Earlier this year Oxford SU’s Oxford Student Disability Community (OSDC) completed the Library Accessibility Project, a project which surveyed University libraries to gather information which would help students understand the facilities available to them at each library. What initially started out as a project to compile information for students quickly turned into a tool for change as OSDC noticed areas for improvement.
After hours of hard work, today OSDC are releasing two papers: a Library Accessibility Guide and Library Accessibility Recommendations.
The Library Accessibility Guide provides factual information for students to find a library where they can study in a way that meets their needs. It outlines the facilities available at 98 libraries and ranks two key accessibility features based on the availability of these features. The guide is also useful for prospective students who will be able to use it to find a college that suits them.
OSDC Library Accessibility Guide
The Library Accessibility Recommendations discusses the implications of the information contained in the Library Accessibility Guide and makes seven practical recommendations on how libraries can improve the experience of disabled students here at Oxford University.
OSDC Library Accessibility Recommendations
Already the project has succeeded in its aim to open up discussions with library services and work collaboratively with them. Representatives of the Bodleian and Conference of Colleges Libraries have received the papers well and are keen to meet with OSDC to discuss them further. OSDC will be keeping its members updated on progress.
Both papers can be found on the OSDC page under the ‘Useful Documents’ tab.
This project has been led by Ebie Edwards Cole and Kathryn Reece of OSDC. For more information on the project or how you can get involved with the disability community contact Ebie (ebie.edwardscole@new.ox.ac.uk) or Kathryn (kathryn.reece@seh.ox.ac.uk)