Access for Users with Disabilities

25 April, 2003

SCONUL issues briefing paper to guide libraries through disability legislation

SCONUL: Society of College, National and University Libraries has published a 35-page briefing on the implications for libraries of the Disability Discrimination Act Part IV. Entitled Access for Users with Disabilities, the briefing has broader value beyond its higher education focus; incorporating input from a range of stakeholders, including practitioners from academic and public libraries, the British Library, and disability support groups.

The Act requires higher and further education institutions to anticipate the needs of students with disabilities and make reasonable adjustments to ensure an appropriate, non-discriminatory environment. With the accent on holistic integration, the SCONUL briefing advises on:

• equality of physical access. E.g. how to conduct and respond to a physical access audit before the Act’s physical access deadline of September 2005
• service planning, delivery and quality
• assessing, delivering, and evaluating disability training.

In promoting a culture of awareness, commitment and compliance, libraries can also lobby commercial service providers to ensure accessibility of products such as online catalogues.

SCONUL Secretary, Toby Bainton, says "SCONUL's commitment to cross-sectoral working - coupled with our members' experience at the library coal face - puts us in an ideal position to disseminate good practice. If libraries meet the standards required by recent disability legislation, they're likely to be serving all their users well - not only those with a disability. This is in itself a good thing, but it also means libraries are better placed to satisfy the vaguer responsibilities they face under associated human rights and equal opportunities legislation."

The briefing highlights existing services for library users with disabilities, such as staff with dedicated responsibilities; provision of enlarged or colour photocopies; and book retrieval. It also adds to areas of debate, for example regarding emergency evacuation procedures for people with mobility impairment; and academic institutions using library buildings to house assistive PC-based technologies.

Copies of the briefing are available from the SCONUL office at a cost of £25. Tel: 020 7387 0317 Email: info@sconul.ac.uk