ADA Services

Campus: All Locations Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota/Manatee ADA Resources and Tools

USF Libraries — All locations

The USF Libraries are committed to providing equitable access to library materials, programs, and services to all patrons. Staff working in public areas will make good faith efforts to accommodate reasonable requests from library users whose disabilities limit their use of the Libraries’ facilities and resources.

Arrangements for reasonable accommodations are coordinated with the campus Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at 813-974-4309. Students with disabilities are encouraged to register with the SAS to become eligible for the services provided through that office.

The USF Libraries strives to make our websites ADA compliant. If patrons with disabilities experience difficulties using any section of it, they should contact the Library as listed below.

Library Contact Information

Telephone
  • Tampa: 813.974.2729 / 866.550.8036 (toll free) / 813.974.9874 (TDD/TTY)
  • St. Petersburg: 727.873.4405
  • Sarasota/Manatee: 941.359.4243
Email and Chat

Research Services

Research librarians can assist with any questions you have about using the library or conducting library research. To avoid delays in service that occur during peak service periods or to receive individual assistance with extensive research projects, patrons with disabilities are encouraged to make appointments with a research librarian by calling the Library Services Desks at the numbers above, or by completing a Research Consultation Request Form.

USF Libraries — Tampa campus

Physical Accessibility

Safe and accessible parking is provided near the library entrance with level walkways and gradually sloping ramps leading to the Library entrance. A mechanically operated entrance/exit door is available for access by those with physical disabilities. Within the building, handrails are provided on stairways, doors leading to stacks area, and teaching labs. Rest rooms are push-button accessible, and lower sinks and drinking fountains are available for wheelchair users. Braille numbering and lettering are used to designate bathrooms and elevators.

Retrieving Materials

The staff of Access Services (Circulation/Reserve/Media) will assist patrons with disabilities by retrieving materials as needed. Requests for assistance will be handled by staff as soon as possible. If staffing at the desk is limited or the staff cannot assist the patron at the time of a request, the patron and the staff will mutually agree upon a time when the patron may best be assisted. Please note that staff will be best able to provide assistance 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. Contact them at 813-974-2729 for more information, or any other assistance with these matters.

ADA Assistive Technologies

The USF Tampa campus library provides PC workstations/carrels designated for wheelchair access in each service area, and wheelchair accessible service desks. There is a Freedom Scientific Topaz HD Desktop Video Magnifier station on the first floor.

USF Libraries — St. Petersburg campus

Assistive Services & Technologies

The USF St. Peterburg campus library staff can respond to requests for brief assistance, such as retrieving a book from the stacks or helping a student use the online catalog . Books can be retrieved by library staff on request. Please note that staff will be best able to provide assistance from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. Contact them at 727-873-4405 for more information, or any other assistance with these matters.

For enhanced assistance, please make arrangements with the USF St. Petersburg campus Office of Student Accessibility Services or call the office at 727-873-4990.

The Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Assistive Technologies Room (POY 127A) includes technologies to assist users with accessing library materials in a quiet study room setting for those with special visual needs. Normal check-out is for three hours but special arrangement can be made for longer periods of time in consultation with Student Accessibility Services who may also reserve the room under special circumstances.

Please direct any hardware and software concerns to USF St. Petersburg campus Library Systems at (727) 873-4402 or through the Student Technology Center. Training and assistance in using speech recognition and associated hardware and software will be provided upon request to the Office of Student Accessibility Services.

Physical Accessibility to Facilities:

Safe and accessible parking is provided to the north of the library entrance, adjacent to the volleyball courts. Additional parking is available in parking lot 2 North of the Science and Technology building. Level parking lots and walkways lead to the library entrance only a few hundred feet to the north. The Poynter Library building and restrooms are wheelchair-accessible, the front door has an accessible height card swipe system for entry and automatic doors that trigger upon motion after swiping.

USF Libraries — Sarasota/Manatee campus

Students may contact the Sarasota/Manatee campus for information on accessibility services and resources by sending an Email to the Front Desk, or through our Ask a Librarian Service.

ADA Links

ADA Resources at USF
ADA Resources Elsewhere

Free Assistive Technology Tools

The following Assistive Technology tools are free to use and are organized by access needs.

Screen Readers
  • Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA): Fully-functional screen reader for the Windows Operating System. It has the ability to run from a USB drive with no installation.
  • Fire Vox: Talking browser extension for the Firefox web browser. Basic features such as identifying headings, links, images, and navigational assistance are included.
  • System Access To Go: Fully-functional screen reader for the Windows Operating System that runs from the web. It also works as a talking screen magnifier. It prompts for a download to maintain connection with the web client
Screen Magnifiers
  • Virtual Magnifying Glass: Cross-platform screen magnifier. Magnification ranges from 1x to 32x. Viewing window width and height can be adjusted.
  • KwikLoupe: Viewing window magnifies the area around the mouse pointer and ranges from 2x to 64x.
  • CLC Star: Browser extension for the Firefox web browser. Allows for enlarging images, increasing font size, changing font style and color, changing background color, enhancing focus indicator, increasing link and word spacing, and more.
  • System Access to Go: Fully-functional screen reader for the Windows Operating System that runs from the web. It also works as a talking screen magnifier. It prompts for a download to maintain connection with the web client.
Text-to-Speech Output
  • Orato: Reads text copied to the clipboard with the ability to display text and highlight words or sentences as they are read. It has the ability to run from a USB drive with no installation.
  • Natural Reader: Converts text to speech and can create audio files in mp3 or WAV (i.e. for iPod).
  • PowerTalk: Speaks any presentation or slide show running in Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows.
  • ClickSpeak: Browser extension for Firefox web browser. Mouse-driven interface that reads text based on point-and-click interaction.
  • Word Talk: Plug-in for Microsoft Word that will speak the text of a document and highlight as it reads. It also includes a talking dictionary.
Text Presentation
  • WordFlashReader: Flashes each word of a document sequentially on the screen. Font size, type, color, rate, and amount displayed can be adjusted.

What is HathiTrust?

HathiTrust is a digital library created with the collections and collaboration of partner libraries whose goal was to generate and organize a comprehensive archive of digital content converted from library print materials. Public domain materials in the HathiTrust are fully accessible online and may be downloaded, saved, and shared. Materials still protected by copyright or subject to privacy concerns are full text searchable through the HathiTrust catalog:

  • HathiTrust – Provides access to digitized texts in a variety of repositories, including Google Books and the Internet Archive.
  • HathiTrust user guide – Guide to using the HathiTrust collection and catalog.

HathiTrust items can also be accessed via the Florida Universities and Colleges Union catalog. If your search in the Union catalog finds electronically available books in the HathiTrust collection they will be displayed under a label that says ‘HathiTrust Digital Library’ or as a ‘Read this E-book’ link accompanied by the HathiTrust logo (example below). Clicking on these links will take you to the online material.

HathiTrust Print Disabilities Access

The University of South Florida is a member of the HathiTrust via an agreement of the Florida State University System libraries group. This membership includes access to ADA compliant electronic files of print books held by both the HathiTrust and any of the State Univeristy System libraries.

Students registered with USF’s Students with Disabilities Services department as having a print disability may request ADA compliant PDF files of any material in the State University System libraries that is also in the HathiTrust collection by filling out the request form below. If you have questions on this process, or need to make a request, please contact USF’s designated proxy for HathiTrust ADA services: LeEtta Schmidt, Resource Sharing and Copyright Librarian, at lmschmidt@usf.edu