Atlanta, GA -- April 21, 2023. Equinox Open Library Initiative, a trusted leader in open source technology development and support for libraries, is pleased to announce a newly designed and accessible theme now available for VuFind. The Equinox theme for VuFind offers an attractive, responsive, user-friendly interface designed to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.
"The Equinox theme for VuFind brings VuFind's powerful search capabilities to a wider community of people. Accessibility is about making sure everyone can accomplish their task within a web interface – whether that's a patron putting a book on hold or a staff member updating settings, the software shouldn't be in the way," said Stephanie Leary, Front End Developer at Equinox. "VuFind offers so much to libraries, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to focus on accessibility."
VuFind is an open source discovery layer developed and maintained by Villanova University's Falvey Memorial Library. It brings the entirety of a library's physical and digital holdings together into an intuitive, single search.
The VuFind theme from Equinox improves on this foundation with a clean and modern design for intuitive and accessible searching. Interactive controls have been refined for interoperability with assistive technologies. The theme is easily customizable for branding and designed to take maximum advantage of future development by the VuFind community.
"The development of the Equinox theme for VuFind is one of the ways that Equinox is giving back to the community as a VuFind Registered Service Provider," said Galen Charlton, Implementation and IT Manager at Equinox. "We look forward to continuing to work with the community to improve accessibility in the core product as well."
The VuFind theme from Equinox is available now. To learn more and to download the new theme please visit: https://github.com/EquinoxOpenLibraryInitiative/equinox-theme-vufind
About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the successor to Equinox Software, Inc. Equinox's mission as a nonprofit is to promote and support a thriving ecosystem for open source library communities in order to provide libraries worldwide with innovative, affordable, and sustainable open source solutions. We are devoted to reducing barriers to library technology and services, expanding library access to open source software, and providing high quality technology, consulting, and support services.To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxOLI.org.
About VuFind
VuFind is an open source discovery product for libraries and archives developed and maintained by Villanova University's Falvey Memorial Library. VuFind enables library users to discover the entirety of libraries' collections, including catalog records, journals, digital items, and more. Search results are retrieved quickly, often in a fraction of the time of an OPAC search. VuFind is open source and customizable—the interface may be configured to best meet users' needs. For more information on VuFind visit: https://www.equinoxoli.org/products/vufind/.