Accessibility is often misconstrued about only being about disability, or only being for people with disabilities. This is a factual inaccuracy. Accessibility is about making materials of all types (web, print, technological) accessible to everyone without a difference in quality and cost. 

Think about these examples of individuals without permanent disabilities:

• People with access to small screens only (tablets, phones, etc...)
  • "...27% of adults living in households earning less than $30,000 a year are smartphone-only internet users – meaning they own a smartphone but do not have broadband internet at home" (Vogels, 2021).
• People with limited internet connectivity 
  • "...30% of adults say they often or sometimes experience problems connecting to the internet at home, including 9% who say such problems happen often" (Perrin, 2021)
• English Language Learners (ELLs) are often trying to learn to speak, read, and write English at the same time they are learning other concepts 
  • Providing extra supports or accommodations allows them a greater opportunity to succeed (Accessibility Features, n.d.).
• People with situational disabilities (broken arm, lost glasses, bright sunlight, etc...).
• older people with changing abilities due to aging
• people with temporary disabilities such as a broken arm or lost glasses
• people with situational limitations such as in bright sunlight or circumstances in which they can only listen to audio or only read captions

Universal design (UD) is the process of constructing an environment (physical or virtual) that allows it to be accessed, understood, and used by everyone. Universal design for learning (UDL) applies this process to educational environments, with the goal of minimizing barriers and maximizing learning. UDL entails:

• Action and Expression -- providing several ways to interact with material and demonstrate learning (e.g. tests that include different question types)
• Representation -- presenting the same instruction in multiple ways (e.g. captions and transcripts to accompany audiovisual materials)
• Engagement -- extending a variety of opportunities for connection and interaction (e.g. interactive skill-building exercises)

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The Library is committed to ensuring a universally-designed experience for all users. We are currently working through the following steps, as outlined by the University of Washington's DO-IT initiative, in order to increase the accessibility of our online databases:

1. Identify the product or environment to which you wish to apply UD/UDL
2. Describe the population for which the application is designed and the characteristics of potential members of this population
3. Involve the identified population in all phases of development, implementation, and evaluation.
4. Create or select UD guidelines/standards for the application and integrate them into the best practices in the application's field (e.g. community college library services) 
5. Apply universal design to the overall design and ongoing operations in the application in order to maximize the benefit of the application to the user population. 
6. Develop processes to address accommodations requests from individuals who may not automatically be able to access the application
7.  Tailor and deliver ongoing training and support to stakeholders (faculty, IT staff, procurement officers, etc.). 
8. Periodically evaluate the application with a diverse group of user and make modifications based on feedback