Part 5: Accessibility Policies and Statements

Accessibility policies allow you to explain specifically how you intend to handle accessibility concerns for the platforms or initiatives you may manage. Accessibility policies or statements can include:

• Goals and objectives: What does your policy aim to achieve? How will success be measured/evaluated?

• Division of responsibilities: What accessibility work will the library undertake and what is expected of authors/journal editors/content creators? What role will the larger institution play in this work?

• Timeline: When will the policy take effect? When does the library intend to take up and complete accessibility work?

• Acknowledgement of existing accessibility provisions, weaknesses, and concerns: What specific accessibility issues remain to be addressed?

• Mechanism for reporting accessibility issues: What should someone do if they identify a barrier to accessibility? Who will address their concerns, and what type of support will they provide?

Developing an accessibility policy can create opportunities for conversations with administrators and colleagues about how your institution can shift or reallocate resources to address accessibility needs and concerns. You may also want to consider what training resources and opportunities are necessary to ensure that faculty or staff can confidently incorporate accessibility practices into their work.

The following case studies look at use of accessibility policies and statements in institutional repositories, open education initiatives, conferences, and student publishing (i.e., ETDs).