Accessing technology can be daunting for many people, but especially for those who are experiencing vision loss, difficulties hearing, or reading disabilities. Mesa County Libraries is always striving to make its resources accessible to everyone, and whether you want to listen to an eAudiobook, read an eBook with extra large font, or utilize closed captions while streaming a film, we’ve got you covered!
Keep reading to discover a plethora of digital accessibility resources aiming to help make you comfortable whether you’re visiting the library in person or browsing online from home.
Accessible Workstation
Visit the Central Library to utilize the adaptive computer workstation which includes a large-print keyboard, an alternative mouse with a trackball, Zoomtext, and Jaws software. This station includes:
ZoomText
ZoomText software requires a reservation on a designated computer at the Central Library and offers a workstation for individuals experiencing low vision. ZoomText magnifies and enlarges everything on your computer screen with multiple zoom levels. The software can also invert or change colors on websites and text for those experiencing colorblindness, and print magnified documents. (This is also available at the Clifton Library!)
JAWS
JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a screen reader program that features a text-to-speech output for individuals experiencing low vision, blindness, or color blindness. It works with a speech synthesizer to assist the user by speaking the text that appears on the computer screen. This program can be used to browse the internet, fill out forms, and read web pages and documents out loud. (Also available at the Clifton Library)
Merlin Elite Pro Low Vision Reader
The Central Library offers the Merlin Elite Pro, an enhanced vision reader available to all during open hours – this is also offered at the Fruita Library during open hours. The device enables individuals experiencing low vision to magnify text, including books and magazines, view photos, and read text out loud.
Streaming Services
The library offers some excellent streaming services available to you with your library card which can be accessed from home on your digital devices.
Kanopy
Kanopy is a streaming service for films and documentaries, which requires a full-access MCL library card. Kanopy provides the accessibility features such as closed captions, transcripts, and subtitles, screen reader support on desktop devices, IOS, and Android devices and caption availability commitment. Kanopy can also be added to your smart TV for an additional viewing option. Kanopy users will receive 24 tickets every month, and the amount of tickets required to view a video varies based on content. The amount of tickets required will be displayed on Kanopy for each title.
Libby
Download eBooks and eAudiobooks on Libby and take advantage of accessibility features such as reduced text and color variation, screen reader support, adjustable text size, adjustable playback speed for audiobooks, and more. Readers can check out five titles at a time and put items on hold that are not immediately available.
Hoopla
Hoopla is a web and mobile library media streaming platform for audio books, comics, e-books, movies, music, and TV. It offers a number of eBooks with read-along technology that can be streamed to devices (Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV) and endeavors to provide closed captioning for all video content when available. You can enjoy five checkouts per month (checkouts reset at beginning of month), but please keep in mind that a daily budget cap has been implemented. Once the library has spent its budgeted amount of money on hoopla checkouts per day, no more checkouts will be allowed for anyone until the next day begins. For more information on this, please see the “Hoopla to see new limits in 2023” blog post.
If you’d like assistance with any of these technology options, don’t hesitate to check out our class and tech helps options for walk-in help or to book a specific appointment. Additionally, visit our Accessibility web page for more details or reach out to 970-243-4442 or ask@mcpld.org if you have comments, questions, and requests to help make our adaptive technology services even better.