2016 Charleston Library Conference

At the College of Staten Island library, the library subscribes to over one hundred and sixty different electronic resources the library subscribes to. A concerted effort started in 2016 to start collecting relevant VPAT statements from current and/ or new vendors, and to integrate these new steps into the current workflow. A VPAT repository was created through CORAL, an open-source ERM. Next, the process of evaluating these VPAT and making decisions based on user feedback will be discussed. The poster will discuss the responsibilities of purchasing agents in libraries (acquisition or electronic resource librarians) in regards to first understanding disability laws and how these mandates apply when investigating, evaluating, acquiring, and maintaining electronic resources. Relevant tools will have been discussed, in particular, the use of VPAT or Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates and even WCAG 2.0 guidelines that are used when evaluating digital resources for Section 508 compliance. The benefits and downfalls of these evaluation tools would have been discussed as well as the sharing of current processes used at different libraries in determining the accessibility of e-resources. The concept of universal design (UD) will be discussed, which is beneficial to all patrons, and how to incorporate UD into better purchasing decisions for digital products in acquisitions.