Assessment for Nursing & Allied Health by Lambton - Module 2: Interface Navigation

Submitted by Michelle.Koski… on
Are user input fields accompanied by clear instructions on what the user needs to do to successfully complete the form?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Search bar on the home page is not labeled. There is placeholder text in the search box. [There are good audible instructions for screen readers however.]
Advanced search page search bar is not labeled.
Sign in to my research page has icons rather than words for labels on blanks for email address and password, though there is placeholder text inside the boxes.


Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Home, Advanced Search, Sign in to my research, and Create an account pages all pass Wave and do not appear to be missing form labels. The contact us page generates two missing form labels indicators in Wave.
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: When given, field descriptions are clear.
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some search boxes are labeled with icons rather than text labels. Search box labels are typically beside fields rather than above. Some search buttons are quite far from their primary field and not on the same horizontal plane, such as on the "advanced search" page, where the search button is half way down the page, and far to the right of the fields which align to the left of the screen. Even for a sighted person this is hard to find and to associate meaningfully with the search bars at the top of the page.
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There do not appear to be any coloured form labels.
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There are very few forms that have required fields, and thus few forms with asterisks. Pages for "Create an account" and "contact us" have asterisks.
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable.
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are check boxes in the advanced search. The "create an account" form ensures that entries are valid before it allows the user to continue. It does not, however, do a summary page that can be reviewed. These forms are not specifically designed to catch spelling or typing errors however. The system is concerned about the security/complexity of passwords, and whether the client has checked the "I have read the policy page" box (legalities), more than accessibility. For actual searches of the database, there is a "modify search" option at the top of the results page, which will bring the researcher back to the input page, without dumping the search string, which allows the researcher to access the string to edit, rather than starting from scratch. However, there is no confirmation before you send your first actual search.
Are alert messages clearly visible to the user, either at the top of the form field, inline, or through a dialog box?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Error messages appear at the top of the form, but the form does not automatically scroll to the top when this happens, so the client may only notice that the action has not been completed, that they are stalled on the page. In the simple search, if a client mistypes, it will sometimes ask the client, "Did you mean X", but runs the search as is. The notice is at the top left, under the search bar, so I am not sure that even most clients notice it.
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The password field indicates how many characters, symbols, etc. must be in a password for it to be acceptable AFTER an inappropriate password has been attempted. Required fields that are unintentionally blank are named.
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The error reports appear back at the top of the screen, which may be far from where the client has navigated to on a particular page. The sequence of error reports is however in order of the errors, as they occur while navigating the page from top to bottom.
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: In simple search, Deabetic brings up results for Diabetic, but more obscure spellings with zero results do not generate spelling suggestions. In advanced search, Deabetic yields zero results, but the database automatically searches for "diabetic", and says that it has done so: Your search for noft(deabetic) found no results. Showing results for noft(diabetic). When I typed "cornucopi", it found cornucopia. When I typed "Xexos", which has no equivalent, there was a notification "Your search for noft(Xexos) found 0 results. Search tips". That pane turned yellow orange, which might draw the attention of a sighted client, but this clue would not help a client with vision impairments. Clients are further prompted "You can set up an alert to be notified when new documents match this search, or modify your search and try again."
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the result page one sees: Cite, email, save to my research are clustered in the top right of each result.
Confusingly, there are images of these icons (cite, email, save to my research, more options) across the top of the results list, which do not link to anything (they are not clickable). The alt text is for the group of icons says: "Select results items first to use the cite email save and export options".
Once you open the article, the cluster changes to: download PDF, cite, copy URL, Print, all options

The location of the option for "full text" and "PDF" is not always is exactly the same location relative to the rest of the record for an individual citation, because each option is not always present for a given citation. The place to click on a PDF option can change depending on how many format options are available.
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the results page, the hand lens icon, in the top right corner, to open the collapsible search bar, has no alt text
Confusingly, there are images of the icons across the top of the results list, which are not immediately clickable.
These icons represent "cite", "email", "save to my research", and "more options", just like the icons in the individual records listed in the results. The alt text for the group of icons says: "Select results items first to use the cite email save and export options". These icons become clickable when the client checkmarks a group of individual boxes of articles, or the checkbox at the top left of the pane, to select articles to cite, email, or save to my research. There is no obvious difference in the icon images to signify the difference in the action.
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”.
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the home page, the basic search bar has a hand lens icon as a search button, but there is a button that says "search" on the advanced page. "Publications" has a "search button". "Thesaurus" has a "find" button. "browse all videos" takes one into a results page of the database where the search bar has a hand lens as a search button, which is shaped differently than on the home page. The "browse all multicultural reports" goes to a new page for CultureGrams with the icon of a hand lens at the right of the search bar.


Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the result page one sees: Cite, email, save to my research are clustered in the top right of each result.
Confusingly, there are images of the icons across the top of the results list, which do not link to anything (they are not clickable), and these are cite, email, save to my research and the more options, and the alt text is for the group of icons saying: "Select results items first to use the cite email save and export options".
Once you open the article, the cluster becomes: download PDF, cite, copy URL, Print, all options

"browse all videos" takes one into a results page of the database where the search bar has a hand lens as a search button, which is shaped differently than on the home page.

Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the results page, the hand lens icon, in the top right corner, to open the collapsible search bar, has no alt text.
On the results page, there is a link that is multipurpose "save search/alert", which actually has a drop down arrow for "Create an RSS feed", and "get search link", as well as "save search" and "create alert".
Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Help buttons and contact info are consistent. Search fields vary depending on the context. Most search fields are in a light field at the top left of the screen, but "search tips" opens a popup with a search bar in a dark colour on the bottom left of the pane. There are up arrows to take the user back to the top of the pane when they have moved beyond the middle of the pane on the right side of the screen. The layout of the site pages varies. The button to send a search varies: on "basic search", it is the hand lens sign immediately right of the search bar field; on "advanced search", it is away from the search bar fields, underneath and to the right...a bit hard to find. Pressing "enter" will also send a search so this is less critical perhaps.
Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most search fields are in a light field at the top left of the screen, but "search tips" opens a popup with a search bar in a dark colour on the bottom left of the pane. The button to send a search varies: on basic search, it is the hand lens sign immediately right of the search bar field; on advanced search, it is away from the search bar fields, underneath and to the right...a bit hard to find. Pressing "enter" will also send a search so this is less critical perhaps.
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Help pages and contact information access is consistent.
"Search tips" and "recent searches" links are inconsistent. "Search tips" is under the search bar in the simple search, but it is a tab above the search bar in advanced search. It is similar for "recent searches".
Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the home page, the basic search bar has a hand lens icon as a search button, but there is a button that says "search" on the advanced page. "Publications" has a "search button". "Thesaurus" has a "find" button. "browse all videos" takes one into a results page of the database where the search bar has a hand lens as a search button, which is shaped differently than on the home page. The "browse all multicultural reports" goes to a new page for "CultureGrams" (The page is not titled "multicultural reports"), with the icon of a hand lens at the right of the search bar.
Does the electronic resource avoid the use of pop-up windows which open automatically in a new tab if a user clicks on a button?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Automatic new window pop ups include:
Search tips
Display selected items generates a popup as an error message, if the client has no selected items yet
Cite
Email
Sign in to my research

Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: "Sign into my research" pop up does not have an "X", so clients have to use the back button to leave the screen, or else perform the action.
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Several popups are not the same format as the home page, for example the Thesaurus, Field codes, and Search tips.
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the home page, H1 is not visible, H2 is "Popular videos" with unrelated content as H3: "Scholarly journals", "multicultural reports", and "view other content types". There is another H2, "more information" which is not a logical equivalent of "popular videos".
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some headings are unclear, for example "more information" does not mean much to me.
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the advanced search page, under the filter "document type", there are more than 60 items. The thesaurus requires three tab strokes for each item before proceding to the next item, and there are at least 50 items per page.
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Our database opens to the "advanced search" page by default. If we disregard the content of this page, and focus on the main navigation tools around this content, they do contain a reasonable number of menu items.
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The menus can be accessed, but it seems to be difficult to skip through the long menus; the user appears to be forced to scroll through all choices in one menu before they can proceed to the next one on the page.
Does the “results” page or item record view avoid opening in a new tab without a warning?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All filters on the left of the results page automatically update. There is no option to select multiple filters at once, or to confirm a choice before the change occurs.
Does the database avoid automatic redirection?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are you able to tab through a page using keyboard navigation without the keyboard focus moving away from the control?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
eResource: Nursing & Allied Health
eResource Type:
Vendor: ProQuest
Institution: Lambton
Score: C+

Labels and Instructions for Interactive Elements

Question Answer Notes Images
Are user input fields accompanied by clear instructions on what the user needs to do to successfully complete the form? Sometimes Search bar on the home page is not labeled. There is placeholder text in the search box. [There are good audible instructions for screen readers however.] Advanced search page search bar is not labeled. Sign in to my research page has icons rather than words for labels on blanks for email address and password, though there is placeholder text inside the boxes.
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above? Sometimes Home, Advanced Search, Sign in to my research, and Create an account pages all pass Wave and do not appear to be missing form labels. The contact us page generates two missing form labels indicators in Wave.
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand? Always When given, field descriptions are clear.
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field? Sometimes Some search boxes are labeled with icons rather than text labels. Search box labels are typically beside fields rather than above. Some search buttons are quite far from their primary field and not on the same horizontal plane, such as on the "advanced search" page, where the search button is half way down the page, and far to the right of the fields which align to the left of the screen. Even for a sighted person this is hard to find and to associate meaningfully with the search bars at the top of the page.
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available? Not Applicable There do not appear to be any coloured form labels.
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields? Always There are very few forms that have required fields, and thus few forms with asterisks. Pages for "Create an account" and "contact us" have asterisks.

Error Prevention

Question Answer Notes Images
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable. Sometimes There are check boxes in the advanced search. The "create an account" form ensures that entries are valid before it allows the user to continue. It does not, however, do a summary page that can be reviewed. These forms are not specifically designed to catch spelling or typing errors however. The system is concerned about the security/complexity of passwords, and whether the client has checked the "I have read the policy page" box (legalities), more than accessibility. For actual searches of the database, there is a "modify search" option at the top of the results page, which will bring the researcher back to the input page, without dumping the search string, which allows the researcher to access the string to edit, rather than starting from scratch. However, there is no confirmation before you send your first actual search.

Error Reports

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alert messages clearly visible to the user, either at the top of the form field, inline, or through a dialog box? Sometimes Error messages appear at the top of the form, but the form does not automatically scroll to the top when this happens, so the client may only notice that the action has not been completed, that they are stalled on the page. In the simple search, if a client mistypes, it will sometimes ask the client, "Did you mean X", but runs the search as is. The notice is at the top left, under the search bar, so I am not sure that even most clients notice it.
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix? Always The password field indicates how many characters, symbols, etc. must be in a password for it to be acceptable AFTER an inappropriate password has been attempted. Required fields that are unintentionally blank are named.
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error? Always
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission? Always
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order? Sometimes The error reports appear back at the top of the screen, which may be far from where the client has navigated to on a particular page. The sequence of error reports is however in order of the errors, as they occur while navigating the page from top to bottom.

Search function spell-check

Question Answer Notes Images
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms? Always In simple search, Deabetic brings up results for Diabetic, but more obscure spellings with zero results do not generate spelling suggestions. In advanced search, Deabetic yields zero results, but the database automatically searches for "diabetic", and says that it has done so: Your search for noft(deabetic) found no results. Showing results for noft(diabetic). When I typed "cornucopi", it found cornucopia. When I typed "Xexos", which has no equivalent, there was a notification "Your search for noft(Xexos) found 0 results. Search tips". That pane turned yellow orange, which might draw the attention of a sighted client, but this clue would not help a client with vision impairments. Clients are further prompted "You can set up an alert to be notified when new documents match this search, or modify your search and try again."

Functionality of Interactive Elements

Question Answer Notes Images
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site? Sometimes On the result page one sees: Cite, email, save to my research are clustered in the top right of each result. Confusingly, there are images of these icons (cite, email, save to my research, more options) across the top of the results list, which do not link to anything (they are not clickable). The alt text is for the group of icons says: "Select results items first to use the cite email save and export options". Once you open the article, the cluster changes to: download PDF, cite, copy URL, Print, all options The location of the option for "full text" and "PDF" is not always is exactly the same location relative to the rest of the record for an individual citation, because each option is not always present for a given citation. The place to click on a PDF option can change depending on how many format options are available.
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type? Sometimes On the results page, the hand lens icon, in the top right corner, to open the collapsible search bar, has no alt text Confusingly, there are images of the icons across the top of the results list, which are not immediately clickable. These icons represent "cite", "email", "save to my research", and "more options", just like the icons in the individual records listed in the results. The alt text for the group of icons says: "Select results items first to use the cite email save and export options". These icons become clickable when the client checkmarks a group of individual boxes of articles, or the checkbox at the top left of the pane, to select articles to cite, email, or save to my research. There is no obvious difference in the icon images to signify the difference in the action.
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”. Sometimes On the home page, the basic search bar has a hand lens icon as a search button, but there is a button that says "search" on the advanced page. "Publications" has a "search button". "Thesaurus" has a "find" button. "browse all videos" takes one into a results page of the database where the search bar has a hand lens as a search button, which is shaped differently than on the home page. The "browse all multicultural reports" goes to a new page for CultureGrams with the icon of a hand lens at the right of the search bar.
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent? Sometimes On the result page one sees: Cite, email, save to my research are clustered in the top right of each result. Confusingly, there are images of the icons across the top of the results list, which do not link to anything (they are not clickable), and these are cite, email, save to my research and the more options, and the alt text is for the group of icons saying: "Select results items first to use the cite email save and export options". Once you open the article, the cluster becomes: download PDF, cite, copy URL, Print, all options "browse all videos" takes one into a results page of the database where the search bar has a hand lens as a search button, which is shaped differently than on the home page.
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone? Sometimes On the results page, the hand lens icon, in the top right corner, to open the collapsible search bar, has no alt text. On the results page, there is a link that is multipurpose "save search/alert", which actually has a drop down arrow for "Create an RSS feed", and "get search link", as well as "save search" and "create alert".

Consistent Navigation

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages? Sometimes Help buttons and contact info are consistent. Search fields vary depending on the context. Most search fields are in a light field at the top left of the screen, but "search tips" opens a popup with a search bar in a dark colour on the bottom left of the pane. There are up arrows to take the user back to the top of the pane when they have moved beyond the middle of the pane on the right side of the screen. The layout of the site pages varies. The button to send a search varies: on "basic search", it is the hand lens sign immediately right of the search bar field; on "advanced search", it is away from the search bar fields, underneath and to the right...a bit hard to find. Pressing "enter" will also send a search so this is less critical perhaps.
Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website? Sometimes Most search fields are in a light field at the top left of the screen, but "search tips" opens a popup with a search bar in a dark colour on the bottom left of the pane. The button to send a search varies: on basic search, it is the hand lens sign immediately right of the search bar field; on advanced search, it is away from the search bar fields, underneath and to the right...a bit hard to find. Pressing "enter" will also send a search so this is less critical perhaps.
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website? Sometimes Help pages and contact information access is consistent. "Search tips" and "recent searches" links are inconsistent. "Search tips" is under the search bar in the simple search, but it is a tab above the search bar in advanced search. It is similar for "recent searches".
Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently? Sometimes On the home page, the basic search bar has a hand lens icon as a search button, but there is a button that says "search" on the advanced page. "Publications" has a "search button". "Thesaurus" has a "find" button. "browse all videos" takes one into a results page of the database where the search bar has a hand lens as a search button, which is shaped differently than on the home page. The "browse all multicultural reports" goes to a new page for "CultureGrams" (The page is not titled "multicultural reports"), with the icon of a hand lens at the right of the search bar.

Pop-up windows/Interruptions

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the electronic resource avoid the use of pop-up windows which open automatically in a new tab if a user clicks on a button? Sometimes Automatic new window pop ups include: Search tips Display selected items generates a popup as an error message, if the client has no selected items yet Cite Email Sign in to my research
Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded? Always
Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups? Sometimes "Sign into my research" pop up does not have an "X", so clients have to use the back button to leave the screen, or else perform the action.
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing? Sometimes Several popups are not the same format as the home page, for example the Thesaurus, Field codes, and Search tips.

Headers

Question Answer Notes Images
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately? Sometimes On the home page, H1 is not visible, H2 is "Popular videos" with unrelated content as H3: "Scholarly journals", "multicultural reports", and "view other content types". There is another H2, "more information" which is not a logical equivalent of "popular videos".
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading? Sometimes Some headings are unclear, for example "more information" does not mean much to me.

Menus

Question Answer Notes Images
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options? Sometimes On the advanced search page, under the filter "document type", there are more than 60 items. The thesaurus requires three tab strokes for each item before proceding to the next item, and there are at least 50 items per page.
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items? Always Our database opens to the "advanced search" page by default. If we disregard the content of this page, and focus on the main navigation tools around this content, they do contain a reasonable number of menu items.
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation? Always The menus can be accessed, but it seems to be difficult to skip through the long menus; the user appears to be forced to scroll through all choices in one menu before they can proceed to the next one on the page.

Change of context

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the “results” page or item record view avoid opening in a new tab without a warning? Always
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content? Never All filters on the left of the results page automatically update. There is no option to select multiple filters at once, or to confirm a choice before the change occurs.
Does the database avoid automatic redirection? Always

Change of Context: Focus

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus? Always
Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus? Always
Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus? Always
Are you able to tab through a page using keyboard navigation without the keyboard focus moving away from the control? Always
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