eBook accessibility:

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Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design��

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Siobhan Haimé �University of Leeds Libraries

eBook accessibility project

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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• 0.2 FTE secondment - one day a week for one year�
• Investigating barriers to eBook accessibility
• Creating a support resource
• Investigating how to improve library processes�
• Active user input and student engagement were key elements (condition of the secondment)

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User Experience (UX) methods

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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• User Experience (UX) methods as the central approach
• Actively engages users (unable to not engage users!)
• Allows for iterative engagement
• Flexible and adaptive�
• Examples of methods
• (‘Guerilla’) interviews
• Usability testing / observation
• ‘Drawing an experience’
• Graffiti walls�
• Encourages positive disruption

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• UX methods are predominantly visual
• Bias for those already on campus (what if the library itself is not accessible?)
• ‘Cheap and fast’ has an impact on accessibility
• Accessible digital prototyping�
• Building trust�
• Difficulties planning for adjustments�
• Inaccessible forms!
• Making documents accessible -> working with more experienced teams

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Issues with the methods

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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• Compensating users for their time�
• Stakeholder relationships

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• Accessible forms and materials
• Adaptable formats, like Word�
• Offering options�

Working with users & solutions

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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Working with users & solutions (cont.)

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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• Unexpected insights and user journeys
• Assumptions about information
• Assumptions about digital skills and literacy
• Prioritisation

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• Let students lead the way!

Looking forwards

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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• Speaking with students more and earlier
• Design VS layout VS information VS needs
• Actively designing with students�
• Simplifying the process�
• A wider range of methods�
• Challenge assumptions and language!�
• Examining the larger frame in which issues exist (or persist?)

(Some) References

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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• Appleton, L. (2016). User experience (UX) in libraries: Let’s get physical (and digital). Insights: The UKSG Journal, 29(3), 224-227.
• Blake, M., & Potter, N. (2018) Embedding UX at the University of York. In: A Priestner (Eds.), User experience in libraries yearbook 2018: Inclusivity, diversity, belonging (pp. 96-103). UX in Libraries.
• Mulliken. (2019). Eighteen blind library users’ experiences with library websites and search tools in U.S. academic libraries: A qualitative study. College & Research Libraries, 80(2), 152–158. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.2.152
• Priestner, A., & Borg, M. (2016). User experience in libraries : Applying ethnography and human-centred design (A. Priestner & M. Borg, Ed.). Routledge.
• Priestner, A. (2020). User experience in libraries : Yearbook 2019. (E. Priestner, Ed.). UX in Libraries.
• Yusril, A. N. (2020). E-accessibility analysis in user experience for people with disabilities. Indonesian Journal of Disability Studies, 7(1), 107-109.

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Q & A

eBook accessibility: Designed for accessibility, inaccessible by design

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