Answered By: Kira Appel (Libraries)
Last Updated: Nov 08, 2023     Views: 207

A brief checklist below. Please also check out the The New School Accessibility website

-Request your E-Reserves

  • For new requests for film, include a note saying they need closed captioning. 
  • PDFs should at least be scanned at 300 ppi resolution and greyscale (for black and white) in order to guarantee better OCR results. If documents require color, then these docs should be scanned as RGB documents.
  • The Libraries will assist with clearing permissions and assessing fair use of material requested through E-Reserves. For more information regarding copyright issues, see the Copyright & Fair Use For Faculty guide.

-Add video captioning

-Ensure the accessibility of non-HTML content:

-If you cannot make it accessible, consider using HTML instead or, at the very least, provide an accessible alternative. PDF documents should also include a series of tags to make it more accessible. A tagged PDF file looks the same, but it is almost always more accessible to a person using a screen reader. ("Principles of Accessible Design." WebAIM, Utah State University, 2020, https://webaim.org/intro/#principles.)

-Faculty, submit inaccessible documents to OCR@newschool.edu and receive accessible documents in return (see the ABBY FineReader page for more information). 

-Student Disability Services (StudentDisability@newschool.edu) can help students source accessible materials directly from publishers. 

-Install the accessibility toolbar, Read&Write for Google Chrome, and recommend to your students. 

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