Dear Members of the AXSLIB-L Community:

Some of you may be familiar with JSTOR, a not-for-profit online archive
of academic journals available in many libraries and universities.  As
is explained in greater detail below, we are looking for a group of
volunteers to review accessibility modifications to our website before
they are released to the public.  We would greatly appreciate
participation and feedback from members of this listserv.

Because JSTOR's not-for-profit mission is to preserve, in digital
format, the original print journals, we use an image-based format in
order to provide a faithful replication of the print version.  This
format, however, poses challenges in terms of accessibility.  We
recognize that, in the absence of the very latest accessibility
technology, users in the community cannot at present directly read
journal articles in JSTOR because of the image-based format, and for
various reasons, releasing our OCR, which sits behind our images and
enables searchability, would not be a viable means of facilitating
accessibility.  Thus, articles must currently be printed out and scanned
into a document reader, like Kurzweil, to be read aloud.

Recognizing these challenges, we are now engaged in a project to
streamline access for visually impaired and learning disabled users who
require screen readers.  The images of our journal content are stored on
our servers in TIFF format, which are converted to GIF for onscreen
display.  We are in the process of developing an option to enable users
to download the TIFF images for desired content.  The TIFF format is
compatible with OCR software.  Thus, users will be able to access
content with screen reading software, like Kurzweil, that performs OCR
and reads the material aloud.  Alternatively, users will be able to run
their preferred OCR software to create a text file and then use a screen
reader.  It is also worth noting that with recent releases of Kurzweil
3000 and OpenBook, JSTOR's image-based PDF files can be accessed using
the virtual printers packaged with the software.

We have also been making modifications to the html on our website in
order to bring us more in line with W3C-WAI standards and facilitate
access to the TIFF files.  We are hoping to go live with the html
modifications and TIFF availability later this fall.  In preparation for
this release, we are interested in gathering feedback on the
modifications we have made.  This will help us to ensure the quality of
the modifications and inform us of those areas that could use further
improvement, either now or in the future.

We have already arranged for several people who are interested in
accessibility to review our modifications on a preview server.  In
addition, we are looking for 10 volunteers, on a first come, first
served basis, from this listserv.  Please note that we are operating
within a fairly tight timeframe.  Once we hear directly from volunteers,
we will provide those individuals with access to the preview server and
would want feedback by October 17th, so that we have sufficient time to
implement recommendations, where appropriate, before the public release.


Please contact me ([log in to unmask]) if you are interested in reviewing
these changes to the JSTOR site.  When you contact us, please state if
you are from a JSTOR participating institution or not, so that we can
set up a password account for you if necessary.

We would greatly appreciate your feedback in order to ensure that the
modifications make for greater accessibility.

Many thanks,
Beth LaPensee
Manager of Interface Development, JSTOR
301 E. Liberty St. Suite 310
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734)998-9101 or (888)388-3574
[log in to unmask]
JSTOR - http://www.jstor.org