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Winter 2024-25

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Changes and Updates

Title II Outreach

With the announcement of revisions to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2024, the LAA launched initiatives to reach out to e-resource vendors to assess their preparedness. Read the letter we sent to the vendors we have evaluated, and use it to start your own conversations with vendors. Our Vendor Relations Committee is working on a follow-up survey to go out in the coming months.

With our colleagues at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), we hosted a round-table at the Charleston Conference for librarians and e-resource vendors to discuss the updates to Title II. We are coordinating a follow-up webinar with vendor representatives. 

Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) Collaboration

The LAA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Library Publishing Coalition in 2024 to work together to advance accessibility in publishing platforms. We are partnering with the LPC to bring several targeted webinars on incorporating accessibility into publishing workflows in February of 2025. 

New LAA Co-Chair

We’re excited to announce Hana Levay from the University of Washington as our next Steering Committee co-chair. Co-chairs serve staggered two year terms beginning in January. We thank our previous co-chair Amy Drayer for her years of service in the role, and for her work expanding the reach of the LAA.

Committee Progress

Impact and Analysis

The Impact and Analysis Committee is finalizing a report analyzing the results of 132 e-resource tests commissioned by the LAA. Once the report is finished, the results will be incorporated into the table of test results on the LAA website. Each test will have a percentage score of how many Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) criteria are met and a list of which criteria have issues.

Training

Join us for a webinar February 6 at 2pm EST on Accessible Publishing at the University of Michigan Press: Compliance Challenges, VPATs, AI Experiments, and More.

The Training and Professional Development Committee is onboarding a new vendor for live captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation while planning a robust schedule of webinars for the new year. Keep an eye on the Events page of our website for our 2025 webinar schedule.

Testing

The Testing Committee is also onboarding a new vendor which will increase our capacity for the number of tests we conduct each month. 

Recent Tests

View all our e-resource evaluations on the Testing page. 

Who We Are

The Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA) advocates for improving library e-resource accessibility. We are a multi consortial organization, with each member organization contributing funding and expertise. 

Our current members are: 

• Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) 

• Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) 

• Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) 

• Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) 

• Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation (IPLC) 

• Florida Virtual Library (FLVC)

• University System of Maryland & Affiliated Institutions (USMAI)

 

Share a story with us: Email laa-communications@wrlc.org