Assessment for Criterion-on-Demand 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: There are forms at: "Title suggestions", "Technical support" and "Contact us"

Search bars are either unlabeled or only given a title (rather than a label).
"Send" button on forms does not seem to be attached to a label, or the label is blank.
Most fields are appropriately labelled, according to WAVE.
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are forms at: "Title suggestions", "Technical support" and "Contact us"

Search bars are either unlabeled or only given a title (rather than a label)
"Send" button on forms does not seem to be attached to a label, or the label is blank.
Most fields are appropriately labelled, according to WAVE.
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Descriptions of fields and boxes are easy to understand, with the exception of the "Title suggestions" form, which is not easily accessible for ANY user.
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the Technical support page, the labels for the "Verify you are a human" Recaptcha and "Difficulties you are experiencing?" are listed by WAVE as "orphaned form label": A form label is present, but it is not correctly associated with a form control. A similar error is present with the "Verify you are a human" on the "Contact us" form page.

Are text cues for coloured form control labels available?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No coloured form control labels identified.
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are asterisks on the "Title Suggestions", "Technical suppport" and "Contact us" form, but there is nothing on these pages that explains that this symbol means that a given field is required. If fields with asterisks are not filled in, and the user clicks send, the system generates a "please complete all required fields" message and highlights in red text with instructions the specific fields which must be corrected.
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable.
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Forms are checked. There is a reset button and a send button on the forms for Technical support and contact us, but there is only a send button for the Title suggestion form.
Are alert messages clearly visible to the user, either at the top of the form field, inline, or through a dialog box?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
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:
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: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The verify you are a human Recaptcha resets when the client has made an error entering another field. The verification field is NOT highlighted as needing to be re-entered, which in turn generates an error that DOES identify the Recaptcha re-entry requirement.
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: I tried "capot" and it did not find Capote. The database does contain the film "Capote".
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: This is almost a Not applicable. There are very few icons across the site.

There is a search bar on the home page, and an advanced search on the bottom of each genre in the "top subjects" list. The search bars have a button that says "search", and the advanced search has a button that says "submit".
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are very few icons in this electronic resource. There are buttons for "play", but these do not appear to be labeled, and the resources they link to are not differentiated with alt text.

There are links to social media on some pages. These are labeled with alt text, though they still have the old logo for Twitter up.
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”.
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are very few icons in this electronic resource. There are buttons for "play", but these do not appear to be labeled, and the resources they link to are not differentiated with alt text.

Some forms have a "send" button paired with a "reset" button, but not all.
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The play icons are next to differentiated links to videos. For example one "play" icon will be for an English closed captioned track, while another "play" icon may be for the French audio with English subtitles.
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are some links that appear to be mis-matched. For example, on the "Technical support" page, there is a generic sounding "click here" link, in a sentence that says "Click here to Log In to Criterion-on-Demand", but this link actually takes the client to the "top subjects" page, not a log in page. There are TWO "click here" links on the Technical support page, which go to different places.

Under "why Criterion", in the hidden drop down text section "customization", there is another "click here" link in a phrase which says "Can't Find a Title? Request It by Clicking Here", which goes to the Title suggestions page, which as previously described, quickly skips to a pop up which ISN'T the suggestions form, and takes ten more seconds to actually load the suggestions form.

There are various ways to get to the Contact us page, through links that say Contact us and/or Submit an inquiry. The actual contact us page has "help" at the top...the phrase "contact us" comes later down the page.

There are two "learn more" links on the home page. The first one takes the client to the "top subjects" page, which doesn't seem to be related to the content it came from on the first page. I was expecting more company information perhaps, or some statistics about the collection maybe, not the page to browse the collection. I suspect that there is an orphan page...



Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There is a link at the top of the home page to toggle between English and French versions of the page, but this disappears from the other pages. It is not present on the "top subject" page that our own college links to as the entry point to the database.

The ribbon menu across the top of the screen is fairly consistent, with access to technical support and contact us.

There is a "back to the top" button on the home page, but it is missing from the "top subjects" page

The "top subjects" page has a very handy collection of links at the bottom of the screen for resources such as "films by rating" and "future withdrawals", which are in a location that usually is for links like "contact us"...These links are effectively lost except to the intrepid, and bury the usual links someone might look for at the bottom of these pages like "terms of use". Note that OTHER pages have something else at the the bottom of the screen that is missing on this page. The other pages have links to Terms of use, cookies and privacy...

Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Home: in top right
About: in top right
Why: top right
top subjects: upper left, and bottom of the page
results page: no search bar at top, but yes bottom of the page
item page: no search bar at all...must either use back button or click tiny link on bottom menu for "Quick search"
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There is a link at the top of the home page to toggle between English and French versions of the page, but this disappears from the other pages. It is not present on the "top subject" page that our own college links to as the entry point to the database.

There are multiple places on some pages to access the "contact us" form.

There is a "back to the top" button on the home page, but it is missing from the "top subjects" page
Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some buttons are labelled "send", others "submit", others "search"

Contact us is variously connected with: "submit an inquiry", "contact us" tab, "email us" link from the contact us page

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: If the user clicks on the ribbon menu item "about criterion on demand" and then in the drop down list selects "title suggestions", a pop up on a ten second timer appears immediately over top of the form that is actually the "title suggestions page".
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: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There is a pop up on the page for "title suggestions". There isn't an "x" button to close it before the ten seconds on its timer is up.
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Pages always launch in the same window, with the usual browser controls.
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There are headings but they are not consistently and logically applied...they appear to have more to do with the font size than the organization of the page.
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Heading values do not have to do with the organization of the material.
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Keyboard navigation: The drop down menus attached to the ribbon tabs are accessible with the keyboard by tabbing, but do not display like they do when a mouse clicks on a tab. It is hard to know what has received focus unless one sees the address listed at the bottom of the screen. alt+down doesn't work. Arrow keys do not work.

Screen reader NVDA: I was unable to find a way to open these tabs (without the mouse) when using NVDA.
Does the “results” page or item record view avoid opening in a new tab without a warning?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The tab you are in stays the same and the results page loads into that same tab.
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: This isn't an information database.
Does the database avoid automatic redirection?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There are redirects with regard to "Clipshout" products from the top subjects pages, but you have to click on a link to Clipshout to have that happen; the redirects are not automatic.
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Forms do not submit unless a button is selected.
Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: New windows do not launch unless a component is selected.
Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: When we mouse over the choices in the drop down menus under the ribbon tab menu, the page does not automatically resolve to that subpage. It is however hard to tell that these sub menu drop down menus are receiving focus at all, when tabbing.
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: Criterion-on-Demand
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: Criterion Pictures
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 There are forms at: "Title suggestions", "Technical support" and "Contact us" Search bars are either unlabeled or only given a title (rather than a label). "Send" button on forms does not seem to be attached to a label, or the label is blank. Most fields are appropriately labelled, according to WAVE.
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above? Sometimes There are forms at: "Title suggestions", "Technical support" and "Contact us" Search bars are either unlabeled or only given a title (rather than a label) "Send" button on forms does not seem to be attached to a label, or the label is blank. Most fields are appropriately labelled, according to WAVE.
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand? Always Descriptions of fields and boxes are easy to understand, with the exception of the "Title suggestions" form, which is not easily accessible for ANY user.
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field? Sometimes On the Technical support page, the labels for the "Verify you are a human" Recaptcha and "Difficulties you are experiencing?" are listed by WAVE as "orphaned form label": A form label is present, but it is not correctly associated with a form control. A similar error is present with the "Verify you are a human" on the "Contact us" form page.
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available? Not Applicable No coloured form control labels identified.
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields? Sometimes There are asterisks on the "Title Suggestions", "Technical suppport" and "Contact us" form, but there is nothing on these pages that explains that this symbol means that a given field is required. If fields with asterisks are not filled in, and the user clicks send, the system generates a "please complete all required fields" message and highlights in red text with instructions the specific fields which must be corrected.

Error Prevention

Question Answer Notes Images
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable. Always Forms are checked. There is a reset button and a send button on the forms for Technical support and contact us, but there is only a send button for the Title suggestion form.

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? Always
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix? Always
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? Always The verify you are a human Recaptcha resets when the client has made an error entering another field. The verification field is NOT highlighted as needing to be re-entered, which in turn generates an error that DOES identify the Recaptcha re-entry requirement.

Search function spell-check

Question Answer Notes Images
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms? Never I tried "capot" and it did not find Capote. The database does contain the film "Capote".

Functionality of Interactive Elements

Question Answer Notes Images
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site? Sometimes This is almost a Not applicable. There are very few icons across the site. There is a search bar on the home page, and an advanced search on the bottom of each genre in the "top subjects" list. The search bars have a button that says "search", and the advanced search has a button that says "submit".
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type? Sometimes There are very few icons in this electronic resource. There are buttons for "play", but these do not appear to be labeled, and the resources they link to are not differentiated with alt text. There are links to social media on some pages. These are labeled with alt text, though they still have the old logo for Twitter up.
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”. Sometimes There are very few icons in this electronic resource. There are buttons for "play", but these do not appear to be labeled, and the resources they link to are not differentiated with alt text. Some forms have a "send" button paired with a "reset" button, but not all.
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent? Sometimes The play icons are next to differentiated links to videos. For example one "play" icon will be for an English closed captioned track, while another "play" icon may be for the French audio with English subtitles.
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone? Sometimes There are some links that appear to be mis-matched. For example, on the "Technical support" page, there is a generic sounding "click here" link, in a sentence that says "Click here to Log In to Criterion-on-Demand", but this link actually takes the client to the "top subjects" page, not a log in page. There are TWO "click here" links on the Technical support page, which go to different places. Under "why Criterion", in the hidden drop down text section "customization", there is another "click here" link in a phrase which says "Can't Find a Title? Request It by Clicking Here", which goes to the Title suggestions page, which as previously described, quickly skips to a pop up which ISN'T the suggestions form, and takes ten more seconds to actually load the suggestions form. There are various ways to get to the Contact us page, through links that say Contact us and/or Submit an inquiry. The actual contact us page has "help" at the top...the phrase "contact us" comes later down the page. There are two "learn more" links on the home page. The first one takes the client to the "top subjects" page, which doesn't seem to be related to the content it came from on the first page. I was expecting more company information perhaps, or some statistics about the collection maybe, not the page to browse the collection. I suspect that there is an orphan page...

Consistent Navigation

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages? Sometimes There is a link at the top of the home page to toggle between English and French versions of the page, but this disappears from the other pages. It is not present on the "top subject" page that our own college links to as the entry point to the database. The ribbon menu across the top of the screen is fairly consistent, with access to technical support and contact us. There is a "back to the top" button on the home page, but it is missing from the "top subjects" page The "top subjects" page has a very handy collection of links at the bottom of the screen for resources such as "films by rating" and "future withdrawals", which are in a location that usually is for links like "contact us"...These links are effectively lost except to the intrepid, and bury the usual links someone might look for at the bottom of these pages like "terms of use". Note that OTHER pages have something else at the the bottom of the screen that is missing on this page. The other pages have links to Terms of use, cookies and privacy...
Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website? Sometimes Home: in top right About: in top right Why: top right top subjects: upper left, and bottom of the page results page: no search bar at top, but yes bottom of the page item page: no search bar at all...must either use back button or click tiny link on bottom menu for "Quick search"
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website? Sometimes There is a link at the top of the home page to toggle between English and French versions of the page, but this disappears from the other pages. It is not present on the "top subject" page that our own college links to as the entry point to the database. There are multiple places on some pages to access the "contact us" form. There is a "back to the top" button on the home page, but it is missing from the "top subjects" page
Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently? Sometimes Some buttons are labelled "send", others "submit", others "search" Contact us is variously connected with: "submit an inquiry", "contact us" tab, "email us" link from the contact us page

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 If the user clicks on the ribbon menu item "about criterion on demand" and then in the drop down list selects "title suggestions", a pop up on a ten second timer appears immediately over top of the form that is actually the "title suggestions page".
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? Never There is a pop up on the page for "title suggestions". There isn't an "x" button to close it before the ten seconds on its timer is up.
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing? Always Pages always launch in the same window, with the usual browser controls.

Headers

Question Answer Notes Images
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately? Never There are headings but they are not consistently and logically applied...they appear to have more to do with the font size than the organization of the page.
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading? Never Heading values do not have to do with the organization of the material.

Menus

Question Answer Notes Images
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options? Always
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items? Always
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation? Sometimes Keyboard navigation: The drop down menus attached to the ribbon tabs are accessible with the keyboard by tabbing, but do not display like they do when a mouse clicks on a tab. It is hard to know what has received focus unless one sees the address listed at the bottom of the screen. alt+down doesn't work. Arrow keys do not work. Screen reader NVDA: I was unable to find a way to open these tabs (without the mouse) when using NVDA.

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 The tab you are in stays the same and the results page loads into that same tab.
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content? Not Applicable This isn't an information database.
Does the database avoid automatic redirection? Always There are redirects with regard to "Clipshout" products from the top subjects pages, but you have to click on a link to Clipshout to have that happen; the redirects are not automatic.

Change of Context: Focus

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus? Always Forms do not submit unless a button is selected.
Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus? Always New windows do not launch unless a component is selected.
Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus? Always When we mouse over the choices in the drop down menus under the ribbon tab menu, the page does not automatically resolve to that subpage. It is however hard to tell that these sub menu drop down menus are receiving focus at all, when tabbing.
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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