Does anyone know what's been done to approach vendors of these products?  Has anyone raised this issue to anyone else at ALA (just so I know, since that's where I am!)?  What suggestions do people have for an approach to this issue?

Audrey
[log in to unmask]

<<< [log in to unmask]  5/22 12:02p >>>
Through some pretty intensive investigations we have not found any web based
library packages, and have contacted almost all of the library software
vendors, with no response.

Two years ago about 80% of the library systems were inaccessible, six months
ago it had climbed to 95%, primarily due to the issues you found with the
Webpacs system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron Stewart, Director
Technology Access Program
Information Services
Oregon State University
109 Kidder Hall
Corvallis, Oregon  97331
Phone: 1.541.737.7307
Fax:   1.541.737.2159
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
WWW: http://tap.orst.edu



-----Original Message-----
From: Kelly Ford [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2000 9:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Accessibility of Webpacs


Hello Everyone,

I was recently talking with officials at the Multnomah County Library in
Portland, Oregon and learned that they are soon going too be using a
graphical (web-based) library catalog system called Webpacs.  Apparently it
comes from the vendor of their existing catalog system.

The person I was talking with gave me URLs of some other libraries that are
already using this system.  From my preliminary explorations it would
appear that Webpacs is both a Java application and virtually inaccessible
to screen readers.  Does anyone know if the accessibility option is correct
and if so anything about efforts to address it?

Below are the examples the person I spoke with provided to me.

Kelly

Examples of Other Webpacs
Carroll Online <http://www.carr.org/>
        http://www.carr.org/
        Carroll County Public Library - Nice buttons, other locations/this
location
DeKalb County Public Library Catalog
<http://findit.dekalb.public.lib.ga.us/>
        http://findit.dekalb.public.lib.ga.us/
Dynix WebPAC <http://www.sanjuan.lib.wa.us/webclient.html>
        http://www.sanjuan.lib.wa.us/webclient.html
        San Juan Island Library District
Kent District Library <http://www.kentlibrary.lib.mi.us/>
        http://www.kentlibrary.lib.mi.us/
        Nice buttons, interesting indexes
The New York Public Library <http://www.nypl.org/>
        http://www.nypl.org/
        Spawns new clean window
WebPAC J1.2 <http://pac.timberland.lib.wa.us/>
        http://pac.timberland.lib.wa.us/
        Timberland Regional Library - New books!

Check the URL below to register your institutions
Web page in EASI's Batteri-free Web contest.
http://www.rit.edu/~easi

Check the URL below to register your institutions
Web page in EASI's Batteri-free Web contest.
http://www.rit.edu/~easi

                        

Check the URL below to register your institutions
Web page in EASI's Batteri-free Web contest.
http://www.rit.edu/~easi