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A well-designed and accessible website experience is critical to attracting and retaining users online. People have an abundance of options online, yet limited time — so, they expect the websites, platforms, and apps they visit to respect their time. How? By respecting their accessibility needs and security concerns, and, at the same time, by delivering delightful experiences.
This is the shift to Web 3.0. But to understand where we’re going, we need to look back at where we were with Web 1.0 and where we’re currently at with Web 2.0.
What is Web 1.0?
Web 1.0 is commonly understood as the “read only” age of the internet. Websites were built on static pages that connected to other static pages through hyperlinks. There was no interactivity for the user with the website or with their fellow users. Basically, people typically visited websites to just consume content, nothing more. The focus is often about your brand, not the user’s needs.
When carrying out a web development project, a common mistake that libraries make is thinking about it as just an online front (i.e., a place to get information about the library and place holds on items). As a result, key elements like visual design, accessibility, seamless interactivity and user expectations just fall through the cracks. This makes it more difficult to keep your users engaged and returning for more.
What is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 opened the doors for users to leave their mark on the internet, especially with user-generated content (UGC). From blogs to wikis to forums to video streaming to social media, users gained the ability to grow their own audiences, drive thought leadership, and build communities. Websites evolved from just giving information to becoming platforms that hosted user communities.
Ultimately, the websites that are thriving in the Web 2.0 age are places that give people more than just one-way information. They’re communities where users can connect with peers, create content to pull new audiences (to both the user and the platform/website), and much more. Many brands also used communities to build deeper connections with their customers and many of those users started advocating for certain brands and organizations to their families, friends, and other networks.
What is Web 3.0?
We haven’t reached Web 3.0 yet, but getting there has become a top priority for the leading technology companies and many brands. While the technology necessary for Web 3.0 is far from materializing, many organizations are already building the necessary groundwork for a smooth and gradual transition.
One of the key qualities of Web 3.0 is that users will be in control of their digital experience. In fact, from this point on, users will set the terms of how they choose to engage with brands and organizations. Users will engage from a variety of platforms, have a wide range of expectations on what they want to see, and will value attributes like authenticity and relatability more than ever. Basically, it’s not up to organizations to decide what users should see; instead, it’s the users who’ll have that right.
Next, Web 3.0 will further humanize the online experience. This is where investments in accessibility and security will be critical. The goal is to ensure that everyone can both connect with your organization and are empowered to achieve their goals. Factors like the user’s location and physical attributes should not stop them from working, socializing, networking and growing online. Complying with security standards, especially as they evolve, is vital to both keeping your users safe and, in turn, further defining your brand as a transparent, user-first environment. Things like data protection, giving users more authority on how their data is managed and used, and other elements are must-haves.
Finally, new and emerging technologies — such as AI, digital assistants, wearables, etc. — will also be key pieces in Web 3.0 stacks. Organizations will leverage new technologies to help users take more control of the experience, be it from a security standpoint (e.g., ID verification using a phone) or to deliver a more natural, intuitive experience (e.g., by enabling people to interact through natural speech, understanding their intent when they search, etc.).
Already, some of the groundwork for Web 3.0 is already being laid in the industry. For example, Web3-browsers promise more privacy and user anonymity with built-in firewalls and virtual private networks (VPN), tracker-blocking, and biometric integration. Though currently leaning on the security side of Web 3.0, it shows that work is already underway to give users more power. We should expect the rise of new security and privacy standards in the near term.
Why Libraries Need to Focus on Web 3.0
Think about where you prefer spending your time online — it’s not on outdated-looking websites lacking functionality. Likewise, today’s users — including your library’s patrons – want to engage with places that help them connect with their peers, deliver tangible value, empower, and offer delightful experiences.
Libraries already provide all of these things (i.e., social connection, tangible value, and empowerment) at their physical locations. Hence, it only makes sense to extend this vibrant ecosystem to the digital world, without any compromise in the quality of the user’s experience.
Delivering Tangible Value
Libraries offer tangible value in a variety of ways, not least from their physical and digital collections, but also through their events, programs, and resources/facilities.
When using their library’s online catalog, your patrons should readily find what they’re looking for and to place a hold or borrow it. The experience should be as intuitive and familiar as the ecommerce platforms they already spend time and money on (e.g., Amazon). However, if their library delivers on their needs or expectations as effectively, the patron will save time and money (i.e., tangible value). On the other hand, if the catalog doesn’t meet search intent well, then you’re pushing your patrons away, at least online.
Likewise, your patrons should be aware of their library’s programs and events. It should be easy for them to understand what your programs/events are about, and how they can participate.
Empowering All Patrons
Today more than ever, people with disabilities and other challenges are connecting online. Organizations that seriously prioritize accessibility will excel; they’ll emerge as the go-to places for more people to visit and engage. However, more importantly, public libraries have a mandate to empower all of their patrons, especially those with accessibility needs. If you’re not valuing accessibility, then you’re failing to carry out your mandate — rather, you’re at risk of setting your patrons back.
Is your library considering a native mobile app? Are you wondering if the mobile app you have is serving your patrons as best as possible, particularly those with special needs? Download The Public Library Mobile App Accessibility Checklist to find out.
The other side of accessibility is valuing diversity. Your library website should reflect the community both in terms of how it looks and its values. From showcasing the diversity of your collection to offering a way for your staff to directly connect with patrons, you need to show your library is safe and authentic. Users should see what your library stands for; it establishes your credibility as a safe and inclusive space.
Building Social Connections
Finally, libraries are increasingly places for building social connections. No matter where they come from, people will generally know what a library is, and see it as a safe and welcoming environment. One reason for this is that your staff go the extra mile to deliver a rewarding experience to your patrons. In turn, your patrons are able to build social connections with your library staff and their fellow community members, which puts the library at the top of their minds.
“I just love the on-line library! I tend to get "lost" here just like I do with the regular library. I can spend hours just picking books and reading the synopsis to decide what I want to put on hold.
Also, like features like staff picks, (which has introduced me to "new"authors) and suggest a title. Now I have found library picks, and I'm trying that out!”
Sno-Isle Libraries Patron, December 2021
It's imperative to leverage web tools and technologies that empower your staff to convey their ideas and showcase their personalities. Not only does this help your staff connect with your patrons, but it also ties into your library’s credibility and authenticity. Patrons will understand and relate to your library through your staff, not bland messaging on a web page. It’s these bonds that will drive people in your community to advocate for their public library.
How Libraries Can Keep Pace with the Web’s Evolution
Though we haven’t reached Web 3.0, you can take steps to build the necessary groundwork for it across your website and wider digital experience.
Start with ensuring that you’re meeting current accessibility and security standards, and, as importantly, set up for future compliance needs. Consciously adhering to standards like WCAG 2.1 AA and others at least offers a structured pathway to progressing your user experience, especially as new technologies become available. Moreover, accessibility and security investments are an effective way to put your users at the center of your digital experience as you’re putting their interests to the top of your priorities.
Next, don’t treat your website as an online front for your library — rather, consciously think about how you can meet your patrons’ needs. So, for example, your online catalog should be tailored to how your patrons will use the system, not your librarians. To the patron, the library catalog should function like a familiar environment, e.g., an e-commerce website (especially Amazon, which has emerged as a strong print and digital media provider).
However, don’t make the mistake of limiting the familiarity to just the ‘surface’ in terms of how your catalog looks; it needs to work as your patrons expect. The search functions need to serve the results (i.e., titles, themes, genres, formats, etc.) your patrons are seeking. If it doesn’t, then your patrons will look to other places.
Technically, your online catalog is often a different environment from your actual website (i.e., the place where you’d put information about your library). This gap shouldn’t be apparent to the user; you need to build one seamless experience. Whether your catalog or website, your patrons just see it as the library’s online experience, so pushing them from one environment to something else that looks different is both jarring and unfriendly. From the colors to design style to the user ID (i.e., single sign-on), the catalog and website need to look and work like one environment.
As we stated earlier, the user will set the terms of how they engage with your library. Users will expect your library to be on the platforms they prefer; so, you cannot limit your focus to the desktop browser. Investing in a mobile app experience that closely mirrors your website and catalog is key to more of your patrons, especially younger people. In addition, a dedicated mobile experience can also start equipping your library to leverage user hardware technologies (like NFC for RFID, biometric authentication, phone cameras, etc.) to provide the user more control of their library experience.
Users will also expect relevant information to reach them, and on the mediums they prefer (e.g., email, messaging, etc.). While adding features to enable users to opt-in is relatively easy to add, providing them with relevant information that they want is a challenge. You want to serve your users information about events, programs, and collections items that they want to see. This requires a deeper level of integration between your website, catalog, and email marketing. You also need a robust analytics suite that serves you with the insights you need to make the right communications decisions.
Lastly, don’t undervalue your digital investment. Limiting your web development budget will prevent you from keeping pace with the evolution of the web. User preferences are constantly changing, accessibility standards are becoming more robust, and security standards are evolving to address new threats as they emerge. You need to take these shifts into account when designing and/or updating your library website; this isn’t something an operations-focused IT budget can necessarily support. However, it need not take up much of your overall operating budget either.
Development isn’t easy. Today, the majority of websites aren’t entirely compliant; there’s always some type of trade-off being made. But this is a problem for organizations that invest in web development with too few resources to properly leverage the technologies available. They’re always left with a trade-off: either continue dedicating large portions of their resources to the web — or start pushing web development for a later period. Unfortunately, the latter creates technical debt (i.e., the accumulation of obsolete and/or insecure technologies that will cost you money to remove or modernize).
Going at it alone isn’t feasible for most organizations, especially those for whom web development isn’t a primary mission (including libraries). Likewise, working with partners that don’t make keeping up with the evolution of the web is also a sub-optimal route. While doing so may help get a website up, it won’t set your library up for success amid a continuously evolving web.
For organizations for whom web development work isn’t their primary line of work, the best avenue is working with a partner that makes advancing the web its mission. As a library, you should find a partner that has a vision for elevating public libraries to the top in the digital space. This partner needs a strong understanding of where the web is going in terms of accessibility, security, and user-centric functionality, as well as a native-level insight of public libraries and their unique challenges.
The right partner will ensure that you’re meeting your digital transformation goals, but well within your overall spend. Granted, it might not fit your IT budget, but the stakes at hand are much higher in that a strong online experience can drive gains across your entire library — i.e., collections usage or circulation, event attendance, program enrollment, and above all, patron advocacy and support. Likewise, if you don’t make the necessary investment, then you’re not giving your library the best possible shot for long-term growth, prominence, and success.
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