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[Electronic Dance Music]
Today on the Library Channel
Disability Services at ASU Libraries
I'm Fred McIlvain and
today I'm joined by Jodie Milam
who manages our disability services
here at the Hayden Library
Good morning Jodie
Good morning Fred
Well I was going to ask how long
have the ASU Libraries been offering ADA services
but I guess what we really need to ask is
how long have we had our special room
Well I know that we've had our new room
for about 15 years
I've been here for about five
and it was here ten years before that
But even before our new room I know that
ASU Libraries has been...had some adaptive technology
for our students
And what constitutes a disability?
A disability is any mental or physical
impairment that limits performance
of daily tasks
And when we're talking about your customer population
we're talking about people with permanent disabilities
as well as people with temporary disabilities?
Yes
Usually when someone thinks of someone
with a disability
they may think of someone who is
deaf or blind or in a wheelchair
But there is also many hidden disabilities
For example a head injury from a car accident
which would limit memory
Or a
back injury from a football accident
which would limit mobility
Or the amount of time someone could sit comfortably
And then of course there is many learning disabilities
ADD and Attention Deficit Disorder
and things like that
How many students are there at ASU with disabilities?
Do you know?
Last year registered with the Disability Resource Center
there were about thirteen hundred students
And about how many of them take advantage of our services?
Not as many as we would like
We're always tring to get the word out there
We have probably a hundred different
patrons...students a year
That come in and use our services
I one time asked one of the students
You know do your friends at DRC know about us?
And they said "No we don't wan't anybody to know"
"because then it won't be available to us"
[laughter] So I don't think they share the information
So you have a little media relations problem? [laughter]
Yes
So we are definitely trying to get the word out
How large is your staff?
We have...I'm the one full time
and then we have a part time staff
and several student workers
that work in the evenings and weekends
And what kind of adaptive technologies do you offer down there?
We are so excited with all of the things we offer
We have so many
We have of course in our hardware
we have tables that are adjustable
We have lots of different keyboards and mice
For example we have some keyboards
that have large keys on them
We have one student who types with a headstick
So the large keys make it easier for him to type
We also have keyboards with large print on it
So that students with low vision
it makes it easier for them to type
Lots of different mice
We have a trackball mouse
which has a ball on it about the size of a tennis ball
and a student with limited hand use
can using the side of his hand
can move the ball moving using the curser on the screen
We have a joystick mouse
that students who have joysticks on their wheelchair
using the joystick mouse
makes it easier for them to do their own research
We even have a no-hands mouse
that you can use your feet with
and moving the curser on the screen
That's amazing
And now you were also telling me
something about another no-hands on screen
Yes we have a head tracker
That if you put
The head tracker sits on top of the monitor
and then we put a silver dot on the students forehead
and the head tracker tracks the movement of their head
and we have a SoftType software on the screen
that's a keyboard
and by just looking at the keys on the screen
They can do their typing that way
That's just amazing
Let's talk about software
What kinds of things are available?
We have the usual things you might find on some other computers
For example JAWS
Which is a screen reader
It reads everything that is on the screen
for the student who is blind
It not only reads the words the text on the screen
but it also gives them indicators that this is a link
this is an image etc.
And then we have Magic
that is a screen magnifier
And it can magnify what is on the screen up to 16 times
So it's very large for the student with low vision
Wow
We have Duxbury which will take a printed document
If a student is blind they can scan a chapter
or an aritcle
And Duxbury will tranlate it into Braille
And then we have an embosser
So they can Braille off of the article or the chapter
that they need to read
We have OmniPage
If a student would like to have it in electronic format
a PDF
Perhaps they have limited use of their hands
So turning the pages in the book is difficult
So if we scan a chapter or an article
We can turn it into a PDF
and they can read it from the computer screen
Now what is the Kurzweil scanning?
You know that is our most popular
the Kurzweil software
Students with learning disabilities
if they scan a chapter or an article
it immediately appears on the screen
It will highlight it word by word and say it out loud
So a student who has a learning disability
can see it and hear it at the same time
making for greater comprehension
Wow
They can also copy and paste from their
readings there into a Word document
So they don't have to take notes while they are reading it
Kurzweill also, if they are typing something
If they have to write a paper
They can start typing
and when they get to the end of the sentence
It will read the sentence back to them
Often if you have a learning disability
You'll forget the end of a word
Or trying to think about what you are trying to say
and type it
and think of spelling at the same time
is difficult
So it also has word prediction
If you start typing a word that starts with "S-T-R"
It'll bring up several choices
and you can select the one you want
and not have to think about the spelling of the word
Now all of this is in the ADA Room in the Hayden Library
on the Tempe campus
...mmhmmm..
Are there other workstations around
in some of the other libraries.
that are also available?
Yes, we have 9 workstations in our room
So we are the largest area
But at Music, Architecture, and Science
there is also a single workstation that is adjustable
and has some of the same software on them
Anything, do you know, at the other campuses?
The Fletcher Library at the West campus
has many of the services that we have
and adaptive technology
And to get that list you can go to the website
lib.asu.edu/ada
The Downtown campus has a great variety of things available
It's a newer library and so they have more
and they also have DRC in the building
And DRC has some of their equipment right there
DRC?
Disability Resource Center
OK, thank you
And...
We will...
I haven't really talked yet about the services
that we offer our students
in addition to the facilities that we have
This staff will assist our students with
with orientation and tours of the library
Not only the Hayden Library
but we will go to the branch libraries
and assist our students
and we will help them access their materials
We'll go up into the stacks and pull books
And then of course we help them with their research
which is a big service that we give
and sitting down one-on-one and showing them
the databases and how to get articles
and how to do their research
So that means you have to be reference and all sorts things
Yes, we wear many hats, we do
Any other services that you'd like to mention
No, I think that that, going to the libraries
any of the libraries
with students pulling books from other libraries
if they are use to being at Hayden but they need
science books, we'll help them with that
And what are your hours?
We are open anytime the library is open
Our room is always unlocked and in use
by the students 24 hours a day
Right
It is only staffed from 8 in the morning
till 9 in the evening
Monday through Thursday
8 to 5 on Friday
And on Saturday afternoons 1 to 5
And your services are not limited to ASU students, correct?
That's right
Community patrons can come in and use us
if they have a disability
We always...
Our patrons need to self identify as having a disability
And we will work with community patrons
on library research
so they need to work with us one-on-one
if they come in to use our facilities
Well Jodie thank you so much for joining us today [music starts]
My pleasure
This is The Library Channel
Thanks for watching!