Building an Accessible Future for the Humanities

FAIN: HT-50078-13

Trustees of Indiana University, Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN 46202-3288)
Jennifer E. Guiliano (Project Director: March 2013 to May 2017)
George H. Williams (Co Project Director: July 2013 to May 2017)

A series of four two-day workshops to be held at Northeastern University, Emory University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the University of Texas, Austin, on theoretical and practical approaches for making digital humanities scholarship accessible to blind, low-vision, deaf, and hard-of-hearing users. An online guide of best practices with examples of humanities projects would be produced as a part of these workshops.

The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) at the University of Maryland will partner with the BrailleSC.org project, the Northeastern Center for Digital Humanities, the Emory University Libraries Digital Commons (DiSC), the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities (CDRH) at the University of Nebraska, and the College of Information at the University of Texas-Austin to foster the making of digital environments accessible and usable by blind, low-vision, deaf, and hard-of-hearing users. AccessibleFuture will facilitate four two-day long workshops for one hundred humanists, librarians, and information scholars (twenty-five per workshop) to develop and educate humanities scholars with all levels of expertise from beginner to the most advanced about technologies, design standards, and accessibility issues associated with the use of digital technologies.

Media Coverage

Review of the Accessible Future Workshop at Emory University, April 10-11, 2015 (Review)
Author(s): Anne Donlon
Publication: The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy
Date: 6/4/2015
Abstract: The Accessible Future workshop urged participants to make digital material accessible to audiences with visual, aural, and cognitive disabilities, and to advocate for accessibility at our universities. The two-day meeting at Emory was the fourth such workshop offered over the past year and a half, and was funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities Office of Digital Humanities. .... Attendees at Emory included faculty, graduate students, curators, librarians, instructional designers, and an Office of Disability Services staff person. Participants entered the workshop with diverse experiences in accessibility practices and knowledge of disability studies. But, judging from reactions during the workshop, they were united in learning many new things that ranged across topics of screen readers, cognitive disability, Deaf culture, HTML, CSS, WordPress, and Omeka.
URL: https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/making-accessible-futures/

Associated Products

Accessible Futures (Web Resource)
Title: Accessible Futures
Author: George H. Williams
Author: Jennifer E. Guiliano
Abstract: The Building an Accessible Future for the Humanities Project facilitated four two-day long workshops where humanists, librarians, information scientists, and cultural heritage professionals learned about technologies, design standards, and accessibility issues associated with the use of digital technologies. This important project was a partnership with the BrailleSC.org project, the Northeastern University Center for Digital Humanities, the Emory University Libraries Digital Commons (DiSC), the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities (CDRH) at the University of Nebraska (UNL), and the College of Information at the University of Texas at Austin (UT).
Year: 2013
Primary URL: https://mith.umd.edu/research/accessible-future/

CFP: ‘Accessible Future’ Workshop in Lincoln, NE (Blog Post)
Title: CFP: ‘Accessible Future’ Workshop in Lincoln, NE
Author: George H. Williams
Abstract: Here at ProfHacker, we’ve published a number of things over the years about accessibility in digital environments. And regular readers will remember that last September we announced the first Accessible Future workshop, which took place in Boston last semester. After Boston, we led a workshop in Austin, Texas. Now we’re accepting applications for our third workshop, which will be held on November 14 and 15, 2014 in Lincoln, Nebraska. If you are interested in digital environments and accessibility, please apply. The Accessible Future workshop is intended for humanists, librarians, information scientists, and cultural heritage professionals who wish to learn about technologies, design standards, and accessibility issues associated with the use of digital technologies.
Date: 9/11/2014
Primary URL: https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/cfp-accessible-future-workshop-in-lincoln-ne/58083
Blog Title: ProfHacker
Website: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Accessible Futures for libraries (Blog Post)
Title: Accessible Futures for libraries
Author: Melanie Schlosser
Author: Sarah Kennedy
Abstract: Blog post about attendance and lesson learned at one of the workshops.
Date: 11/2/2015
Primary URL: https://librarypublishing.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/accessible-futures-for-libraries/comment-page-1/
Blog Title: The Lib Pub ~ A group blog on library publishing

---