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Library

Supporting accessibility

The Library Accessibility Service is here to support you, as a student or staff member, with making your learning, teaching and research resources accessible to you and others with visual, physical or learning disabilities.

The information on this page is also available as a booklet in PDF format: 

Accessibility Support Booklet (PDF, 0.8MB).

Accessibility for you

The Library in Fountains Learning Centre is spread over 3 floors. It is accessed through the main or back entrances of the Fountains building and is accessible by either an automatic door or a revolving door, or by a first floor manual door in Holgate building. Access to all floors is by stairs or lift. An accessibility tour which includes escape routes, safe havens, navigation, and sensory needs is available.

Read our Accessibility Guide to Fountains Learning Centre on AccessAble.
 
You may need specific services and adjustments to support your access to library resources. Follow 'Your Accessibility Journey' on this page to get registered with our Library Accessibility Service and access your personalised support.

Your accessibility journey

List item One

Register for the Library Accessibility Service

If you have a Learner Adjustment Plan (LAP), registering for our service forms part of your Learner Adjustment Plan so you don’t need to do anything else.

If you do not have a Learner Adjustment Plan, or you are a staff member, you need to complete our registration form. You need to be able to declare 1 or more visual, physical or learning disabilities to us. You do not need to provide evidence.

Register for Library Accessibility Service

List item Two

Receive your welcome email

You will receive a welcome email from the Library Accessibility Service which introduces you to key information. This includes:

List item Three

Explore available services and resources

Many resources available to you, either on your Reading Lists or ones you find during your studies, may already be accessible to you in their current format. Our Technology and reading guide has information about getting the most out of accessibility and reading tools.

If a resource isn't accessible to you in its current format, you have 3 options available to you:

RNIB Bookshare

RNIB Bookshare is a website where you can search for and download books in more accessible formats, including PDF, Word, MP3 and DAISY audio files, and EPUB. An account is free and you can sign up when you register for our Library Accessibility Service, or by using the RNIB Bookshare Account form.

Read more about how to use RNIB Bookshare.

Chapter scanning or Tactile Copy request

If a book isn't available on RNIB Bookshare, you can request a chapter to be scanned. You can request a chapter of a book, or if you don’t know which chapter or chapters you need, you can request a contents page to help you decide. You can also request a tactile copy of a resource.

Request a chapter scan Request a tactile copy

Convert a file

If you have a file that you need to convert into a more accessible format, such as converting PDFs into ebook, text, audio or braille files, you can use the self-service SensusAccess tool.

Convert a file

Other services

Book Collection Request Service

If you need support to find and retrieve books or resources in the Library, and you are registered with our Library Accessibility Service, you can request items through the Library catalogue. While you are logged in to your Library account on the catalogue, look for the ‘Reserve’ button when you view a book’s details. The Library team will get them from the shelves so you can collect and borrow them from the ground floor of the Library.

You can only request books which are loanable - Reference Only books are for library use only. If you need help to get a Reference Only book from the shelves, you can ask at the Information Services Desk.

Nominated collection

If you are sending someone else to collect or borrow books on your behalf (which we call 'Nominated Collection'), they will be required to show their ID and your student card each time they borrow on your behalf.

Postal Loans

You can register for Postal Loans if this would support your access to physical resources such as books.

Specialist software

We are typically able to offer a range of specialist software such as DesktopZoom and TextHelp Read and Write. All software is available on campus and some are available for your own devices. For other software available, please visit our A to Z software list.