Accessible Services for Online Students

This page outlines accessibility services of specific interest to online students.

All services available to in-person students are also available to online students. For accessibility questions or issues, contact the Laurier Library's accessibility staff at libaccessibility@wlu.ca.

Services of particular interest for online students include:

Online Research Tutorials

The library has a series of short online tutorials to get you started with the tasks and skills of library research. There is also a Guide to Omni for screen reader users.

Individual Research Assistance

Book a research appointment with the Library's Accessible Services staff at libaccessibility@wlu.ca, or with your subject librarian.

This could involve help with searching the library's catalogue, help with navigating and using the library's resources, developing your research question and strategy, finding out about or using accessible services, remediating inaccessible PDFs and retrieving page numbers for screen reader users, or managing your references.

Help is available online (through Zoom or Teams), phone or email. 

Library Materials in Accessible Formats

The library offers different options for getting accessible versions of library materials. For a summary of options see Getting library books in accessible formats.

Electronic Books

Many of the library's books are available in electronic format. For help in locating ebooks see Finding ebooks. If our electronic platforms are not accessible for you, you can request a better accessible format using the ACE service below.

Scan on Demand

The library will scan print journal articles and chapters of books in its collection. For more information and instructions see Scan on Demand. Scans are done with basic OCR. If you require additional tagging of the PDF please add your request in the Notes field of the request form.

ACE (Accessible Content E-Portal)

The Accessible Content E-Portal (ACE) is a service which provides access to digitized accessible editions of books. 

A token is required to access ACE services. For registered students, tokens are available from the Accessible Learning Centre. For faculty, staff, or students not registered with the ALC, please contact us at libace@wlu.ca.

To access ACE, search the ACE repository. If you don't find what you need there, place an ACE request through the form or by emailing libace@wlu.ca. For instructions, see Getting Library books in accessible formats.

Page Numbers

If you use a screen reader and need help with identifying page numbers, contact us at libaccessibility@wlu.ca and we can help.

PDF Remediation

Please contact us at libaccessibility@wlu.ca for help with remediation of other PDF library materials, such as articles. 

Access to Print Books: Pickup and Delivery Options

Books to Go

You can request print books or other circulating items from any Laurier Library and any library in Omni, using the Books to Go service. Staff will get them from the shelves for you to pick up at your local Omni library. This means if you live in Ottawa, for example, you could request books for pickup at Carleton University Library, and return them there when you are done.

If picking up from the Laurier Library, you can arrange for someone to pick up the books for you (called a designate). To set up a designate, email infouser@wlu.ca.

Mail-on-Demand

Books available in Omni can also be mailed directly to your home. Mail-on-Demand service is free for both sending and returns and available to all students, staff, and faculty at Laurier.

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