[Update: I received a response from MDPLS earlier this week. The library system states that the faults I found with their particular system are endemic to library IT as a whole, and that my comments will be passed on to the vendor. I am glad that this is being addressed, but I still find it a bit shocking that the tech-savvy library and information sciences field does not have better solutions available.]
Hello, dear readers. I’d like to start with a message I just sent to the Miami-Dade Public Library System. MDPLS recently spent months integrating a new web-based catalog and backend circulation system, and the results are… well, just read my message:
For the past few weeks, I have been excited to see your new catalog system, but I must admit I am a bit appalled at the results. As the Polaris ILS website proudly proclaims, MDPLS is a “world-class library,” and yet your new website system is third-rate at best.
1. The catalog site uses a table-based layout. CSS layouts have been widely supported in all major browsers for at least six years. Table-based layouts use nearly twice as much “code” as CSS layouts to achieve the same result, making table-based layouts much more difficult for machines (including both Google and screen reader software for disabled users) to understand.
2. Worse, portions of your new site’s source code reference “Office 2007″. How is the software for a world-class library system built using a word processor? Likely as a result of this, parts of the website (such as the drop-down menu buttons on the lists of bestsellers) do not seem to work properly in any browser other than Internet Explorer. Users of Mac OS X computers cannot download Internet Explorer and are therefore out of luck. In today’s internet, it is extremely rare to find websites that only work in one browser, and the fact that your new site is tied to Internet Explorer is troubling.
3. The catalog is almost entirely unusable for disabled users! Most links on the page are images without ALT text, and the page includes large amounts of inline JavaScript, which are not only non-compliant with web standards but also unusable by screen reader software. Some areas of your site are only accessible by users who can visually see where the mouse pointer is on the screen. Even on a more subtle level, the “tab” headings of the catalog system use dark blue text against a slightly lighter blue background, a lack of color contrast which makes reading difficult for users without perfect vision. The overall lack of accessibility is blatant and in violation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 508 has lead to large judgements against corporations who disregard accessibility; see e.g. the $6 million dollar settlement in National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation in 2006. I am amazed that a large municipal entity like MDPLS apparently did not even attempt to verify the usability of their website for disabled patrons.
How much did this new software installation, which is decidedly behind the times, cost? Many other library systems around the country have created stellar examples of usable, accessible, and fully-integrated websites. I realize that they are a much smaller system, but I urge you to evaluate the Ann Arbor, MI library website at http://www.aadl.org – a site created entirely with the open-source (and therefore free-of-cost) Drupal software, which also runs major corporate and organizational websites around the world. Drupal is obviously not the only way to create a highly functional and usable website, but AADL serves as a strong example of what library websites can do.
As a regular MDPLS patron, I am deeply disappointed with the new catalog system, and I look forward to your response to these problems.
MDPLS is the largest library system I have ever had the pleasure of using. They have an incredibly large collection and I haven’t had many problems with their services. However, their website has always been sub-par, and my hopes for improvement with their new system have been dashed. I hope that someone at MDPLS reads my message, and I urge you, dear readers, to write to them yourselves through their contact form.
Miami-Dade Public Library System and Accessibility Nightmares [Updated]
[Update: I received a response from MDPLS earlier this week. The library system states that the faults I found with their particular system are endemic to library IT as a whole, and that my comments will be passed on to the vendor. I am glad that this is being addressed, but I still find it a bit shocking that the tech-savvy library and information sciences field does not have better solutions available.]
Hello, dear readers. I’d like to start with a message I just sent to the Miami-Dade Public Library System. MDPLS recently spent months integrating a new web-based catalog and backend circulation system, and the results are… well, just read my message:
MDPLS is the largest library system I have ever had the pleasure of using. They have an incredibly large collection and I haven’t had many problems with their services. However, their website has always been sub-par, and my hopes for improvement with their new system have been dashed. I hope that someone at MDPLS reads my message, and I urge you, dear readers, to write to them yourselves through their contact form.