Contact & Support
Assistance In-person & Online
Library staff provide assistance at library service desks and by text, email, or chat via Ask Us. Questions or feedback are welcome anytime and are an important part of the process to improve library services.
Accessible Text Request Service (ATRS)
If a disability prevents reading standard print, individuals who are eligible may request a digital copy of materials through ULS Resource Sharing. In partnership with HathiTrust, the ULS will provide copies of copyrighted books, which are listed as “limited (search-only)” in the HathiTrust Digital Library Collection.
ATRS Eligibility
To request access to materials through the Accessible Text Request Service, individuals must first establish eligibility through Disability Resources and Services (DRS). DRS is the designated office at the University of Pittsburgh responsible for determining reasonable accommodations and support services for students, staff, and faculty with disabilities. To begin the application process, please visit their website or call the office at (412) 648-7890.
Required Course Materials
DRS may be able to supply accessible text for required course material. Please see Alternative Format Text resources for more information.
Resource Licensing
When initiating or renewing licenses for library electronic resources, we generally require that that the license terms include, among others, compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) in a manner consistent with Web Accessibility Initiative Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA. To facilitate access by users with disabilities, we request that licenses for electronic resources do not have limitations to making lawful, non-infringing uses of content.
In addition, for streaming video, we prioritize access to films offering subtitles in various languages, video transcripts that are searchable or printable, a range of resolutions, and closed captions and audio description in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Accessibility of Electronic Databases and E-journals
If you need an accessible version of content found in a library-licensed database like EBSCO or ProQuest, please Ask Us.
Vendors of library databases, electronic books, and journals declare the level of accessibility of their resources via VPATs (a document that suppliers use to describe how their products or services comply with accessibility standards).
Access to Physical Materials and Library Facilities
On-site access to library resources and services across all library locations during open hours:
- Materials requested through the Get It service are retrieved from the shelf and prepared for pickup at your preferred library location
- A trusted person can check out items on your behalf using the Proxy Borrower service
- Guide/service animals are welcome at library locations in alignment with University policy
On-site access to library resources and services on the Pittsburgh Campus:
- A reservable scanning and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) workstation is available on the ground floor of Hillman Library, which has specialized software installed, including:
- ABBYY FineReader PDF (powerful tool for converting, editing, and performing optical character recognition on document scans and PDFs)
- Adobe Acrobat (PDF editor with optical character recognition features)
- In partnership with Public Safety, the Walking Escort Service at Hillman Library provides a security guard to accompany individuals to locations within walking distance from campus Sunday-Thursday (8pm-6am), or Friday-Saturday (8pm-10pm)
- A Braille printer is available at Falk Library
Digital Accessibility Consulting
Digital accessibility consulting, training & troubleshooting is available in Hillman Library’s Technology Lab. Services include:
- Web, documents, and Canvas accessibility training
- AI and accessibility
- Support for Canvas’ accessibility features
- General Canvas support
Adaptive Technologies
Library public computer workstations include:
- Magnifier
- Narrator
- Voice recognition and access (microphones not provided)
- On-screen keyboard
- High contrast option
