South Piedmont Libraries

Prime Directive

Uniformly constructed LibGuides, focused on accessibility, provide consistency & inclusivity for students, faculty & librarians which fosters efficient utilization of LibGuides for instruction purposes, and effective use of resources provided within LibGuides.

• Consistent LibGuide construction
  • Unpublish antiquated &/or redundant guides
  • Create step-by-step LibGuide construction procedures
  • Consistent terminology
    • Find eBooks, Find Multimedia, etc.
    • Easier for students to locate & utilize resources as they'll know which tab to look under
  • Consistent tab arrangement
    • Welcome, Find Books, etc.
    • All guides have course specific Welcome tab, & generic Careers & Research Assistance tabs 
    • Easier for students to navigate across departments
      • Math LibGuide, English LibGuide...they all read the same
    • Less stressful for students who get overwhelmed when navigation of online resources varies too much
    • Customize with additional tabs, not additional guides
      • No more ENG 111-Clark, ENG 111-Glauner, etc.
      • Avoids confusion for students
      • Lessens LibGuide clean up time for librarians as instructors come & go
    • Streamline tabs
      • assignments
  • Consistent Appearance
    • Side-Nav
    • Rounded boxes & tabs
    • Gallery boxes
      • showcases large amount of books in small amount of space
      • book images link to print book in online catalog or eBook in database
    • Increased use of images of value
      • breaks up text
      • visual cues denote links
        • film, podcast, website, etc.
    • Page construction
      • avoid long pages
      • use boxes to chunk content
  • Consistent Instruction
    • IL 101 inside ENG 111 LibGuide
      • Allows for consistent IL instruction
      • IL assignments embedded in guide provide tools for instruction librarian to engage students in-class or virtually
      • Easily accessible IL assignments allow students to complete in a synchronous or asynchronous fashion

ADA Compliance (American Disabilities Act)

• Closed Caption
  • Ensure all video has closed captions
• Alternative Text
  • Add meaningful description for images when void of copy providing context
  • Add alt text for links & books from catalogs as well
• Remove images without value
  • Creates issues for visually impaired as well as mobile users
• Utilize content boxes, bulleted lists & links
  • Breaks up content into manageable chunks, ensuring content is easier to read & resources are more accessible
• Utilize default font styles & color schemes. allowing for contrast from background color
  • Assists those with visual impairments
• Springshare is on the case!
  • nesting? gallery boxes? side-nav vs. tab?
    • "As far as our testing to date has indicated, LibGuides and its features are fully accessible according to VPAT guidelines."
      • The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is a document which evaluates how accessible a particular product is according to the Section 508 Standards.
        • Section 508 of 1973 Rehabilitation Act
          • amendment which strengthened requirements for access to electronic and information technology in the Federal sector