Assessment for Historical Newspapers: Globe and Mail by Durham - Module 4: Content

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Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Five articles were checked for this question, with dates from 1863, 1927, 1962, 2008 and 2020. None of the 5 were searchable but were extractable in a limited manner (was able to 'copy' or 'copy image').
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: None of the five articles checked were searchable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: None of the five articles checked were searchable.
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: None of the five articles checked have alternative next (none were searchable or tagged).
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: None of the five articles checked had a primary language specified (none were searchable).
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All five articles passed the Character Encoding test (although none were searchable). Possibly just checking the article page header?
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All five articles failed the Tagged Contest section.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All five articles failed in both the Tables and Lists sections
Does the Read Out Loud function read the PDF in a logical way, preserving the order of the text and various sections?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Five articles checked. Only the header and footer are read - the actual text of the article is skipped.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Only the header and footer are read - the actual full text of each of the five articles checked was skipped completely.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Only the header and footer sections are 'visible' when navigating around the screens. In all five articles checked, the actual full text was skipped.
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Original text, particularly of the documents from the 1800s and early/mid 1900s, is often not completely crisp to begin with. It is still legible once zoomed in though.
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: In addition to the five articles checked for the first series of questions in this module, an additional four were checked for this series of questions. None of the text or pictorial content in the 9 PDFs checked would read - all image only (4 were all text, 5 had accompanying images).
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All PDF content was image only.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All PDF content was image only.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All PDFs were image only.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All PDF content was image only.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No bookmarks present in any of the articles checked.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos in database.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Do videos include described video, or if not, is there a text equivalent of the video provided on the same page or via a link?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos in database.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No audio present in database.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
eResource: Historical Newspapers: Globe and Mail
eResource Type:
Vendor: ProQuest
Institution: Durham
Score: F

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Always Five articles were checked for this question, with dates from 1863, 1927, 1962, 2008 and 2020. None of the 5 were searchable but were extractable in a limited manner (was able to 'copy' or 'copy image').
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never None of the five articles checked were searchable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Never None of the five articles checked were searchable.

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Never None of the five articles checked have alternative next (none were searchable or tagged).
Is primary language specified? Never None of the five articles checked had a primary language specified (none were searchable).
Is reliable character encoding provided? Always All five articles passed the Character Encoding test (although none were searchable). Possibly just checking the article page header?
Are all page elements tagged? Never All five articles failed the Tagged Contest section.
Are list and table structure correct? Never All five articles failed in both the Tables and Lists sections

Structure: Reading Order

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the Read Out Loud function read the PDF in a logical way, preserving the order of the text and various sections? Never Five articles checked. Only the header and footer are read - the actual text of the article is skipped.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Never Only the header and footer are read - the actual full text of each of the five articles checked was skipped completely.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document? Never Only the header and footer sections are 'visible' when navigating around the screens. In all five articles checked, the actual full text was skipped.

Magnification

Question Answer Notes Images
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read? Always Original text, particularly of the documents from the 1800s and early/mid 1900s, is often not completely crisp to begin with. It is still legible once zoomed in though.

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Always

Alternative Description

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never In addition to the five articles checked for the first series of questions in this module, an additional four were checked for this series of questions. None of the text or pictorial content in the 9 PDFs checked would read - all image only (4 were all text, 5 had accompanying images).
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never All PDF content was image only.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never All PDF content was image only.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Never All PDFs were image only.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Never All PDF content was image only.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Never
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Not Applicable No bookmarks present in any of the articles checked.

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Not Applicable No videos in database.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Not Applicable
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Not Applicable
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Not Applicable
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Not Applicable
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable

Described Video

Question Answer Notes Images
Do videos include described video, or if not, is there a text equivalent of the video provided on the same page or via a link? Not Applicable No videos in database.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? Not Applicable

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Not Applicable No audio present in database.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable
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