Planning
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Once you have determined the your assistive technology needs, it is important to consider the following:
- the costs of acquiring the technology
- costs of installing, maintaining and servicing equipment
- the costs of “ever-greening” the technology, i.e., keeping it up to date
- consumer information, e.g., the experience of others about the performance of the technology
- if the vendor provides service and troubleshooting
Planning Checklist
- Who in your community required assistive technology? What do they need?
- Do you have or need a community advisory group to assist with determining library needs?
- What assistive technology does your library currently have in place?
- Are there other organizations (e.g., PDD, school board)with whom you could partner or share resources in order to purchase assistive technology?
- Does your technology budget include purchasing or leasing costs, as well as upgrading or ever-greening costs?
- What types of hardware and software will meet your needs?
- Is there a local vendor who can fulfill your requirements? If not, where is the closest vendor located?
- What training does staff require? Can the vendor provide this training? Who else might be a source of training?
