Roundup – SAA Accessibility & Disability Section

A&DS News and Event Roundup – May 2021

Our monthly “Roundup” series features articles, upcoming events, and other items of interest to Section membership. If you have suggestions for items for next month’s A&DS Roundup, please email us at adsectionblogSAA at gmail dot com.

Call for Papers:

Cripping the Archive: Disability, Power, and History (edited by Jenifer Barclay and Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy)

This collection will explore the relationship between disability and the archive. We envision essays that collectively challenge “compulsory able-bodiedness”/able-mindedness (McRuer, 2006) – the ubiquitous beliefs and practices that center able-bodiedness in service of normativity. We invite contributors to ‘crip’ the archive, to adopt a critical orientation that illuminates and disrupts ableist power structures and dynamics and analyze how ableness informs the politics of the archive as a physical space, a sacred place, a discriminatory record, and a collection of silences. We seek work that uses a wide range of methods from authors who foreground the lived experiences and representations of disability in their work. We also strongly encourage submissions that use intersectional, interdisciplinary, and transnational approaches to the question of disability and the archive. We welcome submissions from scholars, writers, and artists and will accept 300-500-word abstracts for this collection through May 15, 2021.

Topics include, but are not limited to:
●   Objects, museums, curiosities; disability on display
●   The absence of disability in archival finding aids and indexes
●   The paradox of disability as both hypervisible and invisible in the historical record and archival imagination
●   Centering disability in the archives of medicine, science, and technology
●   The accessibility of archival spaces and materials
●   The impact of charged and negative disability terminology in changing historical contexts (i.e. monstrous, mad, deaf and dumb, crippled, superannuated, invalid, retardation)
●   Uncovering forgotten histories of disability in the archive and revisiting familiar archival sources through a disability lens
●   Identifying and confronting archival erasures rooted in intersectionality
●   Disability approaches to digital archives
●   The archive as a space of resistance (i.e. the reclamation of knowledge systems, ontologies, and identities structured by disability)
●   Decolonizing the archive of disability, Eurocentric understandings of the body and disability
●   Disability and the archive in transnational perspective
●   Myths of overcoming and inspirational narratives in the archives
●   The challenges of locating disability in already contested archives (e.g. slavery, colonialism, etc.)

For more information and submission details, see: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7515044/call-abstracts-edited-volume-cripping-archive-disability-power.

Upcoming Talks and Learning Opportunities:

A&DS + AACS Discussion on Intersectionality

May 6th, 3pm CST

Hosted by the SAA Accessibility and Disability Section and the Archivist and Archives of Color Section, we invite you to an open discussion on cross-section participation, intersectionality, and building resilience as our profession demands more from BIPOCs and those with disabilities. Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAkfuurpjgpHtfLUXJXCSLmFVfdYsOnq6dW.

Midwest Archives Conference presentation on Accessibility

May 13th, 3:30-4:30pm CST

During the Midwest Archives Conference, Lindy Smith, Veronica Denison, Lauren White, and Zachary Tumlin will presenting on “Improving Accessibility in Archival Spaces.” The full conference program is available on the MAC website.

Web Archiving Coffee Chat

May 19th, 6pm EST

Join the Web Archiving Section for a coffee chat co-hosted by the Accessibility & Disability Section (ADS). ADS Immediate Past Chair Lydia Tang will share insights on using a screen reader when viewing the Internet Archive’s user interface and WARCs. We will also hear about her experience using different tools to check for accessibility compliance. Please stay tuned to the Web Archiving Section’s Twitter (https://twitter.com/WebArch_RT) for details.

Accessibility Fundamental Bootcamp Training

May 20th, 12-3pm EST

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Deque is offering a free basic accessibility fundamentals bootcamp training session on Thursday, May 20th from 12:00-3:00PM ET.

Articles and Recordings:

Who’s Missing from EDI Advocacy?: Examining the Barriers for Librarians with Invisible Disabilities

A recording and presentation materials from this session, presented at ACRL 2021 by Samantha Huntington Peter, Katelyn Quirin Manwiller, Megan Toops, Debbie Krahmer, and Michele Santamaria, is available online at: https://uwyo.figshare.com/articles/presentation/Who_s_Missing_from_EDI_Advocacy_Examining_the_Barriers_for_Librarians_with_Invisible_Disabilities/14485086/1

College Language Association Journal, special issue on Blackness and Disability

Therí Alyce Pickens guest edited the March 2021 issue of the CLA Journal, which is available online here: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/44225 . Articles include On Fits, Starts, and Entry Points: The Rise of Black Disability Studies (Anna Hinton), No Crips Allowed: Magical Negroes, Black Superheroes, And the Hyper-Abled Black Male Body In Steven Spielberg’s Amistad and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther (Charles I. Nero), and Black Autism: A Conversation with Diana Paulin (Julia Miele Rodas and Diana Paulin).

Other Items of Interest:

The Accessibility and Disability Section is looking for candidates interested in running for a position on the A&DS steering committee! Terms are for two years, and you must be a member of both SAA and the A&D Section. Nominations must be received by May 28th, and can be submitted here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1teS400nf-lv–RkUBnOMsYzFakRcess3yrIgeBJAObvwtQ/viewform

The SAA Mentoring Program is seeking volunteer mentees who may be interested in participating in the pilot Accessibility & Disability cohort program. Cohorts will be active from June – November 2021. Apply to be a Mentee by submitting this application by May 14. If you have any questions about this pilot program, contact the Mentoring Program Subcommittee at saamentoring@gmail.com.

Dr. Lydia Tang, on behalf of the Accessibility & Disability Section, has been awarded a $3,200 SAA Foundation grant to outsource captioning pre-2020 SAA Education webinars. More on this exciting news to come!!

A&DS News and Event Roundup – April 2021

Upcoming Talks and Learning Opportunities:

Webina r : Core Concepts of Accessibility in Archives

Monday, April 26, 2021 from 10am-11am PST

Instructor: Dr. Lydia Tang

Accessibility must be designed into programs and workflows, and there are many ways that archivists can actively improve accessibility for everyone.

The Core Concepts of Accessibility in Archives webinar will include:

An overview of the Society of American Archivists’ Guidelines for Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities
Guidance on how to survey physical and digital spaces for accessibility barriers
Brief demonstration of screen readers accessing digital archival materials and databases
Examples of how these Guidelines can be applied to repositories

The cost is $10 for SCA members; $5 for student members; $20 for non-members; and $5 for unemployed or precariously employed individuals. All registrants will receive a link to the webinar recording after the webinar is completed.

An Afternoon with Keah Brown: Perspectives on the Intersections of Black, Queer, and Disability Identity and Navigating Life as a College Student and Beyond

April 1, 2021 at 4pm PST

Keah Brown is an actress, journalist, author, and screenwriter. She is the creator of #DisabledAndCute. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire UK, And The New York Times, among other publications. Her Debut essay collection, The Pretty One is out now. Her debut picture book, Sam’s Super Seats will be out in 2022 via Koklia books.

Join the Disability Programs and Resource Center, the Black Unity Center, and DREAM SFSU for this exciting conversation. ASL/captioning provided.

3rd Annual Autism at Work Research Workshop

April 20-22, 2021, 11am-2pm PST (registration deadline: April 9, 2021)

The Autism at Work Research Workshop brings together leading scholars, employers, clinicians, service providers, entrepreneurs, caregivers, and autism advocates concerned with autism employment. Their work may relate to the preparation, recruitment, persistence, advancement, and management of autistic individuals in the workplace. Our objectives are to

Build a community of people concerned with issues related to the preparation and employment of autistic individuals and convey these concerns to the others in the community
Offer opportunities to connect practitioners with researchers to develop or evaluate supports for the employment of autistic individuals
Provide a collaborative space for scholars to share their work and receive constructive feedback in order to advance autism employment research
Further develop a research agenda to advance evidence-based practices to equitably include individuals with autism in the workplace

Microsoft Ability Summit

May 5-6, 2021, 9am-12:30pm PST

The Microsoft Ability Summit is a two-day, free digital event experience that brings together people with disabilities, allies, and accessibility professionals to Imagine, Build, Include, and Empower the future of disability inclusion and accessibility.

2021 Microsoft Ability Summit will feature:

Keynotes from Microsoft executives and notable members of the disability community
Expert panels featuring exciting projects and innovations
Demos of the latest accessibility features in Office, Windows, Xbox, and more
All sessions will be recorded and available post-event so no matter what time zone you are in, you can access the content at a time that works for you!

News and Articles:

“We Need to Talk About How We Talk About Disability: A Critical Quasi-Systematic Review” by Amelia Gibson, Kristen Bowen, and Dana Hanson

“This quasi-systematic review uses a critical disability framework to assess definitions of disability, use of critical disability approaches, and hierarchies of credibility in LIS research between 1978 and 2018. We present quantitative and qualitative findings about trends and gaps in the research, and discuss the importance of critical and justice-based frameworks for continued development of a liberatory LIS theory and practice.”

“Neurodiverse Applicants are Revolutionizing the Hiring Process”, Quartz at Work, Alexandra Ossola

Requires an account with Quartz (free trial is available)

Other Items of Interest:

Call for Fellowship Applications: Jaipreet Virdi 2021 Fellowship for Disability Studies – Medical Heritage Library

The Medical Heritage Library seeks a motivated fellow to assist in the continuing development of our education and outreach programs. Under the guidance of a member of our governance board, the fellow will develop curated collections or sets for the MHL website on the topic of disability and medical technologies. Examples of existing primary source sets can be found on the MHL website: http://www.medicalheritage.org/resource-sets/. These collections will be drawn from the over 300,000 items in our Internet Archive library. The curated collections provide a means for our visitors to discover the richness of MHL materials on a variety of topics relevant to the history of health and the health sciences. As part of this work, the fellow will have an opportunity to enrich metadata in MHL records in Internet Archive to support scholarship and inquiry on this topic.

This paid ($20/hour not to exceed $3000) fellowship will be hosted virtually, with no in-person component. The fellowship will take place anytime between the end of May 2021-mid-August 2021. 150 hours, over 12 weeks with a maximum of 20 hours in any given week. For more details and application instructions, see: http://www.medicalheritage.org/2021/03/11/call-for-fellowship-applications-jaipreet-virdi-2021-fellowship-for-disability-studies/

Western History Disability Studies and Disabled Scholar Award

The purpose of the Western History Disability Studies and Disabled Scholar Award is to promote the place of disability and all of the ramifications that disability, diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion have had in the history of the North American West. It is important to promote and support scholars who study this history, whether these scholars have a disability or not. To read more on the significance and vibrancy of Disability Studies, see Disability Studies and History below.

Two $500 awards, funded by independent blind historian Alida Boorn, will support two graduate student who either are working in the fields of disability studies and western history OR identify as disabled and who wish to attend the WHA conference with financial assistance. Funding from the award will assist their ability to research and present academic papers and network with other scholars at the annual WHA conferences.

Deadline is July 15, 2021. See their website for additional details: https://www.westernhistory.org/awards/disability

“New inclusive feature in Microsoft Teams and More”

This blog post covers new accessibility features in Microsoft Teams, including Dynamic View: “With more important calls, meetings and events happening virtually, it’s important to make sure everyone can participate easily, including people with disabilities. We are happy to announce Dynamic view, which intelligently arranges the elements of your meeting for an optimal viewing experience, is coming soon to Commercial and GCC customers. As people join, turn on video, start to speak, or begin to present in a meeting, Teams auto-adjusts and personalizes your layout. For instance, with Dynamic view, meeting attendees who are deaf can pin a sign language interpreter, fit the interpreter’s video to frame, and see the interpreter alongside shared content throughout the meeting.”

Reminder! Accessibility and Disability Section Mentoring Program

A reminder that the Accessibility and Disability Section sponsors a mentoring program, open to any archival workers and students who share an interest or identity relating to disability and accessibility and an interest in the archival field. You do not need to be a member of SAA to sign up. For more details, including a link to the sign up sheet, please see this previous blog post: https://adsarchivists.home.blog/2020/12/16/introducing-the-accessibility-disability-sections-mentoring-sign-up-sheet/

New blog series! A&DS Roundup

Beginning today, we will be publishing our new “A&DS Roundup” series every month on the first of the month (sorry it’s a bit late this month!). The “Roundup” series will feature articles, upcoming events, and other items of interest to Section membership. If you have suggestions for items for next month’s A&DS Roundup, please email us at adsectionblogSAA at gmail dot com.

Calls for Papers/Presentations/Participation:

Reserve + Renew: The LIS Mental Health Zine is seeking submissions for the fourth issue, The Plague Year. Contributions are welcome from anyone involved in “big tent” librarianship, archives, or museums: if you work or volunteer in a library or archive or museum (currently or formerly), if you’re working towards a library degree, or are otherwise involved in library or GLAM-related work, we want to hear from you.

For additional details see http://lismentalhealth.org/reserve-and-renew-zine/. Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2020.

Upcoming Talks and Learning Opportunities:

November 12, 12:30pm EST: Breaking with Tradition: Creating Connections in the Archives with New Types of Access
Presented by Rachael Cristine Woody with Bridgett Kathryn Pride

Abstract: When the general public is introduced to the archives it’s often an intimidating experience. Our ceremony of white gloves, use of expensive boxes, and enforcement of heavily restricted collections access all serve to intimidate and dissuade new users. Whether we intend to or not, archivists are sending the message that they are the gatekeepers of the collection and only “serious business” can be conducted with the collections. So, how do we break that messaging down? How can we serve up the collections in a way that is not only inviting, but inspirational? Rachael Woody is teaming up with Bridgett Kathryn Pride to talk about breaking down archival barriers, empowering novice users, and creating points of access to collections through artful guidance.

Register: https://rachaelcristine.mykajabi.com/breaking-with-tradition-registration-page

November 18, 3pm EST/1pm MST: ADA Compliance Wins for Digital Library Spaces (InfoPeople)

In this webinar you will learn about web accessibility fundamentals for ADA compliance from a working specialist in the field. You will discover how to tie digital accessibility and ADA compliance in with other principles of design (UDL) to create the best and most seamless programming experience possible. Making your documents, presentations, and PDFs accessible online will set you up for further success, and it’s easier than you think.

For more information and to register, visit: https://infopeople.org/training/view/webinar

News and Articles:

“COVID-19, Accessibility, and Libraries: A Call to Action,” by JJ Pionke in College and Research Libraries News, vol. 81, no. 8 (Sept 2020).

Other Items of Interest:

On October 12, the Digital Library Federation’s Digital Accessibility Working Group hosted a webinar led by Sina Bahram on “Inclusive Design and Accessible Exhibits: Some Guidance for Libraries, Galleries, and Museums.” The recording is available on the DLF YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV-V3pttNDM.

“What We Don’t Have: Confronting the Absence of Diversity in University Archives” from Carnegie Mellon University. This online exhibit critically explores the silences in the university archives at CMU. As the exhibit notes, “With this exhibit, we aim to expose our work and explore the absences in the University Archives – the voices and experiences we know are missing. These are stories that people are looking for, and we are unable to tell. We recognize that these are not the only gaps in our collections, and we acknowledge that the gaps represent members of our community who have been silenced.”

The University of British Columbia’s Geography department is hosting a series of webinars titled “The Voices of Access and Disability in Higher Education.” The first two videos – Defining Access and Identifying Barriers and Opportunities for Change – are available to watch now on their YouTube channel.

If you have ideas for other blog series or posts, please let us know! Email us at adsectionblogSAA at gmail dot com. We hope to continue to learn and grow together.