Barbara M. Pope
Reference/Periodicals Librarian
Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg KS
bpope@pittstate.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8419-4839
Samantha Thompson-Franklin
Collections & Government Information Librarian
University of Idaho, Moscow ID
sthompsonfranklin@uidaho.edu
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6945-9173
Abstract
Accessibility in academic libraries touches on many different issues, such as access to buildings and facilities, websites, software, hardware, and the library’s collections. This article reviews the literature on accessibility in higher education, focusing on the topic of collaboration among departments on university and college campuses with the goal of better serving students with disabilities. These entities include the academic library, student disability services, and teaching faculty, among other possibilities. Students with disabilities attending institutions of higher education without accessible library resources and students who are unaware of available resources may be unable to fully participate in or complete their education. However, accessibility in library resources and services helps to eliminate those barriers, but the information must be communicated to those who need it, including student disability services, teaching faculty, and students themselves. Ideally, academic libraries should collaborate with campus partners to assess existing resources and services in order to provide students with disabilities with accessible learning and support materials and make the campus more accessible for all students.
Introduction
The need to build relationships with other entities on campus in order to know the collections and serve the needs of students, faculty, and staff is well known in academic libraries. However, the need for accessibility of library resources and services to support students with disabilities should be equally important, and building relationships across campus to make this happen is just as crucial. Accessibility in academic libraries touches on many different issues, such as access to buildings, facilities, websites, software, hardware, and the library’s collections. This article reviews the literature on accessibility in higher education, focusing on the topic of collaboration between the college or university library and other departments on their respective university and college campuses with the goal of better serving students with disabilities. Students with disabilities attending institutions of higher education without accessible library resources and those who are unaware of available resources may not be able to fully participate in or complete their education. However, accessibility in library resources helps to eliminate barriers through accessible library resources, documents, and technology. College and university libraries should collaborate with campus partners to assess existing resources and create a more inclusive environment for all learners. In addition, they should communicate the information out to all students, student disability services, and teaching faculty.
Accessibility should be part of initial design of a resource and not an afterthought, necessitating creating accessible alternatives for students with disabilities. Some academic libraries are actively addressing the issue, such as involving students with disabilities in testing and design processes and publicizing information about assistive technologies, services, and facilities on their accessibility pages. Others are evaluating resources for compliance with accessibility standards prior to subscribing to or using them. However, challenges persist, especially regarding promotion of accessible resources to the academic campus community, as well as learning what the needs are. One of these challenges is lack of knowledge and training, as some teaching faculty may be unaware of what accessibility is and why it is necessary. A specific example that exists for some is the desire to maintain the status quo in library services and teaching, because it has always been done a certain way; without education on the topic to have an informed view, they may not see a reason to change. Other reasons may include funding or equipment. Academic libraries should aim to ensure equitable access to resources for all users, as well as collaborate with other campus units to assess the needs of students with disabilities, ensure accessibility and visibility of library resources, and offer options where existing resources are not accessible.
Literature Review
What are Disabilities? What Is Accessibility?
Disability is defined by Merriam-Webster (n.d.) as “a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person’s ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions.”
Libraries have had a long commitment to providing and promoting equal access to resources for the disabled, even before it was recognized or legally required. The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled was established by an act of Congress in 1931 to provide materials to the disabled (National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, 2023). Fundamentally, accessibility in academic libraries is about creating access to library resources and services so that they are accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of their abilities. However, one of the difficulties in doing this is the lack of visibility of the needed resources and assistance. It may not be apparent on college and university campuses where to get help, making it only more difficult for students with disabilities to get help. Web accessibility and usability are essential to today’s academic library’s mission to provide access to information. Small, et al. (2015) emphasize that “accessibility and inclusion are at the very core of what libraries are all about…” and that “libraries and librarians have an essential, catalytic role to play in facilitating the full participation of people with disabilities in society” (p. 74). However, the authors of the current article emphasize the difficulty in attaining universal accessibility because a resource that is accessible to one person with a disability may not be for another. Chiricuzio & Enis (2024) echoed this sentiment when they said “Access needs are not universal, and neither are the ways to meet them” (p. 22). Therefore, it is important to be flexible, creative, and have options.
Another difficulty with making libraries more accessible is getting the cooperation of everyone involved onboard with making their resources accessible. Lack of cooperation with attaining accessibility could be due to a misconception about disabilities or the purpose of accessibility, among other possibilities. Cooperation among all partners involved is essential for students with disabilities to succeed. Chiricuzio & Enis (2024) quote Alicia Deal, a librarian at Dallas Public Library who is disabled and blind, who says that accessibility is created through ‘’‘collaboration, creativity, and a … commitment to ongoing learning’” (p. 22).
Misconceptions About Accessibility
The Division of Diversity, Equity, Access & Inclusion at the University of New Hampshire (2025) lists seven misconceptions about accessibility on their website, the first being “if the material is digitally available, then it must be accessible,” but not all students with disabilities are able to use resources in the same format (para. 1). The second misconception the agency lists is that “Accessibility only benefits people with disabilities” but it actually benefits everyone (para. 2). One example of an accessible resource is an audiobook, which is accessible to visually impaired people, but can be used by anyone if captioning is included in the recording. Another common misconception identified by the University of New Hampshire is that a resource or service can be made accessible later as an add-on, when accessibility “should be considered at the … beginning of design” (para. 3). While it may seem easier to make something accessible after the fact, it is actually easier and more efficient to create accessible resources from the beginning; accommodations, which is changing a resource in order to accommodate the needs of a person with a disability, should be a last resort. Another misconception that the University of New Hampshire found is that “accessibility is all about compliance” with the law, but it is actually the minimum level expected (para. 4). The last misconception noted by the University of New Hampshire is that “student[s] can use assistive technology so there is no need” for accessibility (para. 5). Content should be designed to be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust per the WCAG 2.2 principles; without that, users with disabilities may not be able to use them (World Wide Web Consortium, 2023).
Another misconception about accessibility and accommodation is that the two are synonymous, but there are important differences. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Accessibility website (2024) distinguishes between them, stating that accessibility is deliberate “and strive[s] to remove barriers during the design stage” with the goal to create an inclusive environment for learning, while accommodation “strives to remove barriers” after the resource is created (para. 3-4). Resources which have been modified with accommodations are not as accessible as those which have been made as accessible as possible beginning in the design process. For example, an instructor may create a syllabus and assignments and believe that text documents can be read by anyone with or without disabilities. However, if the instructor does not change the serif font to a sans serif font and add alt tags for images, a student with a vision impairment may not be able to use a text to speech reader to read the documents and complete assignments. If the document does not have a sufficient amount of color contrast, other students may be unable to read it. If the instructor were to create assignments from the beginning with accessibility in mind, it is possible that no accommodations would be needed.
How Widespread Is the Need for Accessibility in Higher Education?
According to the United States Census Bureau 2014 statistics, 14.4% or 4,356,000 people ages 18-24 reported having a disability (Taylor, 2018). The National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] Digest of Education Statistics (2022) reported that the percentage of degree-granting postsecondary institutions with first-year undergraduates students with disabilities declined from 80.3% with 3% or less disabled students enrolled in 2010-2011 to 59.5% in 2021-2022. The NCES reported in April 2022 that 65% of students with prior diagnosis of a disability did not inform their college (NCES, 2022). The report continues by speculating on reasons for this, one of which includes “poor knowledge of services or bad experiences with staff or teachers” among others (NCES, 2022). The same document also notes that students at 4-year colleges reported receiving accommodations or services at a higher rate (85%) than students at 2-year colleges (57%). The authors infer from this that higher education institutions are aware of the need for accommodations and are providing it when requested by the student. However, accommodations come after instruction and resources have been created; accessibility of resources and services, purposely designed to be accessible to as many people as possible, is the ideal outcome. While it is unlikely to be universally accessible because of the variance in disabilities, the authors wonder about the likelihood of accessibility of library resources being a matter of course rather than the exception.
How Lack of Accessibility Affects Students With Disabilities
With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, academic libraries were legally and ethically obligated to provide equal access to resources and services to persons with disabilities (Falloon, 2015). Having the ability to use accessible resources complies with laws on accessibility at both the federal and state levels, as well as being equitable, potentially increases student retention and successful completion of their program. Students with visual impairment, dyslexia, or cognitive disabilities may not be able to read or use typical resources available in academic libraries. Majinge & Mutula (2018) discuss challenges and barriers that visually impaired individuals face when trying to access library resources that can prevent them from accessing resources for themselves. They note that these barriers include a lack of alternative formats, dependency on third parties, the variety of impairments, the technological barriers, and time needed for visually impaired users to access information due to the limited nature of assistive technologies (p. 467). The result for students with disabilities can be falling behind, poor performance, and potentially, not completing their programs. However, one of the researchers of this current article asked about the possibilities that exist for changing this scenario for the better using existing resources. The researcher discovered that their library’s document scanner has the ability to scan a print document and save it as an mp3 or plain text file, which is more accessible for students with disabilities. This is only one example of a change that can be easily made without having to acquire new resources. This difference in resources provided could be a game changer for students with disabilities.
The literature confirms that inaccessible content is often an impediment to student retention and success (Francis et al, 2021). However, at Weber State University, a partnership between the library and two campus departments was successful in fostering student success with the intention to create a campus wide initiative to make all online course content accessible and to support faculty course development. The library was able to collaborate with Disability Services in order for course content to be fully accessible from the start of the course, rather than waiting for an accommodations request. This approach was valuable to students and removed barriers to success and retention (Francis et al, 2021). Libraries who have the opportunity to work with instructional course design units on their campuses to make course content accessible can point to the tangible benefit of proactively supporting student success in this manner. And student success may not be just students with disabilities, but possibly other students as well, as making instruction and resources more accessible makes them more accessible for everyone. In addition, some students may have disabilities and not even be aware of them. Kaufmann, et al. (2018) note that at Seminole State College, collaborations between the Library and Disability Support Services eventually led to the successful awarding of a mini grant, which was used to provide software which improved access to information and resources used by students with and without disabilities (pp. 5-6). The collaboration also highlighted the units’ shared goals of providing services to support students’ academic success and improving access to resources and overcome barriers by finding opportunities to collaborate even though they reported to different divisions within the college (pp. 1-2). Such partnerships show that libraries can play a key role on their campuses by collaborating with other units to improve access to services and resources to the benefit of students, and also serve as a model for all academic libraries.
Koford & Martinez de Morales (2023) note that many library resources and websites contain barriers to accessibility and a variety of reasons exist for continued barriers. Some of those barriers exist with the creators of library databases. For example, library database developers may not consider accessibility in their design, as the databases often contain information that does not work with assistive technologies, including elements that impede accessibility and make navigation time-consuming and cumbersome. Koford & Martinez de Morales (2023) emphasize that lack of accessibility and usability in library resources could be due to assumptions about accessibility mentioned earlier or a lack of knowledge. For example, they add that a vendor’s resources can be considered accessible technically, but if the vendor ignores usability, the result can be “e-resources [that] are cumbersome to use” (p. 380). Therefore, the authors of this article advocate for e-resource vendors and publishers to not just meet the minimum accessibility standard, but to also make them usable. Some vendors are making strides towards improving their resources for those with disabilities, including providing EPUB, plain text, and the ability to listen to a document as alternatives to PDFs, but there is still a ways to go.
Campus Partnerships to Enhance and Promote Accessibility
Campus partnerships between academic libraries and other units on campuses can be invaluable for providing and promoting library resources for students with disabilities. Such partnerships can successfully support such students through identifying accessibility issues, alternative instruction methods in the library and classroom, and ensuring that library resources are accessible. Santos, et al. (2024) reported that “One major challenge that institutions face when launching transformation efforts is that they operate in ‘silos,’ meaning that they have separate departments … with little communication or coordination” (p. 1). The authors of this article emphasize the importance of accessibility on a university campus, which makes it all the more critical that campus departments collaborate to accomplish common goals, each with a piece of the pie, but having a shared vision.
The authors of this article brainstormed some additional possible collaboration efforts, including consulting the College of Education faculty who teach Special Education for guidance on making library resources and services more accessible to students with disabilities. In addition, Pope has promoted the accessible library resources and services by presenting at campus professional development events and maintains contact with Student Disability Services on campus. Student Disability Services is in contact with students with disabilities and faculty teaching their courses on various issues. Because of the relationship that exists between the PSU’s library and Student Disability Services, it is easier to be aware of problematic resources and needs that students and faculty may encounter. Another effort that would be difficult to accomplish would be for the campus to create a committee to address accessibility campuswide. These potential initiatives illustrate a few ways in which library staff can proactively work with other campus units to address the needs of students with disabilities.
Murphy, Amerud, & Corcoran (2019) conducted a literature search on collaborations between academic libraries and disability services offices but found little information; later, they created a survey, the goal for which was to “help the authors understand the extent of these partnerships and inform ways … to support an increasing number of students with disabilities” (p.122). Santos, et al. (2024) emphasized that “cross-functional teams [CFTs] are one potential response to the problem of silos” (p. 1) mentioned earlier in this current article. Santos, et al. (2024) added that researchers investigated existing CFTs at some colleges and a government agency to see “how institutions are assembling and using CFTs to advance their transformation efforts” (p. 2). Santos, et al. (2024) added that team members worked well together, but emphasized the need for “a clear plan with measurable outcomes” (p. 2) and the importance of leaders with a “vision for how the CFT” will work with the rest of campus (p. 5). However, they acknowledge the difficulty of this because of “multiple competing priorities” (Santos, et al., 2024, p. 5). Based on data collected, the researchers and CFTs created a tool to address “institutional goals and … how the CFTs would contribute” which members found helpful (Santos, et al., p. 6). Given that little general information is available on campus wide collaborations, academic libraries interested in creating similar collaborations on their own campuses may want to first conduct an informal survey on their own campus to determine what role they can play to best meet the needs of students with disabilities.
Sanchez-Rodriguez & LoGiudice’s (2018) case study of a partnership between an academic library and the Office of Student Disability Services at City College of New York resulted in “a broader approach in providing inclusive library services” (p. 144). This process included doing an assessment and identifying problem areas (p. 143) and establishing new policies (p. 152). The authors add that while academic libraries hold large collections in various “accessible formats, libraries remain largely inaccessible to people with various disabilities,” so measures such as appointing a library liaison is important to “engaging and … connecting students with … library resources” (p. 144). Many academic libraries have a liaison program whereby librarians establish contact with faculty in departments in order to learn about the departments’ need for library resources, library instruction, and one on one assistance for students and faculty. This is the case at both Pittsburg State University and the University of Idaho, the current researchers’ respective institutions. Both researchers have ways of staying in contact with faculty and fielding requests for accessible resources. Engaging with teaching faculty and departments about library resources can increase the faculty’s awareness of available resources and services for their areas and the library’s awareness of weaknesses. Also, it is helpful for academic libraries to have alternative methods to provide information when an accessible format is not immediately available. In addition, libraries should maintain vendor and publisher contact information for when issues arise.
Arzola (2016) offers a unique perspective of accessibility in higher education through a series of collaborations that occurred between librarian, student disability services, and students. The collaborations allowed students, faculty, and staff to learn about problems that “would otherwise not have been investigated, discovered or understood” (Arzola, 2016, p. 8). The collaboration began when the Office of Student Disability Services hosted an assembly to impart information about accessibility resources and technical support to students who use the Assistive Technology Center (p. 2). In the assembly, students gave valuable feedback on needed changes to the campus website, databases, and course documents, particularly PDFs (p. 3). Subsequent to the assembly, a conference on University Design for Learning (UDL) was held (p. 4). Arzola notes lessons learned from the different collaboration events, including learning that “some disabilities are not visible” and that “librarians [need to] learn more about accessibility options in technology to assist all students” (2016, p. 7). Faculty are constantly challenged to keep up with changes in their field, technology, and other issues, but at the same time need to become more aware of accessibility and how it can help all students, not just students with disabilities. There are many options available for this kind of training, including self-paced training, webinars, and conferences. Arzola notes the importance of recognizing that collaborations “require time commitments” (2016, p. 2). However, time commitments could be a stumbling block for some institutions, as faculty, who may already feel overloaded with so many other responsibilities, fear becoming more aware of accessible library resources may just feel like an extra burden.
The literature shows that several academic libraries have noted the merits of collaborating with other departments to promote and enhance accessibility on their campuses, including an increased awareness in accessible resources (Arzola, 2016; Ostergaard, 2015). The University Library at the University of Saskatchewan began a journey towards accessibility in 1994 when a professor obtained funding to purchase a Kurzweil reader for use in the Education Library to be used by students with disabilities (Murphy et al., 2019). Later efforts included designating a room for use by students with disabilities and purchasing a braille printer and magnification software and hardware (Murphy et al., 2019). Eventually, a Disability Services for Students office was created (Murphy et al., 2019).
Kowalsky & Woodruff (2016) note that library staff at Rowan University collaborated with the University’s Disability Services office on promoting and hosting open houses on their services and working together to purchase assistive technology and software for users with print and visual disabilities (p. 112). Sanchez-Rodriguez & LoGiudice (2018) add that “cross-collaboration” is a proactive team effort to “implement new ways of cultivating an accessible environment-physical and virtual” on the campus (p.145). Skills in cross collaboration on accessibility and instruction using alternative methods may not come naturally to everyone, and so, additional training on accessibility may be required (Arzola, 2016). “Learning about the importance of accessibility and how the library can help improve access through collaborations … is valuable. Students with disabilities do face challenges, but acknowledging growing technology and accessibility requirements will assist the library and faculty to better serve students” (Arzola, 2016, p. 8). At the College of Staten Island (NY), library staff partnered with several departments across campus to coordinate and implement a program to meet the needs of students with disabilities (Falloon, 2015).
Limited financial resources is not an unknown issue in academic libraries, large and small, across the United States. With the increasing costs of print and electronic resources, having funds to purchase new equipment or other resources may be difficult or impossible for some libraries. Creating funding sources to acquire new library resources, equipment, training, among other possibilities to increase the accessibility of a library is another potential challenge for academic libraries everywhere. While library budgets may have difficulty affording new resources like these, the library could work with other departments on campus, including the alumni and development office, that can apply for grants and get donations from organizations and alumni for needed resources.
Ezell, et al. (2022) provide an overview of current and past accessibility practices of 85 academic libraries through an analysis of their accessibility pages, in order to assess and evaluate the state of accessibility within academic librarianship (p. 223). The authors also provide a perspective on how libraries communicate information to their users about their accessibility services and practices. In their survey, they found a marked improvement in communicating accessibility services, resources, and facilities to users, over the previous ten years, with public institutions providing more information compared to private institutions. However, accessibility for collections and subscriptions was lacking for approximately half of the accessibility pages they surveyed (p. 234). Students can also serve as library advocates and collaborators to help with outreach to other units on campus, including promoting disability services to their peers, and with advertising, and social media campaigns (Kowalsky & Woodruff, 2016).
Student Motivation as a Factor in Successful Learning By Students with Disabilities
Moriña (2019) studied 199 faculty members from several universities about the keys to successful learning for students with disabilities. The data showed that intentional efforts on the part of faculty to develop connections with and include students with disabilities, both inside and outside of the classroom, were critical to the students feeling valued or connected in the university or college community. Students who developed good relationships with their professors were less likely to drop out. Thereby, retention rates could conceivably improve as students would be more likely to complete their studies (Moriña, 2019). The study also found that student self-motivation was a key factor to being successful in their coursework “and indicates that faculty do not have to work any harder to engage this group of students in their subjects” (Moriña, 2019, p. 12). The faculty member’s own motivation–a passion for teaching and engaging all students in the learning process–was also an important factor in developing faculty-student relationships and fostering student success (Moriña, 2019). Through their interactions with students, librarians and library staff can also contribute to increasing retention rates of students with disabilities by encouraging those students to get to know their professors and allowing their professors to get to know them in return.
Conclusion
The academic library’s mission is to support students, faculty, and staff through library instruction and access to databases, journals, ebooks, and other resources to support discovery and scholarship. Accessibility in academic libraries touches on many different issues, such as access to buildings, facilities, websites, software, hardware, and the library’s collections. However, this article reviewed the literature on accessibility in higher education, focusing on the topic of collaboration between academic libraries and other campus departments with the goal of better serving students with disabilities. The authors hoped to provide perspective on how accessibility could be enhanced in higher education through collaboration among campus partners with a role in accessibility. These entities include the academic library, student disability services, and teaching faculty, but may include others at other campuses. Students with disabilities attending institutions of higher education without accessible library resources and services and students who are unaware of them may be less likely to fully participate in or complete their education.
Accessibility in library resources and services helps to eliminate those barriers, but the information must be communicated to those who need it, including student disability services, teaching faculty, and the students themselves. Ideally, academic libraries should collaborate with campus partners to assess existing resources in order to provide students with disabilities with accessible learning and support materials and make the campus more accessible for all students. Just as libraries advocate for libraries to be available for everyone for free, uncensored consumption of thoughts, they should also be accessible by as many people as possible. Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and Inventor of the World Wide Web, had the same thought when he said, “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.” Various departments on campuses deal with different aspects of accessibility. Librarians should find out what is already happening at their institutions regarding accessibility and support or join existing efforts at that level. Accessibility of electronic resources also needs to be an ongoing conversation between vendors, libraries, and their institutions, including licensing for accessibility. Some of the literature the authors consulted reflected that librarians and others in higher education gained useful knowledge about how to serve students with disabilities.
Cooperation among departments at a higher education institution helps to better serve the needs of students with disabilities and potentially benefits all students. Different learners may have different learning styles and some disabilities are invisible or unknown, so it pays for the academic library to be accessible to all, not just those students with a visible disability.
At the authors’ respective institutions, ongoing collaboration efforts between the library and other units on campus are being made to address and meet the needs of students with disabilities. Barbara M. Pope, Reference/Periodicals Librarian from Pittsburg State University in Kansas, has had proactive communication with Student Disability Services since early 2022, keeping staff there apprised of available resources and gathering information about formats that are accessible for many students. In addition, Pope has created the Resources to Support Effective Learning LibGuide, which lists information about library databases, accessibility characteristics, document formats available, and links to vendor contact information in the event of an accessibility issue. Currently, Pope is working on adding links to Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) statements to the LibGuide. Pope has also made herself available to students with disabilities, faculty, and staff in case of a problem or question about library resources accessibility. Future plans at Pittsburg State University include contacting other campus partners in order to assess whether there are any unmet needs among students with disabilities and the faculty and staff who assist them. The author sometimes presents about accessibility to faculty at an annual campus professional development day in order to get the word out about accessibility and how the library can assist students with disabilities.
At the University of Idaho, the Center for Disability Access and Resources (CDAR) strives to support students with disabilities and ensure that they are successful in their academic work, while also supporting faculty with implementing disability-related accommodations within the parameters of the course they are teaching. Although the Library does not have a direct liaison to CDAR, library staff facilitate requests from students and faculty and forward them to the department. Thompson-Franklin also compiled a library guide on vendor VPAT and accessibility statements to inform library users about the vendor’s product or service, and recently completed a guide outlining various accessibility options provided by vendors for some of the library’s databases.
Partnerships between libraries and other units on campus can successfully support students with disabilities. Specifically, libraries can be proactive with working with units on campus, not waiting for that unit to come to the library, but actively approaching them where they are. This collaborative proactive practice requires someone to initiate contact and meet people on campus, but it is to the benefit of all students to provide accessible resources for students with disabilities.
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