Announcement of three articles:

1. Ron Stewart, Vivek Narendra and Axel Schmetzke, "Accessibility and
Usability of Online Library Databases," Library Hi Tech, 23(2), 2005:
265-286. [This article discusses data collected between November 2003
and January 2004. In a nutshell, the findings reveal that while most of
the 37 index/database interfaces included in this study were compliant
with Section 508 standards, they tended to be difficult to use by people
who use screen reading software to interface with their computers. The
article also includes information about some of specific barriers found
in each of the interfaces.]

2. Marina Buzzi, Patrizia Andronico and Barbara Leporini, "Accessibility
and Usability of Search Engine Interfaces: Preliminary Testing." 8th
ERCIM Workshop User Interfaces For All.  28-29 June 2004. Available at
http://www.ui4all.gr/workshop2004/files/ui4all_proceedings/adjunct/acces
sibility/58.pdf.

3. Axel Schmetzke, "Web Accessibility at University of Wisconsin
Libraries." Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians (WAAL)
Newsletter. 22(3) 2005: 5-9. Available at
http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/newsletter/223.html#webaccess. [This
article is based on the larger set of data available at
http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/UW-Campuses/Survey2005/conte
nts2005.htm.]


4. Another study spearheaded by Ron Stewart that evaluates the
accessibility and usability of some 30 e-journals is currently in the
works. Its findings will be posted to the Technology Access Program Web
site of Oregon State University
(http://tap.oregonstate.edu/research/ahg.htm) sometime in November.

An up-to-date compilation of research articles on the
accessibility/usability of library and information resources is
maintained at
http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/websurveys.htm.


Axel Schmetzke
Library
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point


-----Original Message-----
From: Schmetzke, Axel 
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 10:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: New usability/accessibility study of research databases

Hi folks,

Are you aware of Ron Stewart's comprehensive evaluation of library
databases-both in terms of accessibility and usability? If not, you may
want to check out his (preliminary) article entitled "Accessibility of
Online Databases. A Usability Study of Research Databases" at
<http://tap.oregonstate.edu/ahg/>. To the best of my knowledge, Ron's
study is currently the most comprehensive and most up-to-date study of
its kind. It covers 37 different index/database vendors. The study was
conducted between August and November of 2002.

Ron's findings allow us not only to make better procurement decisions;
they also enable us to ask vendors very specific questions. (For
example: "In a recent study, your interface was found to have problems
with x, y, z. What have you done to fix these?")

Axel

********************
Axel
Library
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

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