Accessibility at the Patrick Power Library

Welcome to the Patrick Power Library Accessibility Guide!

This Libguide is intended to guide you through virtual and physical accessibility and disability resources on and off campus.

The information in this guide will be of interest to students and staff with disabilities who want to know about provincial, campus, and library accessibility; academic and technological supports; and financial assistance. This guide also contains resources for people without disabilities who want to learn more about accommodations for people with disabilities, creating accessible documents and web content, and on-campus accessibility supports.

Statistics 

Approximately 230,000 Nova Scotians have at least one disability. 40% of them are working age (15-64 years old) (Nova Scotia, n.d.). Twenty-two percent of Canadians have at least one disability. That represents approximately 6.2 million people. 1.6 million Canadians are unable to afford required aids, devices or medicine due to costs. The employment rate for people with disabilities is 21% lower than the employment rate for able-bodied people (Stats Canada, 2018). Nova Scotia has the highest percentage of people with disabilities in Canada (Department of Justice, 2018).

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility is the practice of ensuring that everyone has direct and indirect access to any information, space, and materials they want or need. Some examples are closed captions on videos or elevators in any building that has stairs. Both are considered accessibility accommodations that provide the user direct or indirect access to the space or information being provided to the general population.

According to the Google Dictionary (2019), accessibility is also the following:

1. The quality of being able to be reached or entered.
2. The quality of being easy to obtain or use.
3. The quality of being easily understood or appreciated.
4. The quality of being easily reached, entered, or used by people who have a disability.

*This Libguide was created according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. If you see anything that is inaccessible or does not comply with the guidelines, please contact us.*