DSpace Development Fund Update - Web Accessibility Compliance Initiative

[Maureen P. Walsh]

Thank you to those institutions that have contributed so far to moving DSpace towards greater compliance with web accessibility guidelines. To date, the DSpace Community has contributed $30,000 to this accessibility work via the DSpace Development Fund!

With the funds received to date, DSpace Governance will prioritize paid software development to address known accessibility issues in DSpace. So far, we are relying on accessibility audits and bug reports contributed by members of the community. If your institution has conducted an audit, or you have found accessibility issues, please contribute those via Github. Information about contributing accessibility issues is available on the DSpace Wiki Accessibility page.

 

There is also still time to contribute financially to this effort! The more funds we receive, the more issues we will be able to fix.

 

Please consider supporting the DSpace Development Fund by June 1, 2024, either through a new membership in DSpace, an increase in your membership level, or a one-time contribution.  For those institutions wishing to contribute through one of the membership options, new funds in the first year will be dedicated to the DSpace Development Fund priority.  All donors will be recognized as DSpace Accessibility Champions in the DSpace wiki and in the DSpace newsletter.

 

If you would like to know more and/or contribute to the DSpace Development Fund, please contact us at DSpaceD...@Lyrasis.org.  You can also visit the DSpace Wiki Development Fund page for more information about the DSpace Development Fund and a list of institutions that have already contributed.

Thank you,

Maureen Walsh

Chair, DSpace Steering and Leadership Groups