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Analyzing the submission Access for All: An Assistive Technologies Training Resource Manual for Library Staff, it is necessary to notice that the main idea of this work is the presentation of the program for library staff which includes the issues and technologies that can be explored for people with disabilities. The submission contains different facts about the possibility and level of access of the people with disabilities to the libraries.
Taking into consideration the information provided into submission, it is possible to admit a sensible measures and peculiarities of the program for staff that will be helpful for the people with disabilities. Most of the information of the present submission covers the facts about disability population and the technical facilities, but there are no peculiarities about what elements such program should contain.
The author indicates that, according to the United States Census (2008), the population with disabilities is 54,4 million Americans and obviously all those people require the special conditions within the access to the libraries. Trained staff should pay attention of the different types of the disabilities. It the present submission, the author provides the classification of disabilities of Green and Blair (2011).
Thus, print disabilities include blindness, dyslexia, color blindness and concentration problems. Mobility disabilities can include the various conditions such as repetitive stress injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome) and advances conditions (Cerebral Palsy). Speech disabilities influence the communicative capability, including stuttering and loss voice.
The last type is hearing difficulties starting form hearing loss to the total deafness. The clarification of the particular problem should help staff to understand the specific of the measures which should be provided in order to help people while using the libraries. Therefore, this information is appropriate and helpful.
The author cites the Library Services for People with Disabilities Policy, indicating that libraries should provide training opportunities for all library employees and volunteers to sensitize them to issues affecting people with disabilities and to teach effective techniques for providing services for users with disabilities and for working with colleagues with disabilities (American Library Association, 2001).
As the Association emphasizes an importance of making the facilities accessible to the people with disabilities, they have to be ensure that libraries meet their legal, societal, professional and moral obligations. Therefore, it is highly important to train staff, providing the information needed for an adequate working of the libraries.
The author provides table set by Green and Blair (2011) with a list of technologies that should be used in every library. Thus, people with print disabilities should have an access to the Braille equipment, note taking devices, screen keyboards and magnifiers and speech synthesizers.
Mobility disabilities require the use of ergonomic keyboards, ADA compliant library facilities and stacks and alternatives keyboards and mice. People with speech disabilities need special services such as STS (speech to speech services), speech recognition software and head tracking devices.
In order to help people with hearing disabilities, the libraries should provide the use of TTY (teletypewriters), telephone amplification devices and closed captioning devices.
The training manual should fulfill the different facilities that should be used in libraries and measures provided by staff in order to help the people with disabilities to get an adequate access to the information and the sources.
Therefore, the analysis of the present submission shows that the author not only demonstrates a comprehension of the problem, but also provides a list of technical facilities and measures which should be used.
For instance, the submission provides several websites which use the different technical instruments for the people with disabilities: Boston-IA (2010), National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (2000) and the list of ADA requirements according to the Disability Law Center (ADA Checklist).
However, although the author provides a good description of the technical facilities, the topic of the training programs for staff is not covered well. Thus, it is possible to find the statement that such programs are necessary, but there are no peculiarities about what elements such program should contain.
For instance, it can be useful to mention that the library staff can help people with visual disabilities walking with them through the rooms in order to create a mental map (Wade, 2003).
Only one example provided is the checklist program of the Library at the University of Washington (2012) which includes the developing of the list of important services needed for the people with disabilities. However, the author does not provide an analysis of this instrument.
Concluding the analysis, it is possible to notice that the present submission covers topic well, however, some of the highly important parts are not explored and analyzed well. Thus, there is a list of the technical facilities that help the people with disabilities to use the libraries and mentioned that some of the libraries try to use those instruments. However, there is no explanation which elements the program for staff should include.
It would be appropriate to suggest the concrete measures within the process of providing the access to the facilities and the information for the people with disabilities which the staff of the library should be acquainted with.
Reference List
American Library Association (2001). Library services for people with disabilities policy. Web.
Boston-IA (2010). Assistive Technologies. Web.
Disability Law Center. ADA Checklist. Web.
Green, R. & Blair, V. (2011). Keep it simple: A guide to assistive technologies. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (2000). NLS references bibliographies: Assistive Technologies. Web.
University of Washington (2012). Universal Access: Making Library Resources Available to People with Disabilities. Web.
U. S. Census (2008). Number of Americans with a disability reaches 54,4 million. Washington D.C. Web.
Wade, G. L. (2003). Serving the visually impaired user. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 3 (2), 307-313. Web.
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