RED4. Difficulty recognizing authorized features

Definition

A situation that arises from difficulty recognizing features that are restricted to users at their current status due to unclear instructions.

Factors Leading to the Situation

  • Unclear instruction: unintuitive DL features

Guidelines

  1. Ensure that the restriction of features is easily recognizable.
  2. Provide clear instructions on how to access authorized features.

Rationale for Suggesting the above Guidelines

Providing clear and intuitive indicators (text with tooltip) Feedback from the system that provides information about content and functions that have restricted access, such as text, color, and notification.  delineating permissible actions for authorized features is crucial for both non-BVI and 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. For BVI users, explicit guidance is essential to distinguish the availability of features, accompanied by feedback that is both accessible and discernible. The proposed guidelines aim to facilitate BVI users’ recognition of and interactions with authorized features in DLs.

Techniques and Methods to Comply with a Specific Design Guideline

1.1. For restricted features (text with tooltip) A feature that relies on visual interaction and may not be fully accessible or intuitive due to design limitations. , communicate accessible notification or feedback related to the restriction.
2.1. For restricted features (text with tooltip) A feature that relies on visual interaction and may not be fully accessible or intuitive due to design limitations. , offer instructions on how to use the feature.

Features Suggested for Users

1.1.1. Notification or feedback (See example 1.1.1.a.)
2.1.1. Instructions

Examples of Best Practice

1.1.1.a. Feature with clear instructions in adequate location

In the upper image for logged-in users, the “save” feature is easy to locate with its associated feature options with associated instruction. For users who are not logged in, as shown in RED 4 Figure a1 (Guest users), a notification is provided indicating the restricted access to this feature.

This image showcases the appearance of the save function, including the ability to create a new folder, for logged-in users and "Please log in to save materials" for non-logged-in users.

RED4 Figure a1. An example of “save” feature for logged-in users and guest users

Examples of Poor Practice

1.1.1.b. Difficulty recognizing authorized features

The blue checkbox in RED4 Figure b1 lacks instructions or notifications, causing user confusion about its purpose and content access.

“So you can, yeah you can select it. I don’t know how to do it. I had just…. Looked like I unselected it now. I selected it again. … I don’t know who the people are in. They can’t figure how to pull up the pic.  … OK, so when you click those like images or pictures they are not being open. It doesn’t seem to be” (ID8-AL)

This image highlights the lack of notification when clicking the checkbox, leaving users unaware of its restricted function for non-logged in users.

RED4 Figure b1. Screenshot of difficulty recognizing authorized features

Resources

See also: