Accessibility

1. Overview

We aim to create a library experience where all users, regardless of their needs or abilities, can access all services both in-person and digitally. Our service provision is guided by the principles of inclusion, equal access and respecting the needs of the individual.

2. Physical Access

All of the branches at Monash Public Library Service are designed for access and mobility.  We have:

• Accessible public toilets.
• Doors and ramps of appropriate width and circulation space.
• Grabrails and handrails where necessary.
• Car parking facilities.
• Return chutes are all accessible (except Oakleigh after hours chute).
• Lifts as alternative to stairs in public access areas.
• Recharge points: an accessible power point with appropriate space adjacent for mobility scooters and wheelchairs to recharge.
• Communication boards at all branches. Clayton has this available in Chinese.
• Interpreter services.

3. Technology

Public computers have Windows 11 at all branches.

Windows 11 accessibility features include:

• Adjusting icons and mouse to improve visibility.
• Narrator including accessing Braille. The screen-reading app, Narrator, offers simplified navigation and intelligent image description.
• Magnifier.
• Colour themes: boost contrast or get rid of colour entirely—whether you have colour-blindness, light sensitivity, or a visual preference, with colour filters you can customise your screen's colour palette.
• Big keys keyboard: a standard keyboard with letter, numbers and icons in large sized font, making keys easier to see and press. All with a large trackball mouse.
• Adjustable computer table.
• Live captions for hearing impaired.

4. Sensory Supports

• Sensory maps of each branch to identify areas with strong sensory stimuli and quieter areas within the library.
• Hearing loop systems in all branches (also called audio-frequency induction loops, AFILs or hearing loops) which are a loop of cable around a designated area, which generates a magnetic field picked up by a hearing aid.

5. Library Collection Access

• Home library service for Monash residents who are unable to visit our libraries: home delivery, loans to residential facilities.
• Large print books: unabridged versions of standard print books using a larger sized type.
• eBooks and eAudiobooks: a range of audio books for children and adults that can be read or listened to on your mobile device/computer.
• eMagazines and eNewspapers
• Books on CD: audio books, both fiction and non-fiction are available to borrow.
• Magnifying equipment: perspex sheet placed over book or other resources to magnify size of text.
• Special characters: the public computers are configured to enable input of the community languages of the Monash area.

6. Web Accessibility

• Our website complies with the W3C accessibility guidelines 2.0 by:
• The website is designed to be easily used across multiple devices including mobile devices, desktop and laptop computers. 

Monash Public Library Service has been accredited as Communication Access friendly by Scope Australia.