[Comicsstudiessociety] The Best We Could Do and accessibility for visually impaired readers

[Charles Hatfield]

Dear CSS colleagues,I have an accessibility question:


A colleague here at CSUN has recommended Thi Bui's graphic memoir *The Best
We Could Do* (2017) as the freshman common reading for school year
2020-2021. Our common reading program, organized by the office for Academic
First Year Experiences, dates back to 2007, and is chosen by a committee of
about twenty (mostly faculty, some students).


Graphic books have been chosen as campus common readings at several US
colleges and universities, and nominated here at CSUN in the past
(Satrapi's *Persepolis* was nominated twice); however, accessibility to
visually impaired readers has evidently been a concern among committee
members. The committee's first meeting re: 2020-2021 is coming up, and my
colleague anticipates accessibility questions re: *The Best We Could Do*.
Therefore she is seeking insights and resources re: accessibility for
graphic books.


Of course I'd like to help. I love *The Best We Could Do* and have taught
it continuously since Summer 2017; more to the point, issues of visual
accessibility have been raised in comics studies of late, and may be
discussed in a future CSS conference roundtable. I believe this is an
important issue for our field to grapple with. I've been grappling with it
for a while, informed by my wife's expertise in teaching visually impaired
students and my own concerns as a teacher eager to provide accommodations
where possible. (As some of my CSS colleagues know, I have been struggling
to figure out accessibility strategies that support the aspects of comics
form that I teach and research.)

To that end, three questions:


1. Are any of you aware of accessibility resources specific to *The Best We
Could Do* (e.g., have any of you had experience reading *TBWCD *with
Comixology's guided view)?


2. More generally, are you aware of resources meant for educators aiming to
make comics more visually accessible?


3. Do you have teaching strategies or anecdotes related to comics and
accessibility?


Any relevant resources, stories, considerations would be greatly
appreciated. Thank you,


CH

Charles Hatfield
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