Accessibility Tech Tips for Law Students (Part One of Two)

Accessible Practices for PowerPoint, Word, and Google Docs

“If one out of every seven human beings could be considered disabled, as research demonstrates, disability is a common part of human existence

-Jessica Schomberg, Librarian

Photo Credit: Jess Bailey for Unsplash.com

What is accessibility? Why is it important?

Accessibility is the inclusive practice of making activities, content, products, and services usable by anyone, regardless of mental or physical abilities. Using accessible practices when creating learning materials, such as documents or presentations, allows for every member of your audience to consume the material without asking for accommodations. People with disabilities often request accommodations to create an equitable learning environment. By using accessible practices in your assignments and presentations, you are inviting your professors and classmates to participate with equity and comfort. Please use the tips in this post to help you start incorporating accessibility into your assignments and presentations!

Heading Levels

Using the heading levels in documents and slideshows allows for screen readers to read text in a logical order. Simply bold-facing, underlining, or changing the font of the text will not present the information in an organized, understandable manner to the listening audience.

General Tips for Heading Levels

  1. Use title, heading, and list functions within Word:
    1. Open the Styles Pane, located on the top right of the Home tab.
    2. Use the drop-down menu and choose Modify Style to fit chosen aesthetics.
    3. Bold-facing, underlining, or italicizing titles and headers with “Normal” text is not accessible.
    4. Identify how to organize documents and use heading styles accordingly; order matters for screen readers.
      1. When using PowerPoint, include a title for each slide. When using a screen reader, slides with titles help the listener understand the information being presented on the slide and know when the presenter is switching slides.
    5. Use the list function on the Home tab.
      1. Use this function when you want to include lists with bullet points, numbers, dashes, etc. Be sure to use the list function in order for the screen reader to properly read these lists to listeners.

Alternative Text

Alternative text is the content a screen reader will read to describe an image in a Word Document. This must be manually added by the creator of the document.

General Tips for Alternative Text

  1. How to insert alternative text on Word, PowerPoint, and Google Docs:
    1. Right click the picture you would like to add alternative text to.
    2. Click ‘Format Picture’.
      1. On Google Docs, you do not need to click ‘Format Picture.’ There is an “Alternative Text” option available after you right click the image.
    3. Click ‘Add Alternative Text’.
    4. Alternative text should be a brief description of the image.
      1. If an image is for decorative use, do not use alternative text. Otherwise, it will add unnecessary clutter for the screen reader and confuse listeners.
      2. Word and PowerPoint have a “Decorative Only” option.
    5. Avoid images of text. If you include an image with text, you must include the entire text as part of your alternative text.
    6. Do not use sensory characteristics or gender and racial characteristics.

Checking Your Work

Microsoft Word has an Accessibility Checker function that will automatically review your document for accessibility. Select ‘Review’ and click on the ‘Accessibility’ icon to explore. In addition to using the Accessibility Checker function, use Read Aloud to listen to the Word Document and follow with adjustments for an easier listening experience.

For more information on how to create accessible Word Documents, PowerPoints, and Google Docs, please visit the USF ETS Create Accessible Documents Page.

Additional Resources

  1. Microsoft Read Aloud Instructions
  2. Microsoft Accessibility Fundamentals
  3. WebAIM Microsoft Word Creating Accessible Documents

New Books at The Zief Law Library: August 2023

The image above shows 8 titles from the August New Materials list.

The Zief Law Library added new materials to its collection over the summer. Topics from August include: privacy; contracts; criminal law; evidence; wills and trusts; human rights; trial practice; tax law; corporations; legal research; vocational guides; and bar exam preparation. Click the titles below or explore our monthly New Materials at Zief Law Library webpage for the complete list of recent arrivals. To view other new materials that arrived over the summer, check out the ZiefBreif New Materials post for May, June, and July.

Zief Law Library Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month: Legal History, Events, and Resources

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH 2023,

SEPTEMBER 15TH-OCTOBER 15TH 

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Zief Library Assistant Randall Seder takes a look at the social and legal history of the commemorative month, highlights Zief research resources, and presents some Bay-Area events of interest.


George Floyd Protest in Los Angeles, May 31st, 2020, Unsplash.com

Zief Law Library joins the University of San Francisco community in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th. This commemorative month acknowledges the immeasurable contributions and influence of Hispanic/Latino/a/x/e Americans to United States history. Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates a rich collection of cultural and ethnic identities, including those identifying as Latino/a/x/e, from Latin America (Mexico, South and Central America) and the Caribbean, as well as those identifying as Hispanic, from one of the 20 countries worldwide who’s primary language is Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela).  Continue reading “Zief Law Library Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month: Legal History, Events, and Resources”

Zief’s New Career Services Collection

Zief’s New Career Services Collection

What is the Career Services Collection?

Grey notebook with "Let's Get Started" printed in small font. This summer, in collaboration with the Office of Career Services, Zief Research Librarians curated a collection of materials and resources to best help you prepare for your legal careers. From landing a job interview to navigating your first workplace conflict, the Career Services Collection can be a source of advice for your future legal professional journey.

Where is it located?

The print materials are currently available on the first floor of Zief Law Library, near the research librarians’ offices.

Newest additions

Here are some of the newest titles added to the Career Services Collection:

  1. Roadmap: the law student’s guide to meaningful employment by Neil W. Hamilton
  2. The introverted lawyer: a seven-step journey toward authentically empowered advocacy by Heidi K. Brown
  3. The all-inclusive guide to judicial clerking by Abigail L. Perdue
  4. Big law confidential: the comprehensive guide to the large law firm work experience in the U.S. by D.W. Randolph

Office of Career Services

For individual career counseling, speak to the Office of Career Services, located in Kendrick 335 and 336.

For help finding resources on a specific area of legal practice, talk to your Zief Research Librarians.

 

 

Time Management for Law Students

Time Management for Law Students

Aerial view of person sitting in a black hooded sweatshirt. In center of a watch face.

 

Mastering time management in law school is essential for accomplishing your goals and lowering stress levels. There are people and tools that can help you organize your academic schedule in effective and rewarding ways. Try this strategy here to maximize your time and success in law school! 

Taking Stock

  1. Write down your required commitments for this semester. 
    • This includes: your class schedule, club meetings, and work. This will work as a skeleton for your calendar. 
  2. Write down goals you want to achieve this semester.
    • Be uncomfortably specific. Do you want to get to the library earlier? Do you want to learn a new skill? Balance working out and school? Read more for pleasure?
    • Don’t make any changes just yet. Write down your goal on a slip of paper and keep it at your desk. 
  3. For one week, perform a time management audit and write down what you did.
    • At the end of each day, ignore the to-do list you made and look at how you actually spent your time. Instead of “getting ready took 2 hours” look at what you did in those two hours. Did you brush your teeth, brush your hair, and eat? Did you scroll through Instagram for 30 minutes and then get out of bed? Without judgment, write down how you spend your time for one week.

First Steps

  1. Find your system.
    • Planners
      • Test out if you prefer digital or print planners. Don’t be afraid to try something new! If you’re looking for a new system, you might discover something you didn’t know existed or find your needs now are different from before. 
      • Physical planners that offer student discounts:
        1. Happy Planner
        2. Papier
        3. More options on Student Beans
      • Digital Calendars (Beyond Apple and Google)
        1. Microsoft 
        2. Fantastical 
    • Apps
      • Apple and Android phones come with apps for notes, reminders, and calendars. Carve out 15 minutes in your day to play around with the tools you might already have at your fingertips! You might learn a function you didn’t know about. 
      • If you’re looking for something more tailored to classes and assignments, there are apps designed for saving resources, creating mind maps, and more!
      • Screen time limits on your cell phone:
        1. Look at your most-used apps on your phone. Are these helping you achieve your academic or career goals? If not, use your Settings app to limit the amount of time you spend on distracting apps. 
  2. Prioritize.
    • Priority Lists vs. To-Do Lists
      • Each day, write down tasks you need to do.
      • Review your to-do list and select a maximum of three tasks you absolutely have to accomplish day. This is your priority list. 
      • The rest of the list consists of things you need to do but that do not necessarily have to get done that day. These can carry over to the next day. This is your to-do list. 
      • If there is a big project or task, plan ahead and break it down into smaller parts that can be completed each day. 
    • Personal Due Dates
      • By planning ahead, you can schedule personal due dates to achieve your goals and allow a grace period before the actual deadline. Life happens. External or internal pressures throw plans off. Give yourself time to adapt. 
  3. Organize your workspace.
    • Make your workspace at home or in the library something you look forward to occupying. Whether it’s fun stationary, a favorite coffee mug, or simply organizing the space, studying in a space you actually enjoy will help you stay on track with your goals.
  4. For one week, write down what you did again. Compare to how you spent your time before (refer to Taking Stock). 
    • Did anything change? Where are you spending the most time? Are there other ways to accomplish these goals?
    • For example, maybe writing your briefs takes longer than you expected. Try meeting with a research librarian to find different approaches or tools. Research librarians have a J.D.; they are well-equipped to help you!

Keep it Sustainable

  1. Find the patterns that stick.
    • Don’t force yourself to commit to any system that does not work for you! It’s okay if it doesn’t work out the way you expect it to the first time. Don’t give up and try again! Ask around, especially someone either farther along in law school or a research librarian, what works for them. It could inspire something for you! 
  2. One thing at a time.
    • If you are feeling overwhelmed, try making one small change and slowly build up from there. You don’t have to make the perfect system overnight. Be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
  3. Don’t forget about your health!
    • Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and sleep hygiene affect how well you are able to focus and perform in class! If you find yourself lost on how to manage self-care, explore USF CAPS resources for students. They offer therapy, recommend mental health apps, and direct you to free/affordable resources to maintain your mental and physical health.

Write a Letter to Your Future 3L Self!

Write a Letter to Your Future 3L Self!

Congratulations on starting your law school journey! These next few years will be full of incredible professors, supportive classmates, challenging internships and jobs, and self-growth. When you graduate, you’ll likely find you’ve grown more professionally and personally than you could have imagined. Zief Law Library welcomes you to reflect on your current goals and write a letter to yourself to read when you graduate law school. The library staff will keep your letter sealed and return the letter to you when you graduate.

Blue USPS box

Steps

  1. Pick up the letterhead and envelope by the Daily Chuckle in Zief Law Library.
    1. Located on the first floor of the library across from the Circulation desk.
    2. Or, email your letter to sando@usfca.edu. Steffi Ando, the Access Services Lead, will print it on letterhead. All letters will be kept confidential.
  2. Write a letter to your 3L self. Suggested prompts are located at the bottom of this page.
  3. Write your name on the envelope.
    1. If you are not a 1L but want to participate, write your graduating year on the envelope. We organize the letters by graduating years and do not want to misplace yours!
  4. Zief Law Library staff will stamp the envelope with the date you submit the letter on. We will stamp the envelope with the date you pick it up on too!

You may follow these prompts or come up with your own:

Why did you choose to apply to law school? Why did you choose the University of San Francisco School of Law? What are you most excited about? What are you most nervous about? Where do you hope to be in 3 years? Who do you want to be in 3 years? What do you want to ask your future self?

New Books at The Zief Law Library: May, June, and July 2023

The image above is a collage of eight book covers: How To Write Law Essays and Exams by S.I. Strong; Advanced Introduction To Mental Health Law by Michael L. Perlin; The Guide To Belonging In Law School by Russell A. Mcclain; In The Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families by Elizabeth Beck, Sarah Britto, and Arlene Andrews; Roadmap: The Law Student’s Guide To Meaningful Employment by Neil W. Hamilton; The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Towards Authentically Empowered Advocacy by Heidi Brown; The All-Inclusive Guide To Judicial Clerking by Abigail L. Perdue; Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and The Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford.
The image above shows eight selected titles from the summer 2023 new materials list.

Welcome back, law students! The Zief Law Library added new materials to its collection over the summer. Topics from May, June, and July include: legal research; business and economics; technology; cybersecurity; civil procedure; legal ethics; freedom of speech; human rights; mental health law; women and the law; environmental law; housing and gentrification; privacy law, sports law, elections and United States politics; capital punishment; career planning and vocational guidance; law clerking; and bar exam preparation. Click the titles below or explore our monthly New Materials at Zief Law Library webpage for the complete list of recent arrivals.

 

Law Library Hours: Fall Semester and Labor Day Holiday

Hi All!

Please note that the law library will have the following hours for Fall 2023 and adjusted hours for the Labor Day Holiday:

Fall 2023 Hours:

Saturday-Sunday: 9:00am – 8:00pm

Monday-Thursday: 8:00am – 11:00pm

Friday: 8:00am – 8:00pm

Adjusted Labor Day Hours:

Saturday-Sunday, September 2-3: 10:00am-6:00pm

Monday, September 4: Closed

See you then!

Welcome Back!

The Zief Law Library team welcomes our new 1Ls and returning upper-level law students to a brand new school year! We hope you’ve had a restful summer and are ready to start the semester off strong. Stop by and let us know what you were up to!

We’ll post regular updates here on ZiefBrief every Monday morning, so check back regularly for news and updates from your law library!

Have a great year!

New Books at The Zief Law Library: April 2023

Book Covers From The Zief Library Catalog

The Zief Law Library added new materials to its collection in April 2023! Check out these three new titles, with topics including career planning, law practice, race discrimination, and business law. Explore our monthly New Materials at Zief Law Library webpage for the full list of recent arrivals. Stay tuned for more new materials this summer. 

Summer Access to Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg

Hi all! Summer is upon us, and you’re probably gearing up to tackle your summer internship placements. As an important reminder, there are certain limitations on using certain research platforms over the summer. Here, we’ll take a look at the big three  – Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg – and run through what you’ll be able to use them for. And don’t forget, your librarians are also here to help support you throughout the summer

Westlaw

Westlaw can be used over the summer for non-commercial research — you can’t use it in situations where you are billing a client. Examples of permissible use include: Continue reading “Summer Access to Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg”

Law Library Hours: Final Exams

Hi, everyone! The Zief Law Library team wishes you luck on all of your final assignments and exams for the semester. To help support your studying, the law library will have regular hours and research help during the final exam period:

Monday – Thursday: 8:00am – 11:00 pm;

Friday: 8:00am – 8:00pm;

Saturday: 9:00am – 8:00pm;

Sunday: 10:00am – 11:00pm.

Zief Research Services:

Monday – Friday: 10:00am – 5:00pm

Good Luck!

National Library Week 2023

“Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.”

David Lankes

Happy National Library Week! This year’s American Library Association theme is “There’s More to the Story” celebrating libraries’ expansive materials, services, and resources beyond print books. This week, learn how to use your library card to its fullest potential and celebrate with Zief Law Library!

National Library Week 2023 Logo

Events at Zief

All Week Activities

  1. Pick up a Zief-themed word search by the Brain Break table on the first floor!
  2. Vote on your favorite library, law school, or poetry themed haiku written by USF law students by April 27th, 3:00 p.m.! The winner receives a Green Apple Books gift card!
  3. Share your favorite books from childhood with the Communal Children’s Book Library! Located on the first floor near the Circulation Desk.
  4. Guess how many books are in Zief Law Library and win a prize!
  5. Pick up freebies from Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg, and more!

San Francisco

San Francisco Public Library

Continue reading “National Library Week 2023”

Tax Day

In observance of Tax Day, on April 18 this year, Zief Library takes a brief look at the legal history of our federal income tax system and highlights Zief tax research resources and opportunities for further study.

Federal Income Taxes: A Brief History:

Did you know the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) came into existence on July 9, 1953?  Its main function is to determine, assess, and collect internal revenue in the United States.

A few other facts about the IRS and the modern federal income tax system:

  • The first U.S. Congress created the Department of the Treasury in 1789. It has the authority to administer and enforce the internal revenue laws of the U.S.
  • Modern individual income taxes are largely a result of the Revenue Act of 1913, which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law. The act restored federal income taxes and lowered tariff (taxes on imported goods) rates, which President Wilson considered to be unfair taxes.
  • Earlier Revenue Acts had given Congress the power to tax personal income, including the first, The Revenue Act of 1861, which was signed by President Lincoln (to pay for the Civil War). It lacked an enforcement mechanism and was later repealed. A flat rate Federal income tax was enacted in 1894, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional because it was a direct tax not apportioned according to the population of each state.
  • The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution resolved this issue when it was ratified in 1913. It granted Congress “the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes,…, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration”.
  • The IRS came into existence in 1953 after President Harry S. Truman called for a reorganization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, created after the Civil War.
  • Congress gave the Treasury Department the authority to administer and enforce the internal revenue laws of the U.S. in 1954, and that authority is governed by Internal Revenue Code Section 7801. The IRS is organized to carry out the responsibilities of the U.S. Treasury Secretary.
  • The first Form 1040 was introduced in 1913, and the standard deductions on Form 1040 were created in 1944.
  • Filing & Payment Dates: Although April 15 is the official annual individual federal income tax filing deadline, the date varies due to weekends and holidays. This year the deadline is Tuesday, April 18 for most Americans. Federal income taxes were originally due on March 1 after the passage of the 16th Amendment in 1913, but the deadline was changed five years later to March 15. The tax system was overhauled in 1954 with the passage of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and the date was again moved to April 15.

Research Resources:

Many of the legal research databases and other resources you are already using provide access to tax-related research materials. A few, however, are worth mentioning for their special focus on tax materials:

Checkpoint Edge: Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Edge provides access to information on U.S. federal and state tax laws, regulations, and cases. USF Law students and faculty can access it from on campus.

Lexis Tax: Lexis Tax, which is part of your Lexis+ subscription, allows you to run single searches across multiple tax resources in one of three subjects: Federal, State & Local, or U.S. International Tax law. These include primary sources and specialized secondary materials, including tax analysis, tax commentary, tax news and other information required to practice tax law. By putting all tax materials in one place, Lexis helps you simplify your search process.

Zief Federal Tax Research Guide: For help finding federal tax related materials, check out the library’s handy research guide on federal tax research.

Interested in Pursuing a Career in Tax Law?

Did you know USF offers graduate programs in tax law for students who have already earned a law degree? Many students who want to focus their careers in tax law enroll in one of these programs after earning their JD’s. Check out the USF’s LLM and Graduate Tax Programs for more information.