LibGuides Accessibility Remediation

What I was actually fixing

Most of the problems were not exotic. They were the ordinary things that quietly lock people out: skipped heading levels, images without meaningful alt text, link text that means nothing out of context, tables used for layout, and colour or bolding doing the work that structure should do. I audited each guide page by page, logged what I found, then fixed it in place rather than handing over a list for someone else to action.

• Rebuilt heading hierarchies so each page has one clear H1 and a logical outline
• Rewrote vague links into descriptive text that makes sense read on its own
• Added or corrected alt text, and marked decorative images as decorative
• Trimmed and reorganised long boxes into scannable sections with a consistent order
• Checked keyboard navigation and contrast on the pages I touched

The guides I worked on

I documented each revision in a written report so my supervisor and the next graduate assistant could see exactly what changed and why. The reports covered Computer Science, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, and the Digitizing in 3D guide, plus a review of the Research Support pages on the GELIC website.

• Computer Science Research Resources: restructured navigation, readability and accessibility pass
• Mechanical Science and Engineering Research Resources: content review and remediation
• Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering Research Resources: content review and remediation
• 3D Dimensions / Digitizing in 3D: reorganised sections, clarified wording, aligned with accessibility guidance
• GELIC website Research Support pages: audit and update recommendations

A checklist, so it doesn't slip back

Fixing guides one by one only helps until the next person edits them. So I helped develop a GELIC LibGuides checklist, a short, practical list a librarian can run through before publishing: heading order, link text, alt text, contrast, consistent box ordering, and current links. It turned accessibility from a project someone did once into part of the normal editing routine, and it gave new graduate assistants a place to start.

Why it mattered

This work sat under the university's Title II / ADA compliance push, but the day-to-day payoff was simpler: engineering students landing on a guide from a search result can now see, within a few seconds, which database to try first and who to ask for help. My name is on the Computer Science guide's acknowledgements for the readability and accessibility work, which I am genuinely a little proud of.