Accessible Content ePortal grows to over 10,000 titles

  • Posted on: 22 July 2016
  • By: Anika

 

This week, the Accessible Content ePortal (ACE) service passed a major milestone.

With the support of our digitization partner, Internet Archive Canada, as well as our 18 participating universities and 22 colleges, we have grown our collection of accessible books for Ontario academic library users with print disabilities to over 10,000 titles

ACE supports the research needs of verified students and faculty with print disabilities.  The service began as an OCUL pilot project in 2013, and became a core Scholars Portal service the following year.  ACE service was extended to the Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS) in 2015.  This initiative has enabled participating institutions to meet their Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) obligations by facilitating and coordinating user requests for accessible formats of library holdings. Offering access to a centralized and standardized production centre via Internet Archive Canada, participating schools are able to access quality digitized materials in five accessible formats.

Eliminating the duplication of labour and offering participants a way to retain digitized material, this repository has empowered its users with the immediacy of access to thousands of accessible texts, fostering the process of serendipitous discovery and learning. By building a shared repository, OCUL has enabled each participant to also access materials which were not requested by their institution, but which are found in the local library holdings. The opportunity to continue making library collections accessible by anticipating requests for these materials demonstrates future-forward interest in sustainability and progress towards removing barriers to access for Ontario students and researchers.  
 

For more information, please see the ACE LibGuide: http://guides.scholarsportal.info/ace/portal

For questions or comments, please contact Sabina Pagotto: sabina [at] scholarsportal.info