Register for the Zoom Discussion

The first discussion as part of TRLN’s Remote Rap Sessions will focus on episode 308 of the 99% Invisible podcast – Curb Cuts. This episode is available on multiple podcast platforms, but can also be streamed from the 99% Invisible website. Registration helps with our planning and is much appreciated. You can register before and during the discussion and will receive the meeting link as soon as you register.

If you live in an American city and you don’t personally use a wheelchair, it’s easy to overlook the small ramp at most intersections, between the sidewalk and the street. Today, these curb cuts are everywhere, but fifty years ago — when an activist named Ed Roberts was young — most urban corners featured a sharp drop-off, making it difficult for him and other wheelchair users to get between blocks without assistance.

Listen to this podcast at a time of your choosing and then join the Zoom discussion on 4/29 at 11am EST. We encourage participants to think about the implications of issues covered by the podcast with their work in libraries and discuss these with your TRLN colleagues.

Discussion questions:

• What are the barriers to entry for the library, physical or online?
• What are the “curb cuts” we should advocate for?
• What language do we use that might lead to an unwelcoming atmosphere?
• What are some “electronic curb cuts” we have developed? What more could and should we do?
• How do we bridge that gap between what’s reasonable and what’s ideal?
• Is there a space for collective action through a body like TRLN that might make independence more achievable for all of our users?

Beth Ashmore, NC State’s Associate Head, Acquisitions & Discovery (Serials), Emily Daly, Duke’s Head, Assessment & User Experience Department, and Chad Haefele, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Head of User Experience will be co-facilitating the discussion. We hope you can join us and please reach out to events@trln.org with any questions!

Suggested Resources:

• Big 10 and ASERL Library Accessibility Alliance (https://www.btaa.org/library/accessibility/reports)
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/)
• Web Accessibility in Mind (https://webaim.org/)
• Pionke, J. (2017). Beyond ADA Compliance: The Library as a Place for All. Urban Library Journal, 23 (1). Retrieved from https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ulj/vol23/iss1/3 
• Kenning Arlitsch (Column Editor) (2018) My User is a Machine: Making Information Accessible to Disabled Users by Structuring for Machine Intermediaries, Journal of Library Administration, 58:7, 728-738, DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2018.1514834
• WAVE Accessibility Evaluation Tool (https://wave.webaim.org/)