The new, user-friendly, and technologically advanced website launched by Oakville Public Library (OPL) this summer has garnered the attention of many libraries from across the country. This overhaul was necessary more than ever during the pandemic as the residents had restricted or almost no physical access to the library.
OPL website’s latest feature, Federated Search, has already attracted several groups for libraries across Canada. The Federated search yields results from 4 completely different sources (catalogue, programming, community resources and Opl.ca website), providing customers with quick access to various services OPL offers through one click.
“We have library groups/meetings that group similar positions/responsibilities to share best practices across library systems. On request, I recently shared the intricacies of the search functionality amongst these groups for libraries across Canada,” Joseph Moncada, Director- Innovation & Integration, OPL highlighted. He also confirmed receiving an enquiry from Calgary Public Library.
The new website has hundreds of new features and pages, ranging from Mobile Responsive Design, online Library Card Registration, and the Single Sign-On feature for OPL and its affiliated partners or resources. An internal team at OPL and the Town of Oakville collaborated with a Toronto-based company to complete the website.
Apart from its content, the OPL website was not updated in any capacity since 2004. “This is an extremely long stretch for a website, as the digital landscape drastically changed since the early 2000s. Most notable thing is that usage of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets didn’t exist back then,” Moncada explained the need for the revamp. He added that the old OPL website was not responsive to evolving needs of the community members. As a result, the library had to introduce multiple apps such as My OPL and OPL to Go to bridge the gap in functionality.
The project to rebuild the existing website was conceived over three years ago to provide a consistent customer experience. “The website development began before COVID, but the pandemic highlighted the importance of a fast, easy to use and responsive web portal as a home base to access information, resources, programming and general OPL updates,” Moncanda clarified.
OPL website also has a complete roadmap for the steps to achieve in the next 3-5 years. It will have more updated features as early as 2022.
The new website is compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and will soon add a translation feature. Add-ons like Text to Speech, screen Masking (reduces visual stress and improves focus), Text Magnifier( magnifies text and reads it aloud) highlight its accommodations for the neurodiverse population.