Children’s interaction with cross-cultural and multilingual digital libraries: I. Understanding interface design representations

This paper reports the results of a study that examined Arabic-speaking children’s interaction with the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL). Assessment of the ICDL to Arabic-speaking children as a culturally diverse group was grounded in “representations” and “meaning” rather than in internationalization and localization. The utility of the ICDL navigation controls was judged based on the extent it supported children’s navigation. Most of the ICDL representations and their meanings were found to be highly appropriate for older children but inappropriate for younger ones. The design of the ICDL navigation controls was supportive of children’s navigation. Recommendations for assessing the cross-cultural usability of the ICDL are made and suggestions for system design improvements are provided.