@article {3212,
	title = {Accessibility of digital special collections using screen readers},
	journal = {Library Hi Tech},
	volume = {30},
	year = {2012},
	note = {<p>The research examined 69 US academic library web sites in 2011 to test whether textual materials from their digitized special collections were readable with screen reader technology. The results indicated that 29 out of 69 (42\%) of the digitized special collections items were readable by screen-reader technology whereas 40 (58\%) were not readable.</p>
},
	pages = {457-471},
	abstract = {<p>Purpose \&ndash; The purpose of this paper is to discover whether digitized materials from special collections libraries can be accessed using screen reader technology. Design/methodology/approach \&ndash; The researchers looked at 69 US academic library web sites from the ARL in 2011 to determine whether textual materials sampled from their digitized special collections were readable with screen reader technology. Findings \&ndash; The researchers found that 42 percent of the sampled digital collection items are screen-readable, while 58 percent are not readable. Research limitations/implications \&ndash; Screen readers are not evaluated against one another for effectiveness with digital collections. Library web site pathways to digital special collections were not evaluated with screen readers. Originality/value \&ndash; This is the first study to examine the accessibility of digitized special collections materials to persons using a screen reader.</p>
},
	keywords = {academic libraries, Accessibility, assistive technology, digitization, disabilities, library},
	issn = {0737-8831},
	doi = {10.1108/07378831211266609},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07378831211266609},
	author = {Southwell, Kristina L and Slater, Jacquelyn and Dave Comeaux and Schmetzke, Axel}
}
