1. Inclusivity Through Documentation: Using Gestalt Principles and Plain Language to Create Effective Documents
Jennifer Turner and Jessica Schomberg
Minnesota State University, Mankato
2 March 2017

2. Overview Instructional Design & Document Design
What accessibility concepts do you need to keep in mind?
Difference between accessibility and accommodation
Universal Design
Design concerns
Gestalt theory
Image selection
Plain language
Group Activity
Instructional design/doc design = Jenny
User needs (+ sidebar on hole)
Best format for the document at hand
Access = Jessica
Design
Gestalt = Jenny
Image = Jenny + Jessica will go into cataloging
Plain language = Jessica
Group activity = Jessica introduce

3. Instructional Design & Document Design
What is being communicated?
Who is consuming the information?
What do they need to know?
What are audience characteristics?
Where and how will the information be consumed?
What are the best tools for the job? How can you clearly communicate the information?
When done, how did it work? How could it be better?
ADDIE, etc. advise to…
Analyze: user characteristics, learning needs, desired outcomes, delivery options, and timeframe for the project.
Design
Develop
Implement
Evaluate
User needs (+ sidebar on hole in ID literature/methodology): user characteristics mentioned seemed to focus on prior knowledge of learners, age of learners, motivation of learners.
Best format for the document at hand

4. Ethics of Accessibility
Americans with Disabilities Act
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Universal Design for Learning
25th anniversary of American Disabilities Act. The celebration’s slogan was “Disability Rights Are Civil Rights.”
In 1990, George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities. It prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs and schools--all public and private places that are open to the general public.
UN Convention on Disability Rights – articles 2- and 3 provide definitions and general principles about communication, reasonable accommodation and universal design
There are eight guiding principles that underlie the Convention:
Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons
Non-discrimination
Full and effective participation and inclusion in society
Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity
Equality of opportunity
Accessibility
Equality between men and women
Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities
Accessibility = allowing people with disabilities to live independently. Requiring PWD to ask for mediation anytime they need access to a resource violates the spirit of this principle. This includes access to justice and prison conditions; right to inclusive education; right to employment. This US is not one of the signatories.
Universal Design for Learning is a curriculum development method that strives to provide inclusive opportunities for the widest range of learners possible.
MN State, Mankato documented students with accessibility needs as of Fall 2015: 103 students with learning disabilities, 13 with limited vision or blind, 27 deaf or hard of hearing, 50 mobility disabilities, 205 with ADHD/ADD, 27 with brain injury or cognitive impairment, 20 on Autism spectrum (source: Kellian Clink, MSU librarian)
If we use good document design, our documents should be more accessible to those with needs, in addition to being more usable to the average person.

5. Gestalt theory comes from the field of psychology
Gestalt theory comes from the field of psychology. It was developed by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Kofka in opposition to structuralist idea of breaking down experience into component parts. According to Gestalt theory, people perceive parts as a whole (treat component parts as a whole)
Gestalt as applied to document design:
Figure-Ground Segregation: separate design/text from background (contrast)
Closure: if an area is not closed, people fill in gaps to complete it; lack of closure means images/insets may blend into text
Proximity: provides information on how to group information
Continuity: shapes/forms are continued past their stopping points. This is especially important when designing tables (continue lines of information; associate info at the bottom with info at the top)
Similarity: things that resemble each other are grouped together (use font changes for a reason, not because you can!)
Past Experience: design interpretations are made based on past experience/knowledge; could be cultural (“red means stop”)
Symmetry/Equilibrium: elements are in equilibrium; there are clear starting/ending points
This work, "Visual Gestalt," is a derivative of "7 Laws of Gestalt" by Valessio used under CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. "Visual Gestalt" is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by Jennifer Turner.

6. Poor Proximity Improved Proximity
One example demonstrating how Gestalt principles (here, proximity) improve readability/comprehension.
Examples for each Gestalt principle can be found in the article “Using Gestalt Theory to Teach Document Design and Graphics” by R. Moore and C. Fitz.
Poor Proximity
Improved Proximity
Image source: Moore, P., & Fitz, C. (1993). Using gestalt theory to teach document design and graphics. Technical Communication Quarterly, 2(4), 389.

7. Images should be helpful!
Appropriateness of images
Helpfulness of images
Accessibility of images: colorblind-appropriate? Alt tags?

8. Plain Language and Accessibility
History/Purpose of the Plain Language movement
Dumbing down? Rhetorical level and audience
Will users understand the language? Does the document highlight information that is important to them?
If you don’t know enough about your users to be able to answer those questions, find out! Demographic information, diverse focus groups, and surveys can all help you find out more about your patrons.

9. Plain Language Guidelines : Content
Present the context before going into the details
Use descriptive headers and sub-headers
Start headings with action verbs
Use questions instead of noun phrases
Be consistent within heading levels
If using library jargon or acronyms, explain what it means each time it’s used
Get a Library Card
How do I get a library card?
What can I do with a library card?
Reserve a Room
What kinds of rooms are available?

10. Plain Language Guidelines - Words
You can use a library card to check out books. OR
Library cards can be used to check out books.
Sentence structure
Use short sentences and active voice
Use subject-verb-object order
Avoid embedded clauses and parenthetical statements
Stay positive, avoid “not”
Use everyday words
Speak to the reader
Draw a picture with your words – and possibly also with a picture, chart or table!

11. Editing Your Documentation
What is missing? What is unneeded?
Does it make sense to you? Does it make sense to other people?
Next step: Testing

12. Usability Testing Testing Reasons for testing
Start by questioning the purpose of everything in the document
Readability software (such as MS Word “speak” feature)
Paraphrase testing
SEC document
Reasons for testing
Accessibility for people with visual, motor, or cognitive impairments
Readability
Comprehensibility
Note that improving usability for people with disabilities often improves usability for all users. Making sure you’re conducting tests with people with a range of disabilities is therefore more efficient.

13. “Library Quick Sheet” Before Usability Testing

14. “Library Quick Sheet” After Usability Testing
+Spanish on reverse!

15. Document Redesign Workshop
What is the core purpose of the document?
What information is necessary to accomplish this purpose? Is there missing information? Extra information?
Who is the audience? What do they care about?
Is this the appropriate format for this information?
Does the document use sound design principles?
What changes are needed to improve accessibility and inclusivity?

16. Discussion

17. Ranganathan (1931) / Turner (2015)
Five Laws of Library Science
Books are for use.
Every reader his/her book.
Every book its reader.
Save the time of the reader.
The library is a growing organism.
Five Laws of Document Design
Design is for use.
Every document its design.
Every design its purpose.
Save the time of the user.
Documents are [should be] changeable organisms.
As librarians, we are familiar with Ranganathan’s “Five Laws of Library Science.” These laws help guide our work providing library services, such as cataloging and reference. “Five Laws of Document Design” may be adopted to guide our work designing documents.
The Five Laws of Document Design as proposed by J. Turner (2015):
Design is for use. Don’t use fancy fonts just because you can. Consider your users—what will make the document more usable for them? Fonts, screenshots, color choices, etc. should be considered with users in mind.
Every document its design. What format is best for the document/task at hand? Task-oriented activities might be best suited to a list format (step 1, 2, etc.). Complicated concepts might require lengthier explanations.
Every design its purpose. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should (e.g. fancy fonts/font changes). What are you doing for you vs. your user? (e.g. colored paper to help you grab the correct stack of materials vs. using white paper so users with low vision might have an easier time reading the text (maximum contrast). Make
Save the time of the user. What are they looking for in the document? How will they use it? Do they care about ALL THE THINGS or just that one thing?
Documents are [should be] changeable organisms. Test, get feedback, learn from user successes/failures…update and keep updated as conditions change and you learn more! (e.g. in talking to our campus Accessibility Resources office, we learned cues like “left side of the screen” are bad for screen readers. We also found these are bad for mobile view in LibGuides. We’ve been working to change this type of instruction in our documents.