Proponents of open educational resources are quick to tout how they are accessible for everyone, but this definition of accessible means they are simply free. It does not include making OERs accessible so that anyone with a disability can still consume them. As the open education community seeks to reimagine itself, then we need to ensure that we include everyone. This presentation will discuss a research project that seeks to determine to what extent open textbooks on average meet a number of accessibility criteria based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG guidelines are an important standard for all online content creators and providers to work toward as they help ensure that disabled consumers can use and interact with online content. The presentation will discuss the results of the evaluation, including the problems most commonly found and which broad categories books were most and least likely to do well in. The presentation will help anyone involved with open textbook creation and adaptation determine where they can focus their efforts to ensure open textbooks are truly accessible for all. The data will also help to establish a baseline for the accessibility of open textbooks that the community can use to assess its own work toward making all open textbooks accessible.
Learning Outcomes: Participants will: Understand how well open textbooks meet various online accessibility standards and discuss ways to incorporate this knowledge into their work
Scholarly Communications & Social Sciences Librari, University of Nevada, Reno
Prior to becoming Social Sciences Librarian, Teresa served as Copyright and Scholarly Communications Librarian at UNR, where she still provides copyright education. Her first career was in journalism.
