Jan 2022 Update: 2021 was a lot

On January 26, 2022January 21, 2022 By dhrutibcIn What I'm Working OnLeave a comment

So, I haven’t posted anything in about a year. It’s not uncommon given the state of the world, but I wanted to give a little update anyway. I am working on one last article in the accessibility in academic research series.

This past year was pretty hard, as it was for just about everyone. During the past year, I was frantically trying to find a new job because my now-husband (another thing that changed this past year) got a professor job in another region of the country. My old job wouldn’t let me live outside of Boston city limits. Anyway, I found a new job, got married, moved to another region of the country, and started a new job. Additionally, I became a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). I joined the board of a library user experience journal. You may also notice I changed my last name too. All of this is to say that a lot happened in the past year and that’s why I never finished the series.

However, it’s on my list of things to get to. In my new position, I’ve been learning a lot. I’ve been learning more about document accessibility and using screen readers for testing. I also know that I will be learning a lot about user experience research and discovery systems so you can likely expect more posts about those topics in the future.

Hope to share more content soon!

Accessibility in Academic Research: Alternative Text for Images and Non-text Items

On March 3, 2021February 26, 2021 By dhrutibcIn User ExperienceLeave a comment

This series focuses on a few main problems with accessibility in academic research, but by no means are they they only ones. My last post covered problems concerning graphs and how we can improve them to be more accessible to color blind individuals. If you’re curious about other accessibility considerations, take a look at Anne Gibson’s Alphabet of Accessibility on the Pastry Box Project; it’s fantastic.

Images, graphs and other non-text items in research

As I mentioned in my previous post, lots of scholarly research relies of graphs and charts to represent data and results. Additionally, researchers use images and other non-text items (such as equations) in research. However, without proper alternative text, these visual representations are meaningless to users with certain visual impairments.

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What does Reading Level have to do with Racism and Equity?

On February 16, 2021February 13, 2021 By dhrutibcIn User ExperienceLeave a comment

As the Web Services Librarian, I play an important role in determining the standards for content on the Boston Public Library website. The blogs are some of the most important content I oversee. They’re important because they let library workers talk about things they and their patrons care about. I think that connection to the public is special and needs to be protected.

As a part of the annual training bloggers go through, I remind them to keep their posts to a 10th grade reading level or below (ideally 8th grade). The few exceptions are on a case-by-case basis. However, staff members come back to me and say that the requirement is too restrictive, and what’s the big deal anyway?

When you don’t consider the reading level of your content, you are shutting out people who don’t read at the same level as you. Those people will most likely include, but are not limited to:

People of color
People who are poor
People with learning disabilities
People who don’t speak English as their first language

TL;DR: The reading level of your content is a racism and equity issue. If you’re not thinking about the reading levels of your content, you are preventing large groups of disadvantaged people from reading it. About half of adults in the U.S. do not read above an eighth grade reading level, and you are excluding them. Use hemingwayapp.com to help you reduce the reading level of your content.

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A bell curve graph that has a color legend on the top right, and uses color to differentiate five sections of the bell curve. This graph's colors will pass the color blindness filter tests.

Accessibility in Academic Research: Using Color

On December 11, 2020February 10, 2021 By dhrutibcIn User ExperienceLeave a comment

So my fiancé is a PhD student. That fact is only relevant in that it’s my main source of information about processes at various academic institutions. While he is a student and works for only one university, he is on projects with other universities, and regularly reviews papers for journals.

There are times he shows me or tells me about websites, surveys, graphs, or practices that clearly violate current accessibility standards. At times he has mentioned this to the people in charge of these items and he frequently gets the response along the lines of “I don’t think people with visual impairments will use this.”

As someone who strives to ensure accessibility practices are followed, this response makes me frustrated. But, rather than having this be a series with me venting about these transgressions, I’d like to take this time to give a brief overview on how academic faculty and staff (or other researchers) can build accessibility practices into their workflow and why they should.

This series is going to focus on a few main problems with accessibility in academic research, but by no means are they they only ones. If you’re curious about other accessibility considerations, take a look at Anne Gibson’s Alphabet of Accessibility on the Pastry Box Project; it’s fantastic.

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Usability Testing With Citizens Ages 55+

On August 28, 2020March 4, 2022 By dhrutibcIn Information Seeking Behavior, User ExperienceLeave a comment

As I referenced in my earlier post, I’ve been interested in working on usability testing with seniors on the Boston Public Library website.

Last summer I developed a questionnaire for seniors that asked them about their internet habits. We sent a link to this survey out though Age Strong in Boston, an organization dedicated to improving the life of Boston’s citizens 55 years or older. We used our social media accounts and a local church e-newsletter to promote the survey as well. We also included paper surveys at various library programs that were frequented by seniors, so that we could get respondents who may not feel comfortable taking a survey online.

In the survey we asked if people would be willing to participate in an in-person usability test session at our Central Library in Copley Square. Those who participated would get a $20 gift card. We got over 90 overall survey responses, and approximately 40 said they were interested in participating in the in-person session. Of those 40, we invited 16 to come in person.

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