November 3, 2023
Accessible Study Room In Suzzallo – Now More Accessible!
By UW Libraries Accessibility Working Group
It is important to provide equitable environments that allow all students to feel comfortable studying at the Libraries. To that end, in the last few years we have improved accessibility in several ways around the Libraries: audited our physical spaces and electronic resources for accessibility; posted accessibility information on our website to aid in trip planning; created accessibility kits available for check out; and most recently, opened an accessible study room for use by everyone.
see highlighted area of room 327 – near the reading room on the third floor of Suzzallo.
The room is located at Suzzallo 327 on the third floor near the Suzzallo Reading Room.
The room is close to elevators and accessible bathrooms. This accessible study room is equipped with two accessible workstations provided by Access Technology Services (ATS) with software and hardware tools such as those found in the Access Technology Center. The room has a video magnifier and speech to text tools. The room also provides additional privacy for students with disabilities needing to make noise during their work, such as while using speech to text. While this room is open to the public, priority is given to students with disabilities. This information is also posted on the Accessibility at the Libraries page.
A workstation with accessible technology
A computer mouse with a trackball and ambidextrous design
An electronic magnifier
Suzzallo Library has hosted an accessible study room for many years; however, access was previously managed by Disability Resources for Students (DRS) and was limited to students registered through that program. Following conversations, DRS, ATS, and members of the UW Libraries Accessibility Working Group agreed that the room would be better utilized and benefit more people if it was opened to the public. The room is now open and unlocked during all Suzzallo Library operating hours.
For now, the accessible study room will not be added to the study room reservation system. As time goes on and we learn more about how often the room is used, we will adjust this as needed. For example, if demand is high enough, we will consider adding it to the reservations system. Currently, signage in the room states that students with disabilities have priority use of the room.
Enhancing equitable environments for teaching, learning and research is one of the UW Libraries main strategic priorities. To put those values into practice, we prioritized improving access to library spaces and resources by opening up our accessible study room.
A full list of our accessible spaces and resources can be found on the Libraries Accessibility page. If you have any questions about the study room or would like to suggest potential areas of improvement related to Libraries’ accessibility, please contact us at uwlib-a11y@uw.edu.
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