Part 8: Staffing
Staffing is a significant question to consider when you begin to form an accessibility project because you may need to advocate for additional help or find creative solutions to complete your work.
If you need to staff an accessibility project, you may find yourself having to advocate to a supervisor or administrator for the importance of the work. In this case, you might consider the following:
- How can you connect your project to the mission of your library and institution? Advocate for your project by connecting it with wider accessibility or equity efforts on your campus.
- While advocating for this work, how can you draw attention to the lived experiences and needs of people with disabilities? It might help to begin with a usability study that highlights the need for a larger accessibility remediation project.
- Who in your region/institution is already advocating for disability rights? Consider the possibility of bringing in representatives from your institution’s access center or a local disability advocacy group to talk about the impact of accessibility work.
- What educational resources can you find online to support your case? If you can’t find disability rights advocates in your area, consider resources online like educational videos by YouTuber Molly Burke or day-in-the-life snapshots by Google.org. Some of these videos do a good job showing how people with disabilities have adapted tools and technologies to serve their needs—and how your institution can help support their efforts.
- What units on campus or in the library might be able to assist with staffing your project? Think about how you might make your project into a learning experience for a student or a service option for a volunteer. Consider creative options for staffing projects collaboratively with other units/departments.
This chapter covers case studies demonstrating approaches to staffing accessibility initiatives. Note that these cases are merely a sampling of the many creative solutions that have been used.
