Hi Stephanie,

Thanks so much for your note. I'm glad to hear that ACRL is taking steps
to make the pages that constitute the path to ACRL's electronic
publications accessible and more user-friendly. Would you also be so
kind to explain to me, and my colleagues on this forum, whether the
e-learning and e-pub resources themselves, which ACRL (or its contracted
vendor) offers for purchase, are provided in an accessible format? When
they were designed, was an accessibility specialist consulted? Has
someone tested whether users of screen readers, such as JAWS or
Window-Eyes, can access the content of ACRL's electronic products? 

I looked at some of the sample pages, but I had a hard time
extrapolating from what I found there to the accessibility of the actual
product.

Again, thanks for your friendly note. I look forward to hearing from you
again,  

Axel 

******************
Axel Schmetzke, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Library
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
900 Reserve
Stevens Point, WI 54481
[log in to unmask]
Tel: 715-346-4658


-----Original Message-----
From: Stephanie Orphan [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 3:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ACRL's e-Pubs and e-Learning Webcasts

It was brought to our attention that there has been some discussion on
the list regarding major access barriers on the pages leading to our
e-Publications and Webcasts.  ACRL has taken the first step in
correcting this problem by adding "ALT" tags to all of the graphics on
these pages, many of which are button menu items that lead you deeper
into the site.  We hope that this will enable individuals to better make
their way through to the e-Pubs and Webcasts.  We are continuing to look
at ways of improving the pages and regret that this was not dealt with
from the outset.  Both of the products are housed on a vendor site and
we were not as vigilant as we should have been in ensuring that
accessibility guidelines were met.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for further improving
these pages.  Thank you for your patience and concern.


Stephanie Orphan
Web Product Development Specialist
ACRL
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL  60611
ph: 312-280-2511, fax: 312-280-2520
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ala.org/acrl/