BY REBECCA KENDALL
University can be a challenging environment for many students, but Athol Gow, co-ordinator of the Library Centre for Students With Disabilities (LCSD), is finding new ways to enhance the academic experience for some.
Located in the southwest corner of the McLaughlin Library, the LCSD was created in 1998 through a partnership with U of G's Centre for Students With Disabilities to ensure that the library's collections and research materials are accessible to everyone. It serves about 100 students each semester.
“It's important that students with disabilities not get left behind,” says Gow, who is also a member of the University's Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities Advisory Committee. “We provide service to students with issues ranging from hearing and visual impairments to learning and psychological disabilities or acquired brain injuries. Most of the people who use this space have a disability that's not visible.”
In addition to running U of G's alternate-format text service and providing one-on-one reference support, Gow helps students who require adaptive technology (AT) to read, write or use a computer.
“AT can include a simple accommodation like an illuminated magnifying glass or something more technologically complex like speech-recognition software,” he says, adding that he's also responsible for training students to use the software and equipment and helps out in the centre's lab when needed.
Other forms of AT available at the centre include a closed-circuit TV and computer-based programs that can scan, read or magnify text and support visual thinking. Gow will discuss AT at a Teaching Support Services workshop to be held March 8 during Accessibility Awareness Week (see related story.)
He says the service that has changed the most since the creation of the LCSD is the alternate-format text program. When he was hired as co-ordinator in 1999 — after several years of working in the library in the acquisitions, stack maintenance and interlibrary loans departments — the main textbook accommodations available to students with visual impairments or learning disabilities were Braille and books on four-track tape. Those tapes, which are still used, look like normal two-sided cassette tapes but have two additional tracks of information on them and are played with a special tape recorder.
“The tapes contain a lot of information, but it's pretty hard for students to navigate to a specific page being read on the tape,” he says.
If certain tapes aren't available from the non-profit organizations the library gets them through, Gow has another option — to use the vocal talents of close to 20 local volunteers who read course material onto tape. The volunteers include current and retired faculty and staff and alumni.
“It's a wonderful service, and I'm very thankful they take the time to do this for us,” he says. “Some students prefer books on tape because it's technology they're comfortable with, and the turnaround time to produce it is quite short.”
These days, however, a wider array of options for reading support are available, says Gow, and many tech-savvy students are abandoning tapes in favour of electronic text, scanning/reading software, books on MP3 and a digital audio-based information system that uses a human voice reading and synchronizes it with an actual text file.
“You can go wherever you like on the page at the touch of a button, just like you would with a CD player, and the device will read it back to you,” he says.
Most students with print disabilities currently use electronic text in Microsoft Word or rich text format as an accommodation that they read using computer screen reading programs.
Although publishers often provide e-text files of textbooks for students with print disabilities, part- time LCSD staff also produce these files for students. In fact, during the 2004/2005 academic year, the centre scanned and edited more than 10,000 pages of material that was subsequently translated into Braille or read with screen readers.
Using computer text-reading programs has many advantages, says Gow. Students can change the speed and voice type of the speech engine reading the text, the quality of which has improved greatly in recent years. Another great feature, he says, is that e-text files can be converted into audio files and then downloaded onto a student's MP3 player or iPod.
Having a place like the LCSD on campus makes a big difference on a number of levels, he says.
“Offering technology like this can make the difference between whether a student is successful in a post-secondary environment or not. The cost of some of these programs is out of range for most students, and not having access to them would make the process of getting a degree far more problematic.”
Gow adds that the quiet and semi-private workspaces available at the centre are beneficial for students who can't afford to be distracted by noise or activity.
“It's a place where they feel comfortable and are able to share their experiences with one another. For some students, that's a necessity.”
He says the most satisfying part of his job is working with students and finding ways to make their experience at U of G positive and more manageable.
“It's nice when you find a piece of software that works with somebody's needs, and you can see that they're really excited about it.”
Athol Gow and the McLaughlin Library's IT staff have been working to develop an adaptive software support policy specific to staff and faculty who use these resources in their work environment. The policy, which can be viewed at www.lib.uoguelph.ca/services_for/students_ with_disabilities/ATsupport.htm, provides contact information for staff and faculty who are having problems with their software. It also offers a way for people who have more experience supporting adaptive software to share their knowledge with others across campus. And it outlines what types of software and operating systems the LCSD can support.
“Steps for support have been in place for students who use adaptive software for a number of years,” says Gow, “but we want staff and faculty to know that we have a policy in place for them should problems arise with their software.”
By keeping track of the volume and types of support required, this support plan will enable the LCSD to see what level of staffing would be appropriate and where this service would best be situated within the University's IT support structure, he says. By making adaptive software support for faculty and staff a shared responsibility, this plan will also build more capacity across campus for the provision of adaptive software support to these groups.
