OutHistory is a website that maintains a collection of writings about LGBT+ people and topics from throughout history. It is a collaborative effort that includes writings and images from various sources. It is both easy to use and a fascinating collection.
Navigability is one of OutHistory’s strong suits. It has a search bar feature and various category menus that are easy to find and use. In this way, someone can use the website without feeling like a lot is being thrown at them. The visual design for the homepage is a bit crowded, but not to the point where it hurts navigability. This design flaw is not reflected throughout the site, though. Specific articles and topics are easily accessed through tools that are readily available.
Categories within the menus include time period, people, places, subject, documents, bibliographies, visual material, oral histories, and timelines. Within these categories are “exhibits,” which are collections of articles and materials related to a particular topic. The exhibits have an enjoyably wide range of topics, such as children’s literature with transgender themes from pre-Civil War America. In some exhibits, such as the aforementioned one, articles are interconnected with a natural flow for experiencing them, similar to the transition between pages in a book. In others, each one is separate. The one thing I might add to how these exhibits are set up would be short descriptions for each of the article links. This would help users navigate an exhibit without feeling like they were choosing blindly.
Most of OutHistory’s usability features are best in desktop form. In this form, every element is intuitively accessible. However, the site does not adjust for the scale of a smartphone screen. This is disappointing since, according to “Building Histories of the National Mall: A Guide to Creating a Digital Public History Project,” 63% of adult cellphone owners access the internet with their phones. Building the site to adjust for smaller screens would increase OutHistory’s accessibility for the public.
In terms of content, the research is high-quality yet presented in a way that a curious public that might not have a history background can understand with good source citations. Articles are contributed by various experts, which both means that there is a variety of research pooled in one location. Through a part of the site labeled “participate,” users can contribute research or personal stories. This is the central point of OutHistory where it accomplishes its public humanities mission. This variety also means that the form and style of each exhibit varies slightly. Although this means that certain good features, such as the presence of discussion questions, do not carry through the whole site, this does not detract significantly.
OutHistory is an interesting and publicly accessible source of LGBT+ history scholarship. Although it had a few flaws, it accomplishes its goals very well. This site is a great example of how research of a lesser-discussed historical topic can be compiled and made available to any curious user.
