Them In this video, I demonstrate the Lightning with Speech program. It is similar to the Windows Ease of Access program, but instead of a window, it presents the option as a convenient toolbar. Like the Ease of Access center, you can magnify, change the high contrast colors, change the color of the cursor, and change the lens settings. There is also a speech option, but the library does not provide the necessary equipment to test it.

31. Technological Additions & How To Use Them Here is a video that illustrates some assistive technology in a Dublin, Ireland library.

32. Conclusion In my search for demonstrations, I found a surprising amount of helpful videos that don’t need installation or special training to use. For example, I stumbled upon a Youtube channel that patrons with visual impairments or learning disabilities could benefit from. It is a channel that reads aloud from books, with the words in large print on the screen. Here is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. (It is not necessary to play this one.)

33. Conclusion It is important to remember to keep on researching new methods to help disabled patrons. Technology is constantly evolving, and the right tool that a patron needs today may be developed by tomorrow morning. Exploration is key to living up to the objectives of the profession.

34. References AccessSouthDublin. (2010). South Dublin count access guides – South Dublin libraries [video]. Retrieved February 15, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kCkQrLyUjwk#t=226s Brophy, P., & Craven, J. (2007). Web accessibility. Library Trends, 55(4), 950-972. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220456200?accountid=14800 CCProse. (2011). Chapter 01 - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett [video]. Retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yARu5s4c3yo Epp, M. A. (2006). Closing the 95 percent gap: Library resource sharing for people with print disabilities. Library Trends, 54(3), 411-429. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220464705?accountid=14800

35. References irex. (2010). Library opens opportunities for visually impaired journalist [video]. Retrieved February 14, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c- 4nIZKsRKA&fb_source=message State-Specific Statistical Information: Georgia. (2012, January). Retrieved from http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=15&TopicID=384&DocumentID=5147 Tucker, R. N. (2007). Library and resource center facilities for visually and print impaired people in developing countries. Library Trends, 55(4), 847-863. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220455226?accountid=14800 Wade, G. L. (2003). Serving the visually impaired user. Portal : Libraries and the Academy, 3(2), 307-313. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216170422?accountid=14800