Month: June 2005

the web for the blind, or the clueless

Posted on by jessamyn

I spent some time today with three novice computer users. Two were fairly bright people who were challenged but ultimately victorious in their struggles with the mouse and with Windows. One had a lot of trouble scanning a web page to look for whatever the “action item” was that she had to click on. So, finding the “send” button on her email, finding the “attach file” button after browsing for a file, or finding the “log off” button were very frustrating and took minutes for her each time.

This corroborates what we know about novice users, or users with cognitive impairments: they read every word on a web page and have a hard time getting the hang of cues that are communicated with colors or other subtle indicators. For them, web-based email like Yahoo [with its enormous ads and complicated interface] is more of a punishment than a pleasure. No wonder people still use AOL. This is just really a roundabout way of passing on a few links about accessibility:

Thank you Bernie Sanders

Posted on by jessamyn

I try to explain to people why I stay in a state with difficult technology access and a lot of teeny tiny libraries that don’t pay very well [and only a few that do]. One of the main reasons is that all three of my national-level representatives are not disagreeable to me. Today Bernie Sanders managed to pass legislation in the House which would amend section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and prohibit government agents from using FISA warrants to obtain records from libraries and bookstores. My two senators are trying to pass similar legislation in the Senate. Of course keep in mind that one of the reasons, according to Alberto Gonzales, that the Department of Justice hasn’t had to use the USAPA more is because they have been getting “voluntary co-operation from librarians” which is a different sort of problem. [liblaw]

librarians trying to break Guinness Book’s read aloud record

Posted on by jessamyn

Librarians from Henderson District Public Libraries [NV] are trying to break the Guiness Book record for reading aloud right now. Their goal is 100 hours, thoroughly smashing the existing record of 81 hours and 15 minutes. Read their blog, see their Flickr pictures, learn more. From an email I got from them

We are sleep-deprived, punchy, and silly, but the Henderson staff and other libraries throughout the state seem to be getting a kick out of it.

Anyhow, this is the most bizarre thing I’ve done in the name of libraries and reading yet!

Oh, why are we doing this? We have recently purchased a bookmobile. We have gotten local corporate sponsors, and the money from that will go to our nascent outreach program. We are also highlighting literacy as well.

update: “Jessamyn West is excellent about posting bizarre crackpot stunts in the library world.” may have to be my new tagline