Sheila Yeh
Associate Dean for Collections, Discovery, and Information Services
Kansas State University
Jason Bengtson
Head of IT Services, Libraries
Kansas State University
On January 18, 2018, the revised standards covered by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973—electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by federal agencies—took effect. The revisions are intended to ensure that information and communication technology (ICT) is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. Colleges and universities, although not federal agencies, need to adhere to the requirements due to the federal funding they receive. To ensure the compliance of instructional material alone has been a daunting task for higher education institutions, not to mention tackling the footprint of the many other resources they support. The library within an institution of higher learning faces the same challenges, especially considering the global use of its online resources in various formats and languages. In this session, the presenters will demonstrate how their libraries strive for Section 508 compliance. Their approaches consider both technical and socio-technical aspects of an ICT adoption, which are fundamental to any successful IT initiative implementation in this digital age. These systematic efforts are models for other regulatory challenges in the near and far future.
