“Assistive and adaptive technology makes the library and its resources work for users with disabilities. The terms assistive and adaptive are applied to aids that either assist the user in accessing a library resource or adapt that resource in such a way that it becomes usable.” (Burke, John. “Assistive-Adaptive Technologies.” American Libraries Magazine, 9 Dec. 2013)

Libraries must work to ensure all information is accessible to all patrons. AT is a necessary resource libraries need. As a center of knowledge, libraries have a duty to share access to various resources regardless of the format. AT can take multiple forms such as: OCR (optical character recognition) software, screen-reading software, closed captioning, magnifiers, audiobooks, Kurzweil readers, and trackball controllers. These materials are crucial for opening up the world of knowledge to all library users of all abilities!