Putting users first with open source software

Sandra Reed & Sara Osman

Start of our journey System selection and

design Outcomes and impact on

users Benefits and risks

UAL LCC LIBRARY ©Ana Escobar, 2015

Why an open source LMS?

Drivers for change

Need for new LMS Discovery layer review Student feedback Greater focus on accessible

services

Ana Escobar, LCC Library, 2015

Understanding accessibility% of …….. (all between 5 and 25)

adults who are disabled

people of working age who are disabled

disabled people who use wheelchairs

UK population with dyslexia

Understanding accessibility in universities% of students….. (all between 5 and 25)who have declared a disabilitywho have declared dyslexia or another specific learning disability

at UAL, who have declared dyslexia or another specific learning disability

for whom English is not their first language

Accessibility - answers% of …. %adults who are disabled 22people of working age who are disabled 16disabled people who use wheelchairs 10UK population with dyslexia 10

Accessibility in universities - answers% of studentswho have declared a disability 11who have declared dyslexia or another specific learning disability

5

at UAL, who have declared dyslexia or another specific learning disability

11

for whom English is not their first language 16

Research phase

Visits Internal discussions Supplier presentations Identify stakeholders Review student feedback Identified accessibility

requirement: WCAG 2.0 Level AA Zarar Chaudhri: Camberwell library, 2013

What our users were telling us: Intuitive and easy to use Visual, not text-heavy Customisable

- colours, fonts, font sizes, help

Clear and accessible language

User requirements

Image credit: Zarar Chaudhri, 2013

Interface design requirements

Art & design heritage Accessible Flexible ‘Good’ design

Image credit: Ana Escobar, 2016

What is good design?

“Accessible design is good design.” Steve Ballmer

“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” Steve Jobs

“Chalk on pavement” by Virtual EyeSee, 2011 licenced by CC

Library Services dot voting, LMDS 2015

Our new LMS system

Students contributed during the design process…..

….influencing the final design

Library Services dot voting, LMDS 2015

Students as partners

Library Services dot voting, LMDS 2015

Spot voting examples

User interface

Design – search box

Interface design – screen options

Post search – Did you mean…?

Results page – refine search results

Design – advanced search

Design – user account page

Outcomes & impact - 2nd stage feedbackLikes Easy to search New books cover images Design of simple search Layout of Your account

Suggestions Default to home library Ensure screen options feed

through to each page Image credit: Ana Escobar, 2015

Outcomes & impact - focus groupsKey findings Catalogue is easy to search Students want to access hard copy And copies at home library

Suggestions Link to reading lists Improve awareness of e-resources

Image credit: Zarar Chaudhri, 2013

Future developments

Refine by availability Refine by date to include

type-in option Sort items by College Improved mobile view Aiming for WCAG

Level AAA compliance

Library Services dot voting, LMDS 2015

Benefits and risksPros ConsFlexibility Achieving consensusAccessibility Easily broken Design freedom Can result in bad design‘Free’ Cost of implementation – not ‘cheapest’ option

Sharing knowledge & collaboration Time commitmentChoice of support vendor Smaller / newerStaff development opportunities Skills gapsScope to update & refresh Cost of maintenance & bespoke development

Libsearch - putting users first…

“It is absolutely lovely! Very clean and easy to understand”.Mick Fortune –  Library Consultant 

“Easy, simple, straight forward and I use it a lot.”

UAL Student

Any questions?

Sandra ReedDiscovery Librarian (Resources & Communications)s.reed@arts.ac.uk

Sara OsmanAssistant Librarian (Access & Inclusion) s.osman@arts.ac.uk

libsearch.arts.ac.uk

Sources for accessibility statistics Disability: Family Resources Survey

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-201314

Wheelchair users: Papworth Trust, Disability in the United Kingdom 2014 http://www.papworthtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/UK%20Disability%20facts%20and%20figures%20report%202014.pdf

Dyslexia: Dyslexia Action http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/page/facts-and-figures-about-dyslexia-0

University statistics: HESA https://www.hesa.ac.uk/free-statistics

UAL statistics: UAL Equality and diversity progress report 2015 http://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/diversity/reports-and-data/

Other sources

Bloomberg Business: A Chat with Microsoft's Steve BallmerJune 12, 2001, http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2001- 06-12/a-chat-with-microsofts-steve-ballmer

Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great ThingFebruary 1, 1996, http://www.wired.com/1996/02/jobs-2/

International Ispell (Geoff Kuenning) http://www.lasr.cs.ucla.edu/geoff/ispell.html