SPEC Kit 341: Digital Collections Assessment and Outreach · 103
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
U-M Library Public Web Presence Guiding Principles
not the work of an individual unit.
5) Design and build for everyone (universal design )2
Designing a website for inclusion is good for everyone. Our users include non-native English
speakers, people with visual, hearing, and motor impairments, desktop and mobile users, and
novice and advanced users. Following Principle #3 to “Keep it simple” will also help ensure a
quality experience for all.
What this means:
Accessibility is incorporated into design, coding, and content from the beginning of a project, not as
a last minute checklist.
Avoid introducing new technology that is not accessible. All new code should be accessible by
default and legacy code must be reviewed and improved.
Websites should employ the principles of universal design: equitable use, flexibility in use, simple &
intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for
approach and use.
Content should use plain language so it is simple, concise, readable, understandable, and works
well with different technologies. Multimedia requires extra effort (e.g. videos should have captioning).
6) Embody the 21st century library
The library is much more than a physical space that houses books and a location for obtaining
reference assistance. We are also much more than a clearinghouse for the electronic resources
we make available. Increasingly, we are a unique and important campus resource for a wide
array of technology-driven services and expertise research data management, 3-D printing,
film and video editing, technology labs, high-tech collaboration spaces, digital archiving, etc.
What this means:
Our web presence should clearly and robustly communicate what a 21st century library is and
does. These newer aspects of the library should be presented not as “add ons” but as a vital part of
our core identity.
As libraries across the world (united and separately) offer access to similar suites of electronic
resources, we must continue to find ways to emphasize what makes the U-M Library unique and
valuable to our users in terms of expertise, services, collections, etc.
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design
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