Digital Accessibility Features

One of the main reasons people enjoy coming to the library is that there are a variety of online resources for them to peruse and technologies to create with. The library where I work has a large technology center with Microsoft desktop computers to use at a desk and laptops for people to rent for up to 3 hours. Since I don't work in this area of the library, my extent of providing accessibility to our patrons mostly comes down to helping people find formats of material that suit their needs best. This requires great active listening skills, because people sometimes are not quite forthright with what they want, or simply don't know that those options are available to them. A skill that I hope to improve is my overall knowledge of physical and mental impairments. While I am informed about many of them, I want to learn more so I can provide better services and solutions to those who need help when they ask for it at the library.

I have noticed that a majority of people who spend time more frequently in our technology center are on the elderly side, but the demographics of people who use this space vary quite a lot. To help them better navigate the technology we provide, I created the following infographic showing some useful accessibility shortcuts included in Microsoft software that not everyone may know about. 

Image source: created by author using Canva

While I am not the most gifted graphic designer, I tried my best to make this infographic informative and accessible by following some of the guidelines listed by Karwai Pun. Since there is a wide range of people who attend the library's computer lab, I wanted to cover a variety of different shortcuts. I tried to keep the layout simple and linear, with brief descriptions if needed to explain the features I wanted to highlight. 

The first shortcut is for people who are hard of hearing or deaf; this infographic instructs people on how to set up visual cues when audio does not help them. The next two tools are helpful to those with visual impairments. A magnifier tool will help when an image or text is too small but a person doesn't want to press their eyeballs against the screen to have to see it. Colorblind people will appreciate the next shortcut: a color filter to make the screen appear in a more standard color range. There is also a shortcut to the speech recognition function because some people may have motor impairments and are not able to type as efficiently. Finally, I highlighted the variety of ways to reduce distractions and make any content easier to consume based on a person's needs. 

Learning is for everyone, and each person does it in their own unique way. All people deserve ease of access while using their devices, so I hope that these shortcuts make their time using them more efficient.