[Comicsstudiessociety] Accessibility Resources Re: ComicsStudiesSociety Digest, Vol 4, Issue 4

Fri Sep 13 13:19:07 EDT 2019

Chris,

I know that the National Library Service for the Library of Congress as well as our local State Library for the Blind (MD) have programs in place devoted to "translating" comic books into audio materials for the visually impaired. As you might expect there are limitations on how much they are able to translate, however TBWCD has been such a best seller I would be optimistic about finding it in their collections.

I would recommend getting in touch with NLS or your state library to see whether that title is available and what it takes to be granted access. Usually individual patrons must register with Libraries for the Blind and then they are granted access to the materials. It's rarer for the materials to be loaned out through ILL or between institutions. 

I've been interested in the resources that have emerged for converting comics into accessible material. I noticed that Marvel released audio book versions of some of their popular titles from the past few years (Ms. Marvel: No Normal, among others). I don't know if there are plans for any other publishers to make their own attempts. 

Elizabeth Brown | Circulation Assistant III
She/Her/Hers
Baltimore County Public Library | Cockeysville Branch
Cockeysville, MD 21203
410.887.7750
www.bcpl.info

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Today's Topics:

   1. The Best We Could Do and accessibility for        visually impaired
      readers (Charles Hatfield)

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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:35:11 -0700
From: Charles Hatfield <charles.hatfield at gmail.com>
To: discussion list for members of the Comics Studies Society
        <comicsstudiessociety at lists.osu.edu>
Subject: [Comicsstudiessociety] The Best We Could Do and accessibility
        for     visually impaired readers
Message-ID:
        <CAL4ucxjG3BFySXoDcM2Qv2GwJ33NTOmcxDO=zYWfnSwp8AfXcQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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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