Teach & Talk Session: For Whom Is Digital Writing Accessible?

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Craig Rustici

How open Is open source?  How accessible is digital writing?  I propose a session on what makes digital texts accessible or inaccessible to disabled readers.

I will introduce participants to one form of assistive technology used by readers with print disabilities (blindness, low vision, and dyslexia): screen-reading software.  Using free demos, I will give participants an opportunity for hands-on experience with this software.

Drawing upon my experience as a participant in a recent two-day Accessible Future workshop, I will familiarize participants with some factors in web design and text archiving that enhance the accessibility of digitized materials.  I will introduce them to WAVE, a web accessibility evaluation tool and invite them to use it to assess the accessibility of a few sites, including  thatcamp.org.

Categories: Diversity, General, Session: Talk, Session: Teach, Workshops |

About Craig Rustici

I specialize in early modern English literature and have published "The Afterlife of Pope Joan." I am completing my first year as chair of the English Department at Hofstra University. I approach questions of accessibility and digital humanities from an experiential basis in that I am a legally blind user of screen magnification and screen reading technologies. As a member of Hofstra's nascent Digital Research Center, I am developing a project, AccessScholar, that will attempt through advocacy, crowd sourcing, and other measures to improve the accessibility of digital primary and secondary research materials.

1 Response to Teach & Talk Session: For Whom Is Digital Writing Accessible?

  1. Elisa Meyer says:
    April 30, 2014 at 3:55 am

    This sounds wonderful; I feel like accessibility is always a concern; as much as I try to be aware of different guidelines and services, I have accessibility anxiety.

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