Norman Coombs
Rochester Institute of Technology
Chair: Project EASI
Flex Learning Systems Executive Director
E-mail: nrcgsh@rit.edu
The information age has transformed libraries with the advent of electronic texts and the information highway has opened libraries to patrons as never before. Adaptive computer technology is rapidly turning the so-called print disabledinto a new class of library patrons. Library catalogs, electronic journals newspapers and a growing number of books are readily available online. Special libraries for the print disabled have put their catalogs online and are exploring the use of electronic texts and digitized talking books.
In libraries, computers and CD-ROMs are replacing many reference works, and card catalogs have disappeared. Most libraries are subject to legislation requiring them to adapt these systems to include persons with disabilities in their services. This presentation will provide two kinds of information: where internet users can locate electronic texts; and where librarians can get help in creating barrier-free access to electronic information.
The invention of the printing press increased the availability of written materials for most people, but it served to create new barriers to information for the visually impaired. Similarly, those who could not hold books or turn pages found themselves excluded from the world of print information. The invention of braille and other tactile reading systems partially helped those who were blind, but its expense and bulk limited its usefulness. In the twentieth century, radio and recordings have helped narrow the gulf, but it has been the computer that has created a new world of access to information.
When information is digitized and stored in a computer, it can be manipulated in many ways. Visually impaired readers can use software that enlarges the display on the monitor to permit their reading it. Speech synthesizers can speak the material on the screen for the reader who is blind. Alternate input devices permit persons with motor impairments to operate a computer and to move through the text without having to hold a book or turn pages. Voice recognition systems can operate a computer. A sip- and-puff straw will let someone send signals to a computer. Other devices are available for a variety of motor disabilities.
Digitized information is also changing dissemination systems. Stores, libraries and postal delivery continue to play an important role in getting information to the user, but the so- called information highway, the complex global network of phone lines, cables and satellite transmitters have become a major mechanism to bring the user and the electronic text together. While the price of computers continues to fall, the fact is that most persons with a print handicap are also people with severely restricted incomes. This means there is still an access disparity for this population.
To be certain that one brand of computer can 'talk' to another and that information stored in one country can be used meaningfully across the globe, the International Standards Organization has established rules to guide hardware and software producers. The International Committee on Accessible Document Design (ICADD) is working to see that international standards include the kind of information needed to guarantee that such digitized texts can readily interface with software intended to present that text in formats most useful to print impaired readers.
Many library reference works are now on CDROM disks rather than in print. These permit easier updating and also more efficient searching of material. In most cases, if the computer used to access the information is equipped with screen enlarging software and/or screen readers with synthesizers, this material will be accessible to print impaired patrons.
While most material is stored in forms accessible to print handicapped readers, some digitizing of texts is not in such a format. It is possible to store a page of text as a picture of the page and not as letters. Turning a picture of words into spoken output is a much more complex topic.
The document scanner interfaced with optical character recognition, (OCR) can scan a picture of a page into computer format and then analyze it into letters, words and sentences. Many such systems have been developed for the special reading needs of the visually impaired. The resulting electronic text can be output through large screen software or through a speech synthesizer. It is common in the US for major city libraries and most university libraries to have a "reading machine" for their patrons.
The internet is a loose collection of computer networks. It spans the globe and connects uncounted millions of computers and people. It is amorphous and ever-changing and for that reason difficult to describe with any accuracy.
The internet carries thousands of discussion lists. These systems enable large numbers of people to carry on discussions on topics of common interest. The most popular list on library matters is PACS-L, the public access computer system list. The most popular discussion group with a focus on access to libraries for persons with disabilities is AXSLIB-L. It presently has several hundred subscribers in over two dozen countries. It is sponsored by EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) an affiliate of the American Association for Higher Education. EASI is dedicated to disseminating information on disability access to computing and information technology. EASI also sponsors a more general discussion list on adaptive computers. EASI has also created an electronic journal, Information Technology and Disabilities. Its fall issue in 1995 was devoted to libraries and patrons with disabilities.
While there are many ways to travel the information highway, more and more systems are providing some kind of menu-driven interface. Some of these are referred to as gophers and others as browsers for the world wide web (www). Without being technical, the user selects menu items which connect to further menus which may be on a local computer or may be across the ocean. The data travels so quickly, the users rarely have to wait. While access to a world of information is exciting and powerful for anyone, this new power is truly liberating and overwhelming for those of us who have been starved for information.
One of the problems created by the vastness of the internet is getting lost and never finding what you want. At present, getting advice on ideal gophers or web sites for starting-points is important. See the resource information at the end of the paper.
Information technology has brought help for the hungry print handicapped. Electronic text can be manipulated in many ways to assist persons with disabilities in accessing its content. The fact that information is increasingly becoming networked manes that distance becomes no barrier. Information technology can increase access to both procuring material and displaying it. HOwever, libraries and librarians will continue to play a pivotal role for all readers in finding and using materials scattered across the internet. They also need to be alert to the needs of on-site patrons with disabilities in using electronic data. Libraries have a responsibility to meet the needs of these new patrons. EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) is joining with the Association of College and Research Libraries in a project to develop and disseminate materials to libraries that will assist them in meeting this challenge.
Back to Libraries Without Walls Page