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Assessing the Usability of Cross-Cultural Digital Libraries from Arabic-speaking Children
Dania Bilal, School of Information Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
Abstract:
This paper reports the results of a study that examined Arabic-speaking children’s interaction with the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL). Ten children ages 6-10 who live in Alexandria, Egypt participated in this study. Children’s understanding of the ICDL system design representations (icons, search and browse features, buttons, and visual cues) and their meanings was grounded in “design representations” and “meaning” rather than in internationalization and localization. Findings revealed that, overall, the ICDL system design representations and their meanings were appropriate for older children but inappropriate for younger ones. Both younger and older children did not recognize the search and browse features from the ICDL default interface, with the exception of the Keyword search option that only older children understood its meaning. Implications are made for system design improvements that are supportive of children’s needs.
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