EDITOR'S NOTES
Access for Everyone
by Dick Kaser
In her column this month, Jessamyn West cuts to the heart of this issue, noting, “accessibility means that every user has the ability to interact with your content.” She goes on to say, “Accessibility should be the minimum requirement, but usability and UX shouldn’t be far behind.” In this edition, we look at both access and accessibility, starting off with digital technologies librarian Jamie Lin’s (Bridgeport Education) short list of the best ways to make sure the pages, documents, images, and videos on your website are accessible to all.
Jennifer Bruneau (director of Boylston Public Library) shares why C/W Mars (Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing, Inc.) used Evergreen open source software to create an enriched user experience across hundreds of libraries in the network.
And Thomas Waters (technical services librarian at Brenau University) shows you how website design modifications using widgets and links can assure that your users get the personalized help they need whenever they need it.
Topping off the issue, Tom Adamich (president of Visiting Librarian Service) looks at how linked open data and semantic data structures could be the next big thing for providing better access to information in general.
For our EDTECH readers—but appropriate for anyone with a digital literacy agenda—Mark Roquet (head librarian at The Seven Hills School) is back this month with an essay on why digital literacy instruction should shift from do’s and don’ts to promoting the development of what he calls “critical digital citizenship” skills.
Tune in next month when the discussion continues with a look at OA and digital repositories.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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