Meeting Minutes for 06/04/2024

Demo of new features, bug fixes, and documentation for the upcoming release (Minute 00:41) 

• Release Notes

Discussion Topics

• CSS library overrides (Minute 39:36)
  • Pascal performed a patch deployment at the start of May. During this deployment, he took all the existing CSS overrides that had not been placed in the library admin settings and put them back into the theme so that he could adjust them to comply with the accessibility standards. 
  • Going forward, you can style your site, but please remember to adhere to all accessibility requirements. Pascal strongly suggests that instead of doing it yourself, you should ask the SD team, as they have an easier way to style the catalog and are knowledgeable about checking for all accessibility requirements for styling.
• Alt-text for images and images as links in the sidebar accessibility requirements (Minute 41:09)
  • Some libraries use images as links on their Pika sites. These images usually do not contain alt text, making the details inaccessible to non-image users.
  • According to the accessibility standard, text should not be communicated through an image. Instead, the image should be in HTML text style next to an icon image.
  • As a side note, Ashley mentioned that this also applies to web accessibility on your websites. While the focus is on Pika for this meeting, it's important to consider these types of images when designing your web pages.     
  • Garfield County and Longmont examples
• List Widgets updates (Minute 43:46)
  • For list widgets that auto-rotate, you need to update the height of your library websites to display the pause button. 
  • HTML title for iframe
  • List Widget documentation
• Homepage search box (Minute 44:02)
  • The Pika documentation on inserting a search box onto your library homepage was updated to include an accessibility section with a code snippet.   
  • You will want to check that the search box where you type in the search phrase has an accessible aria-level label. If the aria-level label has yet to be added, you must update it.  

Discussion of development priorities for the next release (Minute 47:37)

• Software Development will be turning their attention to several implementations and projects
  • One project will involve preparing the VuFind servers for Marmot academics who want to migrate at the beginning of the fall semester in August. This will consume most of C.J.’s time. 
  • Another project involves implementing a new system for the Clearview Library District in Windsor and Severance. The kickoff is scheduled for June 5th. This project entails integrating a Discovery Partner with the Polaris ILS, which will be a completely new integration with a new ILS. 
  • As the team moves into the fall after completing the VuFind project and Clearview implementation, they will shift their focus to working with Born Digital on the Islandora upgrade.   
  • The team will also work on some new feature developments around that time.
    • One feature is the home library pickup that will come as part and parcel with some Sierra upgrades and updates to the API to make the home library pickup happen. 

The next meeting is Tuesday, September 3, 2024