Hi all, I know there has been a lot of discussion lately regarding a new OPAC for Evergreen, and I'm interested in knowing if any thought has been given to accessibility and usability for the visually impaired.
A high priority identified by the MassLNC consortia is to ensure that the catalog is not only accessible to the visually impaired, but that it also has good usability for this group of users. Several months ago, we had contacted staff at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA, who said they would be willing to test the accessibility of the Evergreen catalog for people using screen readers and those using screen magnification software. At the time, the KCLS catalog was still under active development, and we were planning to wait and test accessibility using the KCLS skin so that we would be testing something current. However, now that the community is working towards a re-write of the catalog, I'm wondering if there is a way we can get these volunteer involved in the process a little earlier so that some attention can be paid to ensuring that the catalog is accessible. In searching the mailing list archive about accessibility, I see that the SlimPAC was thought to be friendlier to screen readers, but there was no account access from the SlimPAC. I know the new mobile catalog will have account access, but the needs of mobile users are a lot different than the needs of visually-imparied users. I think this would be a great opportunity to make sure we reach out to a group of users who may not have always had good access to their library's catalogs. Thanks! Kathy Lussier ------------------------------------------------------------- Kathy Lussier Project Coordinator Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative (508) 756-0172 (508) 755-3721 (fax) [email protected] IM: kmlussier (AOL & Yahoo) Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier
