Submission to the National Library of New Zealand. September 2005.

The Public Libraries consultation document

The Foundation acknowledges the public library sector for its active development of special needs services and collections. In recent years many libraries have made good attempts to serve some of the print-disabled community - within financial and other constraints (for example, the very limited range of unabridged non-fiction available in commercially released audio). There are some excellent housebound services operating around the country, selecting and delivering large print and audio books for borrowers. Individual library staff provide services tailored to the needs of particular clients. The National Library of New Zealand's Print Disabilities Collection assists libraries to meet some of the demand for non-print reading.

The National Library of New Zealand has also put effort into understanding and advocating internationally for the needs of people who read via accessible formats (such as audio, braille, large print, or electronic text). Both the National Librarian and the National Library's Information Strategist have taken part in discussions over the effort to ensure that national copyright laws do not restrict the ability of accessible format producers and libraries for the blind to share titles and eliminate duplicated production. The National Library's key role in forming the New Zealand Digital Strategy is noted.

In accordance with its long association with public and special libraries, and the public library functions of its own library services, the Foundation applauds the general direction of the strategic framework presented in the consultation document. The document presents a vibrant and exciting vision. However, it is a serious oversight that disabled New Zealanders cannot see themselves in the strategy. Even print-disabled readers are absent from the narrative, despite the efforts of public libraries to build their collections of audio and large print books, publications designed to support people with poor print literacy, etc.

The consultation document was posted to the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa website in the week of 22 August; a Word version for those users of adaptive technology who cannot reliably access PDF files, was not concurrently available. In response to our request, a Word copy was posted to the Foundation on 1 September. This is one simple example of the difficulties print-disabled people face in getting equitable access to public information.

The strategic vision

Although there is a reference to "inclusive communities", the strategic vision must make clear reference to the New Zealand Disability Strategy. The word "inclusive" can be so widely interpreted (e.g. "inclusive of all cultures") that it is not strong enough to ensure attention to the rights of disabled people.

Wording could be adapted from the Disability Strategy itself:
Libraries "Make available resources and services to encourage a non-disabling society" (see Objective 1) or "Collect and disseminate relevant information about disabled people and disability issues" (see Objective 10).

The introduction could usefully refer to the New Zealand Disability Strategy. The impacts of impairment in a disabling world could be mentioned - for example, a society which does not simultaneously release printed information in formats accessible to its blind, deafblind and vision-impaired citizens is creating "social exclusion" and a disabling society. Sensory disability often accompanies ageing, which could be noted in the Demographic impacts paragraph.

Despite improvements, it is not the universal experience of Foundation members that "Libraries are open to all people - virtually without exception". Some Foundation members cannot use their public libraries as they would like to. Two common problems are physically inaccessible facilities, and/or audio books "on display" in a visual sense or advertised via a typed list. Certainly public libraries are aware of and responding to the need for accessible online web catalogues, but across the sector there remains room for improvement.  A sector-wide commitment to best practice accessibility guidelines would set the parameters for individual libraries and ensure that software developers went beyond the minimum accessibility standard when designing systems for New Zealand libraries.

"Mobility" is noted - "some people are unable ... to gain this ready access". However, often the mobility issue may not be the individual's but difficulties caused by a less than ideal physical environment. Facilities are discussed without reference to access and mobility principles or standards.

Libraries need political support and resourcing to expand services within their communities. It is imperative that their obligations to disabled members of the community are reflected in this strategic framework and the actions to flow from it.

Objectives

The Foundation recommends adding an objective that draws on Objective 6 of the New Zealand Disability Strategy. Wording could be: "Public libraries and services that are accessible for all New Zealanders."

From the perspective of people with a sensory disability, the equity of access gap is so wide that it is appropriate to add an objective. As currently expanded upon, "Building strong communities" does not demonstrate the principle of universal design.

Future actions

The proposed "agenda for action" must ensure that disabled people can see that they have a recognised place among the public library users of tomorrow. Customer service development must provide for the needs of all customers, including those who at this time make limited use of their public libraries.

We have recommended adding to the strategic objectives. Recommended actions are:

• Establish guidelines for consulting with disabled people over their current and future needs in respect of public libraries.
• Establish best practice guidelines for making public library facilities, technology and services available to people with vision impairment.
• Develop sensory disability awareness training for library staff, which will include knowing how to communicate effectively and confidently with people who are blind, deafblind or vision impaired.
• Set targets for public libraries to model inclusiveness as equal opportunity employers, particularly as changing technologies can increase the range of job opportunities within a workplace. (For example when purchasing new software intended purely for "behind the scenes" use, consider whether it is accessible to staff who might in the future be using adaptive technology such as a talking screen reader or magnification software.)

Public libraries will generally be subject to the equal opportunity and disability action initiatives of their parent council. However, the library sector can take the opportunity provided by the strategic framework to make a sector-wide complementary commitment to the inclusion of disabled people. This is appropriate given the high standing of libraries - as centres of lifelong learning and discovery and connection with culture, and as places which enable access to a broad range of public information intended for all citizens.

The Foundation urges the public library sector to develop workforce training that is genuinely informed by an understanding of blindness, deafblindness, vision impairment and other sensory disabilities. Understanding comes from learning about the experiences of people living with specific disabilities. Staff need training in how to guide a blind, deafblind or vision-impaired person safely and how to communicate with people who cannot follow visual instructions.

Staff who have received training in blindness, deafblindness and vision impairment issues will be well placed to orient clients to the layout of libraries, co-located facilities and toilets, and to explain service options and the available information sources. These staff will remember to announce their presence and to engage with someone who does not see the environment clearly, and will know how to guide someone safely (particularly in an emergency). Awareness training also assists volunteers who visit blind, deafblind and vision-impaired people at home (e.g. to deliver books to housebound borrowers).

Collaboration

Digital technology increases the scope for public libraries to offer services to print-disabled users. A library sector working party might guide the acquisition of accessible databases, for instance, or ensure that new publicly funded web initiatives are tested before they are released and found not to comply with international accessibility and usability standards.

Idea 1: A better way to publish

One major area for collaboration is around standards for the authorised digitising and re-purposing of content. A key benefit of reporting, storing, and being able to retrieve public information using an agreed XML-based schema enables the faster conversion of content into other formats. These might be various layouts of standard print, large print, braille, HTML or plain text marked up in a particular code, or audio (e.g. synthetic speech output produced without human processing by text to speech software). Currently the time required to turn information into an accessible format is substantial, and is in effect a barrier that prevents people who cannot read standard print from accessing such material.

Establishing a national standard format and scheme for digitised content would be a significant step towards what the United Nations draft treaty on the rights of disabled people terms "the right to seek, receive and impart information on an equal basis with others".

Social and cultural information of value to New Zealanders should be available in a variety of formats to meet the reading needs of different groups within society (e.g. see the New Zealand Disability Strategy, Objectives 3 and 6). Electronic content that can be output in a number of formats will help to bridge the digital divide even for those who cannot afford or do not use a computer.

Idea 2: Collaboration over digital talking books services

There is a long social history behind mainstreamed adaptive technologies. The first talking books for blind people were on 78 r.p.m. gramophone records; experiments to get more sound on to a single disc were the origin of the long playing record which became an industry standard for music (33 and a third revolutions per minute). The typewriter was originally invented for a blind person; the office scanner had its origins in attempts to make documents accessible to blind people through speech.

Similarly, digital talking books use MP3 or a similar format. The next development should also be mainstream - to communicate a digital book (containing structured and so navigable human-narrated audio or text to synthetic speech) via the internet rather than send it out in physical form. Following the review of copyright in the digital environment, Cabinet in 2003 indicated its intention to support the extension of the reproduction right for the recording of talking books to a communication right.

The Foundation produces talking books and audio magazines which are in many cases not available commercially. Unabridged titles, New Zealand and Pacific writing, magazine content, and non-fiction across many genres are among the materials produced by the Foundation.

The Homai collection is shaped by curriculum demands and by the titles being read by sighted children and young teens.

Digital talking books can be multi-media. As well as audio, text and graphics files can be added so that, for example, vision-impaired users can read the text in audio but use magnification to look at illustrations simultaneously. Text files enable the conversion of the content to braille concurrent with the audio.

Public libraries are the providers of library service to audio book, electronic text, and large print users who are not members of the Foundation. The Foundation's library services rely so heavily on public giving that its talking books cannot be loaned to print-disabled people who are not registered members of the Foundation.

Budget permitting, the Foundation has the right to make talking books and other accessible formats for the use of any person or persons with a print disability (see Copyright Act 1994 s.69).

Public libraries might share with the Foundation the cost of making New Zealand, non-fiction, and magazine content in digital talking book form. Titles could legally be made available to any print-disabled person, whether or not a member of the Foundation.

Other service developments can be posited, for example negotiating with the copyright owner for a wider release of digitally produced content. Digital technology also opens the possibility that public libraries will be in a position to increase their service delivery to blind, deafblind and vision-impaired people who are local residents and rate payers.

The potential for collaboration to deliver more content to vision-impaired readers across the public library sector is significant and a matter of equity.

New Zealand People's Network

The Foundation is supportive of public libraries as places at which and through which New Zealanders can connect to the world of information. The intentional development of accessible services is important because, of course, many disabled people cannot use a standard work station in a library. For public libraries, then, the question is how can they support disabled people's equitable access to the online world? The answers can include (but will not be limited to):

• ensure the accessibility of their own systems;
• train their staff to understand the information handling experiences of people who read through sound and touch, or through large print;
• equip staff to offer knowledgeable support to the users of adaptive technology;
• offer carefully selected equipment that can be used by some disabled people (e.g. a CCTV magnifier, a large print keyboard);
• promote services effectively to disabled people, including people who have a sensory disability.

Public Library Act

As local body institutions, public libraries are already challenged to remove the barriers that prevent disabled people's participation in society. Barriers are often to the physical environment, but there are also significant information access barriers.

A Public Library Act could contain library-specific requirements relating to the provision of accessible and inclusive services for disabled users.

Culturally appropriate information

The Foundation draws attention to the urgent need for more Māori and Pacific material to be available in accessible formats. This includes the Bible. Some years ago it was in part produced as a talking book in te reo, but the Foundation has not had the resources to produce a complete recording of the Bible in Māori or any Pacific language despite ongoing requests from members.

Building strong communities

The Foundation agrees that public libraries can foster identity and a sense of place. Necessarily the library of yesterday's stereotype was not somewhere a blind, deafblind or vision-impaired person would find relevant: shelves of inaccessible print and whispered exchanges.

Libraries have changed. They continue to evolve, and their capacity to use knowledgeable staff and emerging multi-media technologies to encourage and enable the social participation of disabled people - even print-disabled people - is boundless.

Can the strategic framework reflect this capacity and vision?

Conclusion

Despite the breadth of the strategic vision for public libraries, the vision does not convey the opportunities libraries have (and are in many cases pursuing) to make their services accessible to and inclusive of people who cannot read standard print. They include people who were once "traditional library users", mature users, students, people retraining or seeking to maintain current employment, small-business operators, new citizens, and young people who are of the internet and instant communications generation. Libraries are a vital link to social participation: no member of the community should be excluded from the benefits they bestow.