Chapter 1. Introduction

Heather Moorefield-Lang

It all started with a conversation about YouTube channels and closed-captioning. I have two separate YouTube channels with two separate audiences in mind. The first is titled Tech 15. I created this channel in 2014 with the intention of making short two-to-five-minute videos focusing on different technology tools and sites as well as how each could be integrated into classroom and library instruction. My second YouTube channel is newer and called Research Xpress. I created it to help middle school, high school, and early college students with step-by-step research skills from finding research and information to presenting and citing research. It is a clearinghouse of videos to aid students and the educators and librarians who work with them. All of the videos housed on each channel are closed-captioned for full access and licensed for Creative Commons sharing. The idea behind both channels is to look with an eye toward Universal Design for Learning and accessibility for all students.

Tech 15

https://www.youtube.com/TechFifteen

Research Xpress

http://www.youtube.com/ResearchXpress

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) focuses on the effort to expand and improve teaching and learning for all students based on how they learn.1 When we make learning available to our students and library patrons through technology, it is imperative that this learning be accessible to all. What this means is that a person who is differently abled can gain the same information, have the same interactions, and be afforded the same instruction as someone who is not identified as differently abled, preferably with ease of use.2 Accommodations such as closed-captioning, documents for screen readers, and voice-to-text software are some of the ways to make learning more accessible and universal.

In this issue of Library Technology Reports, we will look at accessibility, technology, and librarianship across a wide spectrum. Ida Mae Craddock will discuss using virtual reality and Google Expeditions with second language learners. Helen Turner and Patrick Lee Lucas will delve into universal design and providing equitable access to students in the University of Kentucky’s College of Design. George Shaw will investigate instruction and access for students taking an online computer programming course. Making library materials accessible to readers through PDF scanning will be the focus of Robert Browder’s contribution to this report. Stacy Brown will discuss the impact of littleBits with students at the K–12 level in libraries. Quality Matters accessibility measures, online instruction, library partnerships, and professional development will be the foci of Aisha S. Haynes’s discussion. Stacy Hammer will complete our report with a look into the differentiation of instruction in libraries and how technology can be used with our students in the K–12 setting.

There is something for everyone in this report. Authors are from K–12 and academic libraries. They write from schools of library science and other disciplines. The focus remains the same—accessibility for our students and patrons, and an emphasis on the library or on partnerships that include the library.

Audience

I envision the readers of this issue of Library Technology Reports to be librarians, classroom teachers, preservice librarians, and professors of library science. In actuality, this report is for anyone looking to find ideas and concepts in the area of accessibility and universal design with technology in learning and instruction. Though we focus on library settings and partnerships, the case studies and ideas shared in this report can easily cross disciplines. We have authors from around the United States represented in this report, but we hope to address the needs of international readers as well. Every chapter written for this report had a specific audience in mind because the authors worked with a certain population. This report was written for the express purpose of generating and sharing ideas as well as to inspire readers to think about learning and methods for making online instruction accessible to all learners and library patrons.

Notes

1. “About Universal Design for Learning,” CAST, accessed March 7, 2018, www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html.
2. Sheryl Burgstahler, “ADA Compliance for Online Course Design,” Educause Review, January 30, 2017, https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/1/ada-compliance-for-online-course-design.