Digital Commons and CONTENTdm: Not Entirely Accessible

Objective: To explore the accessibility for visually impaired users in Digital Commons and CONTENTdm software. Design: Unstructured interview of prearranged pages in each system. Setting : The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library and their instance of Digital Commons by Bepress and CONTENTdm by OCLC. Subjects: A student that is visually impaired participated in the interview. Methods: The authors interviewed a student using prearranged pages in Digital Commons and CONTENTdm system. The student examined home pages, browsing entities, papers, an overview of policies, and collections. More specifically, the pages ranged from ScholarWorks, the Student Research Experience, the Montana Memory Project, and the Boone and Crockett Club Records. In total, 20 pages were used in the interview; nine of those pages were based on the CONTENTdm software and 11 of the pages were from the Digital Commons platform. The authors did not prepare questions for the interview and allowed the student to “think-aloud” and provide feedback during the session (van Someren, Barnard, & Sandberg, 1994). Also, the authors provided an introductory explanation of the interview and assistance when necessary. Main Results: The student noted similar accessibility features in Digital Commons and CONTENTdm software, which include headings, descriptive links, and downloadable files. However, the student noted varying challenges in both systems that prohibited straightforward navigation. This includes inconsistent headings and the structure of the content. Comparing the two platforms, the student was not able to understand the content hosted on CONTENTdm, whereas Digital Commons had fewer problems with its accessibility. The authors indicate that the pages and structure of Digital Commons and CONTENTdm have varying accessibilities, which could hinder visually impaired users.