Success Stories
Charity/Non-Profit, Library

Poughkeepsie Public Library District

Located in the Hudson Valley in New York State, the Library District serves both the City of Poughkeepsie and the Town of Poughkeepsie which has a population of over 75,000 between two Library branch locations.

In addition to book lending, the library provides programming such as early literacy programs, adult learning programs, job search assistance, computer classes, and access to online services for free movies, research of databases, and more.

Our Brief

The Library District discovered Recite Me through Dutchess County’s Think Differently website. The Library District partners with the county on its Dutchess Reads Campaign, an initiative designed to promote reading at all age levels.

As part of a website redesign last year, Poughkeepsie Library began looking at ways in which to make their online content more accessible. Specifically, the library was interested in translation capabilities due to Poughkeepsie’s large Spanish-speaking population.

In the 2012-2016 American Community Survey, 16.25% of the City and Town of Poughkeepsie Residents were born outside of the United States and are most likely to use a foreign language in their homes. Just over 14% of the population identify as having some form of disability. That is, therefore, a significant portion of Poughkeepsie Library’s prospective patrons who need accessible information through convenient online options.

Our Solution

By incorporating Recite Me’s assistive technology onto their website, Poughkeepsie Library now has a multitude of translation options. In addition to Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, and Korean are also offered, all of which are common non-English languages spoken at home throughout the United States. Moreover, the library’s website also offers helpful accessibility functionalities for a range of different needs. These include audio narration, screen masks, color themes, and font changes.

“Being that our goal was to get translation access to our website, I think that translation has been my favorite feature so far. I also like that you can change the font size. I think that is critical for people who have a hard time reading and seeing. In general, I think all of it is great!”