The Bay County Library System (BCLS) is committed to making its Web site accessible to all users. Reasonable efforts are made to accommodate all customers using enabling software or assistive devices. The Bay County Library System (BCLS) welcomes comments on how to improve the site's accessibility for users with disabilities.

To meet this commitment, The Bay County Library System (BCLS) wishes to comply with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Section 508 sets forth guidelines for developing and maintaining accessible information technology. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that help achieve these goals. The law applies to all federal agencies that develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Though not specifically bound by this federal legislation, The Bay County Library System (BCLS) wishes to use Section 508 as the standard for accessibility compliance for its Web site. To ensure that The Bay County Library System (BCLS) meets or exceeds the requirements of Section 508, The Bay County Library System (BCLS) continually reviews its site and modifies its pages to remove accessibility barriers for people with disabilities.

Currently, the Bay County Library System (BCLS) Web site contains documents in Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files. A free Adobe Acrobat Reader may be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. At times, screen-reading devices cannot read PDF files. To solve that problem, Adobe Systems, Inc., is developing several products designed to make PDF documents more accessible to screen reading software. Adobe provides its customers a form at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_simple_form.html that may be used to convert PDF documents to HTML. Adobe’s accessibility web pages (http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/main.html) describe its efforts to improve the accessibility of PDF files.

Customers using assistive technology such as Braille readers or a screen readers who encounter difficulties accessing the Bay County Library System (BCLS) Web site, should email the main branch. Please indicate the nature of the accessibility problem, the preferred format for receipt of the material, the Web address of the requested material, and personal contact information.