Resources+and+Tools

= Resources for Accessibility in the Library = toc

General Resources

 * Library Accessibility Tip Sheets from the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, American Library Association
 * Library Access Checklist from the American Library Association
 * Access to Libraries for Persons with Disabilities Checklist from International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2005
 * Universal Access: Making Library Resources Accessible to People with Disabilities Provides general overview of access And a checklist to help determine library accessibility.
 * Library Services for People with Disabilities Policy of the American Library Association
 * CAST The Center for Applied Special Technology is "a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning"
 * AccessIT The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education
 * Youth with Special Needs: A Resource and Planning Guide for Wisconsin Public Libraries Provides "guidance and practical suggestions to public librarians to ensure that all youth with special needs have appropriate, convenient, and equitable access to materials and technology at public libraries "

Web Accessibility Standards

 * Section 508 Information from the U.S. government about Section 508, the law that "requires that Federal agencies’ electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities."
 * WebAIM Section 508 Standards checklist Lists and describes the web accessibility standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
 * World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Guidelines for web accessibility developed by W3C.

High Interest/Low Reading Level Book Selection
= Tools for Accessibility =
 * High Noon Books Publisher of high interest/low reading level fiction and nonfiction books
 * Orca Soundings Fiction for teens reading below grade level
 * Perfection Learning Vendor with an extensive line of high/low fiction and nonfiction books for children and teens
 * Townsend Press Publisher of high interest/low reading level fiction (Bluford series, TP Library)
 * The Book Lists page provides additional resources for collection development

Articles

 * Meshcheryakova, T. (2010, August 27). Apps help children with developmental disabilities [Web log post]. Retrieved from @http://sixestate.com/apps-help-children-with-developmental-disabilities/ Includes a list of recommended apps
 * Villarreal, D. (2012, January 11). How to pick great apps from a sea of mediocre one [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.connsensebulletin.com/2012/01/how-to-pick-great-apps-from-a-sea-of-mediocre-ones
 * Williams, M. (2012, April 18). iPads especially helpful for special needs students. The Washington Post. Retrieved from @http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/ipads-especially-helpful-for-special-needs-students/2012/04/17/gIQAQn1iQT_story.html

Resources and Tools

 * AbilityHub "Assistive Technology for people with a disability who find operating a computer difficult, maybe even impossible. This web site will direct you to adaptive equipment and alternative methods available for accessing computers"
 * AbleData "provides objective information about assistive technology products and rehabilitation equipment"
 * Apps for Children with Special Needs provides reviews and "videos that demonstrate how products designed to educate children and build their life skills really work from a user perspective"
 * Bookshare An online library of digital books in accessible formats (for use with screen readers) for people with print disabilities
 * CogniTech Cafe Assistive Technology resources for individuals, families and professionals
 * ConnSENSE Bulletin The Connecticut Special Education Network for Software Evaluation provides a wealth of information about assistive technology (AT), including a list of apps for education, funding sources for AT, and other resources
 * Dragon Naturally Speaking Speech recognition software converts speech to text
 * Kurzweil Educational Systems Assistive technology, text-to-speech, and literacy software solutions
 * QIAT Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology Services in school settings
 * Texthelp Systems Assistive technology software, including Read&Write Gold (text-to-speech) and Lexiflow (delivery of talking ebooks)

Captioning

 * YouTube captioning Information on adding captions to your YouTube video (scroll to the bottom for info on how you can generate a caption file automatically via voice recognition; editing is likely necessary, but it save a lot of time if you don't already have a script)

Free Screen Reading Software

 * BrowseAloud Free screen reading software for both Mac and PC. Reads secure web pages, pdf files, and Word documents.
 * NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) Free screen reading software for PC. Feedback via synthetic speech and Braille for web browsers, email clients, internet chat programs, and office suites.
 * WebAnywhere "A web-based screen reader for the web"

Accessibility & Language Checkers

 * Cynthia Says A free, online program designed to evaluate whether a web page meets accessibility standards. A tutorial is available by following the link.
 * Flesh A free, open source software program that analyzes a document to produce the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and the Flesch Reading Ease Score
 * Lexile Analyzer Free software that provides the Lexile measure of a piece of text (registration required).
 * The Readability Test Tool Provides six indexes of readability, including Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning Fog. Enter a URL or copy and paste your text.
 * SpellChecker Copy and paste your text to check spelling and grammar.
 * LanguageTool A free, open source software program to check grammar and style.

//** Last Updated January 2014. **//