Creating a More Accessible Environment for Our Users with Disabilities: Responding to an Office for Civil Rights Complaint

Abstract

In 2012, a University of Montana student advocacy organization filed a complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights stating that unequal access to the university’s electronic and information technologies (EIT) resulted in discrimination against students with disabilities. This article shares ways in which the University of Montana, including its archives and special collections, responded to the resulting mandate that “employees must create, obtain, and maintain all EIT in a manner that ensures it is accessible to individuals with disabilities.” The author argues that a professional and ethical commitment to diversity, access, and use compels archivists and colleagues in the cultural heritage community to increase their awareness of accessibility issues as they relate to electronic and information technologies, and to act to eliminate barriers experienced by their users with disabilities.