One of the ways that I’ve been passing the time while being furloughed is attending workshops and webinars on topics of interest to me. Some of these have focused on technology in the field of image management and archives, and some have focused on decolonizing and creating racial equity in the GLAM field. I have also attended sessions focused on accessibility: Accessible Design for the NYC Digital Humanities (NYCDH) week and Reimagining Access: Inclusive Technology for Archives & Special Collections an IMLS funded symposium hosted by ArtCenter College of Design. This is one area of equity work which I haven’t spent as much time with, and both sessions were incredibly helpful.
THE NYCDH workshop focused on accessibility on the web. The presenter Heather Hill first provided some foundational information on accessibility more broadly, explained why folks in digital humanities should be concerned with this, then gave an overview of universal design and some of its limitations. Since no one approach to accessibility will be perfect for every individual, I really appreciated these takeaways:
Remain flexible and adaptive
Universal design is a process, not a goal
We are trying to move in the right direction
Next, Hill covered basic concepts of accessible design in the web, including the structure and design, theme, and content of websites and digital experiences. We had the chance to learn about specifics, including the impact of proper heading and subheading usage for those using screenreaders, the importance of keyboard shortcuts for those navigating primarily by keyboard rather than a mouse, and how distracting features like automatic playing videos or audio can be distracting for some neurodivergent folks.
The last portion of the workshop provided time for all the participants to test out a few of the accessibility tools that are available for evaluating websites: HTML CodeSniffer, WAVE, Tota11y, W3C HTML checker and CSS checker, and SortSite. My group took a look at the HTML CodeSniffer. It was overwhelming at first decoding the errors, warnings, and notices. After spending some time experimenting, it became clear how much helpful information the tool provides: it points to the location on the page that doesn’t align with the W3C recommendations for accessibility, it links to the specific W3C recommendation that’s being violated, and it provides the corresponding snippet of code for the offending issue. One of my graduate courses covered web accessibility for one lesson - which is hardly enough - and this workshop demonstrated to me how much more I have to learn. Fortunately, the presenter provided copies of her slides and additional resources so I can continue to dive into these issues.
The same day, the ArtCenter College of Design hosted its symposium on accessibility in archives and special collections. The first speaker, Joshua Halstead, discussed design logics and paradigms, and how the framing of disability matters. He discussed the established (medical, functional limitations, social, minority group) and emerging (critical disability theory, disability justice, political/relational model) approaches to disability and how these different models impact design. He looked at different approaches to disability and design - through the lens of universal design, adaptive design, inclusive design, and critical design - and asserted that there is the potential for disability design to extend beyond just the immediate and practical to positively impact everyone. His talk underscored the idea that there are no stable definitions or universals when thinking about disability, and that we need to take this into account when thinking about design.
The following discussion featured members of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Accessibility and Disability Section: Michelle Ganz, Dr. Lydia Tang, and Sara White. They provided a history of SAA’s efforts in creating guidelines for accessibility and an overview of the revised document, which is much more expansive and inclusive in its definition of disabilities - including vision, movement, hearing, communication, interaction, and mental health disabilities. The new guidelines cover core values, effective communication, the physical environment, public services, exhibitions and public programming, workplace accessibility, and digital content. It was helpful to learn about specific examples of how recommendations were being implemented in real world scenarios - installing variable height desks and chairs in reading rooms, and using supporting audio via sound domes for exhibitions - in order to understand how practically drafted SAA’s guidelines are. I will definitely be spending more time with this document.
The last portion of the symposium I was able to attend was dedicated to perspectives from archivists, users and designers with a range of disabilities: Michelle Ganz, Dr. Jeffrey Swada, and Sara White. They shared with attendees their personal experiences navigating archives and libraries as researchers and as employees. Dr. Swada presented a series of videos of his screenreader reading several archival repository websites, digital portals, and finding aids. Through his discussion, he provided some invaluable tips on how to help tools like this one more clearly and effectively present digital information. It is common to see a focus on accessibility in this field on patrons, so it was a welcome addition to get the perspective of staff navigating accessibility issues, as well. Ganz and White talked about the ways in which their disabilities intersected with and impacted working with larger teams, and ways in which they and other disabled archivists have faced discrimination. While the field is making some progress, it’s clear that we have much work to do. And I’m so thankful for those who shared their lived experiences, so that we all might better understand how inaccessible archives and libraries often are so we can make necessary changes.
These sessions have been reminders of what I enjoy and care about working in archives and archives-adjacent positions, they’ve been helpful chances to find grounding and connection while I’m away from work. Ultimately, I want to connect folks with information that is useful and of interest to them, and accessibility is core to that. And critically, this work should be infused with an ethic of care. Learning about the experiences of other folks is one important step to that end.