Definition
A situation that arises from difficulty evaluating the relevance of an item/collection due to inadequate indication of its uniqueness, such as lack of contextual cues (text with tooltip) An information that helps users understand the content or interpret the relevance of an item. or the cropped/cut-off description on the search result page.
Factors Leading to the Situation
- Inadequate support: cropped/cut-off description of a collection/item
- Inadequate support: insufficient contextual cues (text with tooltip) An information that helps users understand the content or interpret the relevance of an item.
- Lack of features/functions/items/information: lack of descriptive information
Guidelines
- Ensure the associations between the search result/items and the query terms (text with tooltip) A term that users enter to query information based on their needs. are presented.
- Provide a meaningful description for each item in the search results.
Rationale for Suggesting the above Guidelines
In DL (text with tooltip) The acronym for digital library (DL). s, it is often difficult for BVI (text with tooltip) The acronym for Blind and Visually Impaired. It refers to BVI users who rely on screen readers to interact with digital libraries (DLs). users to determine why certain items are included in the search results when they are not seemingly related to search terms or other results. Snippets (text with tooltip) It assists users in assessing an item’s relevance by offering a brief summary or description that features key terms. could help users understand the relevance of an item since they usually summarize or describe an item using keywords. To make sure that results are relevant in terms of content, it is critical to describe titles clearly and include summaries with meaningful terms for BVI users. It is important that each item has a clearly designated description or summary of the resource so that BVI users can assess if an item meets their information needs.
Techniques and Methods to Comply with a Specific Design Guideline
1.1. Add
aria-label
(text with tooltip)
An HTML attribute that provides a text label for an object, such as a button.
and aria-describedby to emphasize the
query terms
(text with tooltip)
A term that users enter to query information based on their needs.
or related terms for both the search result list and individual retrieved items.
1.2. Add subheadings to paragraphs or sections, when possible, for individual retrieved items.
1.3. Recommend relevant suggestions (e.g., subject group or collections) related to the search query.
2.1. Offer a
snippet
(text with tooltip)
It assists users in assessing an item’s relevance by offering a brief summary or description that features key terms.
for each item in the search results list; the snippet should consist of a summary, including relevant paragraph(s).
2.2. Display user tags and user comments, when available.
2.3. Present useful and clearly labeled item-level
metadata
(text with tooltip)
Data that provides information about other data is constructed with structured data to describe and organize resources in the digital environment and enable users to discover and use the content of digital libraries.
.
2.4. Offer an option for users to expand trimmed item description.
Features Suggested for Users
1.1.1. Highlighted content (See example 1.1.1.a.)
1.2.1. Paragraph and section headings/links (See example 1.2.1.a.)
1.3.1. “
Query suggestion
(text with tooltip)
A recommended query that predicts the rest of the search terms when keyed in.
” regarding subjects or collections cluster
2.1.1. Descriptive
snippets
(text with tooltip)
It assists users in assessing an item’s relevance by offering a brief summary or description that features key terms.
of content for each item (See example 2.1.1.a.)
2.2.1. User tags and comments
2.3.1.
Metadata
(text with tooltip)
Data that provides information about other data is constructed with structured data to describe and organize resources in the digital environment and enable users to discover and use the content of digital libraries.
(See example 2.3.1.a.)
2.4.1. “Read more/read less” (See example 2.4.1.a.)
Examples of Best Practice
1.1.1.a. Emphasis tag
EVA1 Figure a1 explains <i> tag and <em> (text with tooltip) An HTML tag that indicates the emphasis and stress placed on its content. tag. The screen reader cannot read <i> emphasis tag there for it is advised to change <i> to <em> tag (Click here to view this example).
EVA1 Figure a1. An example of using <em>tag
1.2.1.a. Section links
HathiTrust provided text version of a scanned document and provided section links for direct access to different sections (EVA1 Figure a2).
EVA1 Figure a2. An example of section links within a document
2.1.1.a. Descriptive snippets of content for each item
The description of an item is provided in the search result section which could help in evaluating the relevance of the retrieved item (EVA1 Figure a3).
EVA1 Figure a3. An example of item description in search result list
2.3.1.a. Metadata
EVA1 Figure a3 depicts a clearly labeled item-level metadata including title, author, and other related information.
EVA1 Figure a3. An example of metadata of an item
2.4.1.a. “Read more”
The long description can be accessed through the “more” function, allowing users to read the full description of the image if desired (EVA1 Figure a4).
EVA1 Figure a4. An example of “more” function in search result item
Examples of Poor Practice
2.4.1.b. Difficulty assessing relevance of a collection or an item
As illustrated in EVA1 Figure b1, the displayed collection description is cut off mid-sentence in the search results, which hinders participant in evaluating the relevance of the collection.
“[Types ‘Women rights 1800 1900.’ Initiates search] Okay. Alright, so I did the search now I’m going to go through and see what I can find. [skips to main content] We have the Goldstein collection…and it says it consists of drawings… [Screen reader stops reading the collection description because of the description being trimmed].” (S3-B-M)
EVA1 Figure b1. Screenshot of difficulty assessing relevance of a collection or an item
Resources
- AFB. (n.d.). The Visually Impaired Web User’s Technology.
- Art Beyond Sight. (n.d.). Verbal Description Database.
- Library of Congress. (n.d). Gordon Parks, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information photographer, standing in office with Helen Wool seated at desk.
- UWM Library. (n.d.). Page 5: Invictus Magazine (Milwaukee, Wis.), (Spring (April) 1978). Part 1. (n.d.).
- Xie, I, Babu, R., Lee, , Castillo, M., You, S. & Hanlon, A. (2020). Enhancing usability of digital libraries: Designing help features to support blind and visually impaired users. Information Processing and Management, 57(3),