Background
The Cloud4All Floel metadata tools are based on the AccessForAll approach, which emphasizes personalization by providing support for systems of transformable, flexible resources that each meet different user needs (Neville and Treviranus 215). The Cloud4All project Floe has developed automated and author-refinable metadata authoring tools (covered in D202.2) that can assist content authors in the creation of metadata to support personalization. This metadata will be useful to matchmaking systems and search engines in order to help them deliver the appropriate content for a given individual, tailored to their needs and preferences. In order to help improve the quality and appropriateness of the matching process—and to provide users with the ability to provide feedback to content authors and to request alternative content—feedback tools are required. Such feedback can also help spur content improvement and the creation of more diverse alternatives based on user demand. In some cases, for example, content authors may not be aware of how suitable their resources are for users with different needs, or alternative formats may not be available. The best judge of whether or not a resource actually meets the needs it claims to meet is the user who has those needs.
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The feedback component of the Cloud4All Floe metadata tools will improve the overall accessibility of content by allowing users to help in the refinement of that content and its metadata. These tools consist of freely available, open-source JavaScript modules that can be incorporated into content delivery interfaces.
The goal of this document is to provide an overview of the requirements and design considerations that informed the creation of these tools, as well as to provide examples and links to source code and demonstrations. The approach we have taken is to design holistically, defining the full range of features and user interactions that will support a robust system for user feedback. In order to prove and test these designs, a more limited proof of concept implementation—nonetheless based on high-quality and scalable code and polished user interfaces—has been produced and will continue to be iterated on beyond the scope of the Cloud4All this project.
Figure 1 - The Metadata Feedback Tool
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A working prototype of the Cloud4All Metadata Feedback components has been implemented using HTML, JavaScript and CSS. As mentioned above, these components are implemented in a modular fashion so that they can ultimately be integrated into a variety of content delivery systems. This prototype make extensive use of many aspects of the GPII architecture and related family of tools, including the GPII preferences framework and Fluid Infusion.
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http://metadata.floeproject.org/demos/feedback/index.html
The source code for the Cloud4All the Metadata Feedback components is available under an open source license (dual licensed under both the New BSD License and the Educational Community License 2.0). The source code was developed in conformance with the GPII Technical Standards (Clark and Basman), including a robust suite of unit tests and comprehensive code review by the community. The source code is available on Github:
https://github.com/fluid-project/metadata
Conclusion
The Cloud4All Floe feedback tools will allow users to play an active role in improving the accessibility of resources by contributing metadata corrections, alternative resources and direct feedback on the suitability of the resource for their individual needs. The feedback will be used to automatically derive usage metrics that will assist in the adjustment of metadata, improving resource matches for all users.
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