--- title: Library Accessibility That More Patrons Can Use description: Library accessibility helps public libraries remove barriers in buildings, websites, eResources, and support so more people can use what they need today. image: https://afocirmbqdxnkyescnev.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/featured-images/45f7c73b-9640-485d-9784-e2d9ecee3370/1a584901-767d-40dd-a601-15d22c121f3f.webp?v=1793663692048 --- [![](https://www.learnersengaged.com/hubfs/Learners%20Engaged%20Brand%20Kit%202026/LearnersEngaged-LogoColor.svg)](https://www.learnersengaged.com) - Engage - [eResources](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eresources) - [Business Expert Press (BEP)](https://www.learnersengaged.com/bep) - [LingQ](https://www.learnersengaged.com/lingq) - [MakeMake](https://www.learnersengaged.com/makemake) - [Newsreel](https://www.learnersengaged.com/newsreel) - [ParentTV](https://www.learnersengaged.com/parenttv) - [PressReader](https://www.learnersengaged.com/pressreader) - [NovareFOCUS](https://www.learnersengaged.com/novarefocus) - [EIG Connect](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eigconnect) - Innovate - [Insights](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog) - Grow - [About Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/about-learners-engaged) - [Engage With Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) [Engage with Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) [![](https://www.learnersengaged.com/hubfs/Learners%20Engaged%20Brand%20Kit%202026/LearnersEngaged-LogoColor.svg)](https://www.learnersengaged.com) [Engage with Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) [![](https://www.learnersengaged.com/hubfs/Learners%20Engaged%20Brand%20Kit%202026/LearnersEngaged-LogoColor.svg)](https://www.learnersengaged.com) - Engage - [eResources](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eresources) - [Business Expert Press (BEP)](https://www.learnersengaged.com/bep) - [LingQ](https://www.learnersengaged.com/lingq) - [MakeMake](https://www.learnersengaged.com/makemake) - [Newsreel](https://www.learnersengaged.com/newsreel) - [ParentTV](https://www.learnersengaged.com/parenttv) - [PressReader](https://www.learnersengaged.com/pressreader) - [NovareFOCUS](https://www.learnersengaged.com/novarefocus) - [EIG Connect](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eigconnect) - Innovate - [Insights](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog) - Grow - [About Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/about-learners-engaged) - [Engage With Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) [Engage with Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) [![](https://www.learnersengaged.com/hubfs/Learners%20Engaged%20Brand%20Kit%202026/LearnersEngaged-LogoColor.svg)](https://www.learnersengaged.com) [Engage with Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) - Engage - [eResources](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eresources) - [Business Expert Press (BEP)](https://www.learnersengaged.com/bep) - [LingQ](https://www.learnersengaged.com/lingq) - [MakeMake](https://www.learnersengaged.com/makemake) - [Newsreel](https://www.learnersengaged.com/newsreel) - [ParentTV](https://www.learnersengaged.com/parenttv) - [PressReader](https://www.learnersengaged.com/pressreader) - [NovareFOCUS](https://www.learnersengaged.com/novarefocus) - [EIG Connect](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eigconnect) - Innovate - [Insights](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog) - Grow - [About Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/about-learners-engaged) - [Engage With Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) [Contact Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) # Library Accessibility That More Patrons Can Use Every library I know says it wants to be open to everyone. Then a patron hits a PIN they've never heard of, a "Learn ... [Mark Ritchie](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog/author/mark-ritchie) Nov 3, 2026 --- Every library I know says it wants to be open to everyone. Then a patron hits a PIN they've never heard of, a "Learn more" button that goes nowhere useful, or an eBook with a twelve-week hold, and quietly gives up. **Library accessibility** is the work of finding those moments and removing them, one at a time. It isn't a compliance project with a finish line. Here's what I'd focus on if I were starting this week. ## Walk the Patron's Path, Not the Checklist Standards matter, but the barriers patrons report usually show up between them. Pick one service and walk it the way a first-time user would, on a phone: - **Find it.** Can you get there from the homepage in two taps without knowing what "databases" means? - **Understand it.** Does the page say what the resource does and who it's for, in plain words? - **Get in.** Do you know which number and PIN to use, and what happens if your card has expired? - **Use it.** Can you resize text, use a keyboard, or turn on captions? - **Get unstuck.** Is there help on the page, or does the patron have to call us during business hours? Write down every place you hesitated. That list is your accessibility plan, and it's more useful than an audit report. ## Ask Harder Questions Before You Buy or Renew When I sit in on [eResource trials](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog/eresource-trial-guide-public-libraries), the accessibility questions usually come last, if at all. Move them up front: - Does it work well on a phone, since that's where most patrons start? - Are videos captioned? Is there audio or narration for people who need it? - Can text be resized without breaking the layout? - Can patrons read offline, for people with spotty or expensive data? - Is there a waitlist? A hold queue is an access barrier too. - What does sign-in look like: barcode, IP, SSO? How many steps? Ask vendors for plain-language answers and known limitations. Then hand the trial to two frontline staff and watch where they pause. In a consortium, share findings so members don't repeat the same test. ### Treat Sign-In as the Biggest Barrier Authentication sinks more good eResources than anything else I've seen. You can't always change the model, but you can make it easier to get through: - Put "Use your library card number and PIN" right next to the button, with where to find both. - Link to a PIN reset that actually works on mobile. - Retest every time a vendor or your ILS changes the login. ## Spotlight: Spanish Reading Without Waitlists or Guesswork Accessibility includes language. If a big part of your community reads in Spanish, a thin print shelf and a holds queue are barriers, even if your website passes every check. That's where [MakeMake](https://www.learnersengaged.com/makemake) fits. It's a digital library of authentic Spanish-language eBooks for kids and families, roughly ages 3 to 15, with the strongest fit from early childhood through elementary. About 95% of the titles were originally written in Spanish, from 100+ Latin American publishers, so families aren't stuck with translations. What makes it relevant to an accessibility conversation: - **No waitlists.** Access is unlimited and simultaneous, so a whole family or class can read the same title at once. - **Flexible sign-in.** It supports barcode, IP, or SSO authentication, so you can match how patrons already log in. - **Offline reading.** That helps families with limited or expensive data. - **Narrated interactive titles.** There are 140+ interactive books with narration and animation, a real help for early and emerging readers. - **Free MARC records.** Titles show up in your catalog, where patrons already look. Where I'd start: put one Spanish-language "Get started" card on the children's page and at the desk, with the sign-in steps written out in Spanish. Use the MakeMake marketing kit so you aren't designing from scratch. Then ask a few families what was confusing the first time. ## Write Your Website for People, Not the Org Chart After hours, the website is the front desk. - Use the words patrons use. "Get a library card" beats "Patron registration." "Learn English" beats a category only staff understand. - Replace rows of "Learn more" buttons with buttons that say where they go. - Use real headings, in order, so screen reader users and skimmers can find their way. - Check color contrast and font size on a phone in bright light. ### Offer More Than One Format Some patrons want a printed handout, a phone call, a captioned two-minute video, or guidance in their own language. Start with the services that generate the most desk questions, and match the format to the task: a large-print one-pager for account steps, a short video for an app login, a person for anything involving personal information. ## Make Staff Part of the Access Plan A great platform still fails if staff can't explain it or fix a basic sign-in problem. Staff don't need to become specialists; they need a shared approach. [Train frontline staff](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog/how-to-train-frontline-staff) on the five or six services people ask about most, the common sign-in failures, and when to hand off. Teach them to ask, "What would make this easier for you?" instead of guessing. For small and rural libraries, a two-page internal cheat sheet beats a long manual nobody can find mid-shift. Update it whenever a workflow changes. ## Measure Where People Stop Usage numbers tell you who got in. They don't tell you who gave up. Watch for: - The same question at the desk three times in a week. - PIN reset requests after you promote a resource. - Pages with lots of visits and little follow-through. - Registrations started but not finished. Ask three patrons to try one task while you watch quietly. You'll find a confusing label in ten minutes. A quarterly check of your top pages and most-used eResources beats an annual review that never happens, and [good onboarding](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog/guide-to-digital-resource-onboarding) makes those checks easier, because you'll know what "working" should look like. ## Accessibility Is a Promise We Keep Daily Accessibility means we plan for different needs instead of treating them as exceptions. Most of the wins are small: clearer words, fewer sign-in surprises, captions, a mobile-friendly path, collections in the languages our community reads, and staff who know how to help. Each one tells a patron the same thing. This is for you, and we want you to be able to use it. Share on :   ## Similar posts [![LearnersEngaged-IconColor](https://www.learnersengaged.com/hubfs/Learners%20Engaged%20Brand%20Kit%202026/LearnersEngaged-IconColor.svg "LearnersEngaged-IconColor")](https://www.learnersengaged.com) Engage. Innovate. Grow [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.instagram.com/learnersengaged/) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/learnersengaged/) [Follow us on Twitter](https://x.com/LearnersEngaged) - Home - [eResources](https://www.learnersengaged.com/eresources) - [Insights](https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog) - [About Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/about-learners-engaged) - [Engage With Us](https://www.learnersengaged.com/engage-with-us) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.learnersengaged.com/privacy-policy) Vancouver, BC [+1.778.889.5903 (CAN)](tel:+17788895903) [+1.708.889.5903 (USA)](tel:+17088895903) [engage@learnersengaged.com](mailto:engage@learnersengaged.com) ©2026 Learners Engaged ![back-to-top](https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/7712601/back-to-top.png) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Mark Ritchie", "url" : "https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog/author/mark-ritchie" }, "datePublished" : "2026-11-03T01:00:20.000Z", "headline" : "Library Accessibility That More Patrons Can Use", "image" : [ "https://afocirmbqdxnkyescnev.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/featured-images/45f7c73b-9640-485d-9784-e2d9ecee3370/1a584901-767d-40dd-a601-15d22c121f3f.webp?v=1793663692048" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.learnersengaged.com/learners-engaged-blog/library-accessibility-more-patrons-can-use", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.learnersengaged.com/hubfs/Learners%20Engaged%20Brand%20Kit%202026/LearnersEngaged-LogoColor.svg" } } } ```