I have been working with Shari Thurow and Bev Corwin on developing information architecture services and research for the science gateways community. To date, we have presented two posters and two workshops for Science Gateways Community Institute’s (SGCI) annual Gateway conference and The Information Architecture Conference. We also provide consulting services to members of the SGCI community. Our completed work is available at the Open Science Foundation.
Shari, Bev and I co-chair the Information Architecture Community Group at the World Wide Web Consortium. The group is for anyone interested in Information Architecture and standards, and to participate, discuss, share, support, develop, and learn about them
Science Gateway Research
Accessibility Compliance and Assessments for Gateway Websites in Life Sciences: Toward Inclusive Design
Contributors: Noreen Whysel, Shari Thurow, Bev Corwin
Event: The Information Architecture Conference
Date: April 20, 2021 (updated)
Contributors: Noreen Whysel, Shari Thurow, Bev Corwin
Event: Gateways 2020
Date: October 12, 2020
Abstract: Information architects and accessibility experts examined the accessibility of 50 randomly selected gateway websites in the Life Sciences category in the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) catalog, using both manual and automated methodologies. None of these sites produced an accessible website as per W3C, WCAG 2.1, and Section 508 standards. The most common accessibility success in these websites was URL structure, which enables web browsers and search engines to access content. Both manual and automatic methodologies are needed to fully assess website accessibility. For example, a website can meet W3C accessibility standards and not be fully accessible. However, automated tools are useful for identifying and troubleshooting accessibility issues for expert reviews.
This research is currently being updated with a comparison to 50 earth science gateways for SGCI’s Gateways 2022 and was selected to be presented in San Diego on October 18, 2022.
Tutorials
Designing Effective Search Experiences
Date: May 24, 2023
Facilitator: Noreen Whysel
Event: UX-LX: UX Lisbon, FIL Meeting Center, Lisbon, Portugal
URL: https://www.ux-lx.com/speakers/noreen-whysel.html#workshop
Accessible Gateways: Communicating Inclusive Design Practices with Pattern Libraries
Date: October 26, 2023
Facilitators: Shari Thurow, Noreen Whysel
Event: Science Gateways 2023, Online
URL: https://www.theiaconference.com/
Accessible Gateways: Communicating Inclusive Design Practices with Style Guides
Date: October 27, 2023
Facilitators: Shari Thurow, Noreen Whysel
Event: Science Gateways 2023, Online
URL: https://www.theiaconference.com/
Sense-Making, Search Systems & Site Optimization Workshop
Contributors: Shari Thurow, Noreen Whysel
Event: IAC 21: The Information Architecture Conference
Date: April 20, 2021
URL: https://www.theiaconference.com/session/sense-making-search-systems-site-optimization-2/
How to Create and Maintain an Effective Information Architecture and Navigation System for Science Gateway Websites
Contributors: Shari Thurow, Noreen Whysel
Event: Gateways 2019
Date: October 30, 2019
URL: https://osf.io/p6e79/
Part 1 of this tutorial provides actionable tips and illustrates important IA topics such as:
- Understanding Information architecture (what it is & why it is important)
- Information hierarchy: Data > Information > Knowledge
- Wireframing (blueprints for web pages)
- Qualitative & quantitative methods to measure content findability
- Applying IA to gateway tasks
Part 2 of this tutorial introduces and illustrates:
- Five types of navigation schemes
- When to use them
- How to arrange & format navigation (no HTML skills required)
- Navigation metrics for gateway sites
- When to revise navigation
At the end of this tutorial, attendees will:
- Know what to put in design templates to make gateway content more findable before & after people arrive on the site
- Identify & measure significant architecture & navigation metrics
- Learn various methods to identify, evaluate, & fix common IA/navigation issues
- Communicate with web professionals, usability/UX professionals, & information architects in an informed way
This tutorial includes exercises, downloadable checklists (PDFs) and a bibliography.
Presentation: Architecture-Navigation-SGCI-2019.pdf
Checklist: Website-Navigation-Checklist-Omni.pdf
Additional Output
Whysel, N. (October 27, 2021). Information Architecture Community Group. (Host), W3C TPAC 2021. World Wide Web Consortium. [conference website]
Gesing, S. et al. A Vision for Science Gateways: Bridging the Gap and Broadening the Outreach. (July 19-22, 2021). Practice & Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC21). Association for Computing Machinery. [conference website] [recording]
Varon, A. & Whysel, N. (May 5, 2021). Evaluating Science Gateways for Accessible Design. 34th Semi-Annual Dr. Janet Liou-Mark Honors & Undergraduate Research Poster Presentation. New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn, NY.