Presenter says upcoming accessibility rules will reshape interlibrary loan workflows
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Summary
Jennifer Lloyd told a HealthBytes webinar that new ADA-related accessibility requirements will make ILL deliveries more labor-intensive, slow turnaround for urgent requests and place primary accessibility responsibility on the borrowing library.
Jennifer Lloyd, associate director for the LSU HSC libraries in New Orleans, told a National Library of Medicine Region 3 HealthBytes webinar that looming accessibility requirements will force libraries to change interlibrary loan (ILL) processes, add quality-control steps and rethink emergency workflows.
Lloyd said accessibility rules affecting ILL are arriving on a staggered timetable but that her institution must follow them starting April 24. She warned the new rules will add work: simple OCR will not be sufficient, reading order must be verified, tables and charts require descriptive text, and locked PDFs sometimes must be printed and rescanned to produce accessible files. "Simple OCR is not gonna be sufficient," she said.
Why it matters: many libraries have prided themselves on fast turnaround for ILL deliveries, including urgent patient requests; new accessibility checks will slow that pace and require staff training, new tools and policy decisions about how to balance immediacy with accessibility.
Lloyd explained a likely operational approach for patient emergency requests: because a lender has one hour to complete a DOCLINE patient emergency request, she would deliver the item immediately and then follow up with an accessible version, noting the immediacy of clinical needs. "Because...immediacy is the most important thing," she said.
On responsibility, Lloyd said the borrowing library bears the primary responsibility to provide an accessible PDF, but the lending library can help where possible. "It's the borrowing library. It is their responsibility," she said. She added that libraries should still test vendor output, audit materials and create local policies matched to staffing: "Don't break the law. Follow the standards. Make a good faith effort."
Lloyd described software and tool choices under consideration: many libraries use Adobe; some have tested internal Copilot tools to remediate files. She cautioned against uploading copyrighted materials to public AI tools and urged institutions to check vendor terms before using external services for accessibility remediation.
The webinar Q&A covered faculty responsibility (libraries can advise but likely cannot mandate changes to faculty-owned course materials), whether providing a paper copy avoids accessibility requirements (paper generally falls outside the web/document accessibility standard), and the timetable for remediation (institution-specific, with some institutions granted more time). Lloyd encouraged cross-institutional collaboration and offered to provide follow-up resources via the Network of the National Library of Medicine.
The webinar recorded no formal policy decisions; Lloyd offered email contact for questions and recommended professional networks and ALA resources for further guidance.
