Assessment for Scott's Directories by OCLS - Module 1: Interface Appearance

Submitted by lurican@ocls.ca on
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: In order for one to find images, they have to navigate to the "Contact" page, where they will see three images of staff. On "About Scott's", there is a large photo of an advertisement at the bottom of the page. There are no images on the search/homepage.
Are there functional images embedded in the background?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There is a tutorial video that becomes enlarged or minimized when the window of the browser changes size.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: After running the website pages through Wave, it was noted that none of the images contain alternative text, which includes the staff images from the contact page, and the advertisement image from "About Scott's page". Additionally, the video also does not have alternative text.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The logo always has alternative text.
Are there icons where appropriate, such as icons to indicate PDF Full Text, Download, Folder, Citation, etc?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There are many icons that indicate the different purposes they have.
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The text is clear and readable. But, once the page is zoomed in at 200%, and someone clicks on the menu, the video covers a part of the search manager, so it becomes very confusing. The only way to see the entire menu is to zoom out.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The video tutorial button looks pixelated. The images, includes staff images and advertisement are clear and easy to see. The pop-up button for help is clear and not pixelated.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: On the search page, there is no horizontal scrolling. On the results page, users have to use horizontal scrolling to see the entire entry.
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No, none of the images and text pass the contrast test.
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: On the "account summary page", text is separated using white space, and it is easy to read. When looking at the "search" page, information is separated by borders.
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: When looking at the results page, one can see the back button, which when clicked, takes one back to the search criteria page. When clicking on links from the "About Scott's" page, the text that when clicked opens another page is blue, but it does not change colour after it is clicked. On the "search criteria" page, there are 'add' buttons, which indicate to add the word from the search bar. All action buttons have different colours, some are blue, some are white and some are orange, but no explanation why the colours are used.
Is there a choice embedded within the database that offers text to speech or read aloud options?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There are no text to speech or read aloud options available.
Using your mouse, is the clickable area around links and buttons large enough for users to see and activate easily?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The area around links and buttons is large enough for users to see and activate. But on the menu, one cannot click on "search manager", so it was confusing. The search buttons at the top of the page, such as "search criteria", "search results" are not clickable, unless information is added to perform a search.
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Yes, links and buttons are far apart for users to activate.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All links are functional.
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No links or buttons are accessible via keyboard navigation.
Can users pause carousel movement?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No, the website cannot be navigate using the keyboard. The only way to navigate the website is to use the mouse.
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The menu moves to the upper-right corner.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There is no overlapping.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: It is easier to navigate on a larger screen than a smaller screen, like a phone.
eResource: Scott's Directories
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: Scott's Directories
Institution: OCLS
Score: D-

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • Text and images do not meet contrast requirements
  • Some images contain a textual alternative
  • Some information is distorted when zoomed in at 200%
  • Some information is preserved at different screen resolutions

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Sometimes In order for one to find images, they have to navigate to the "Contact" page, where they will see three images of staff. On "About Scott's", there is a large photo of an advertisement at the bottom of the page. There are no images on the search/homepage.

Functional images embedded in the background

Question Answer Notes Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background? Always There is a tutorial video that becomes enlarged or minimized when the window of the browser changes size.

Presence of Icons

Question Answer Notes Images
Are there icons where appropriate, such as icons to indicate PDF Full Text, Download, Folder, Citation, etc? Always There are many icons that indicate the different purposes they have.

Alt Text

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never After running the website pages through Wave, it was noted that none of the images contain alternative text, which includes the staff images from the contact page, and the advertisement image from "About Scott's page". Additionally, the video also does not have alternative text.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always The logo always has alternative text.

Content Scaling

Question Answer Notes Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off? Sometimes The text is clear and readable. But, once the page is zoomed in at 200%, and someone clicks on the menu, the video covers a part of the search manager, so it becomes very confusing. The only way to see the entire menu is to zoom out.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%? Sometimes The video tutorial button looks pixelated. The images, includes staff images and advertisement are clear and easy to see. The pop-up button for help is clear and not pixelated.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%? Sometimes On the search page, there is no horizontal scrolling. On the results page, users have to use horizontal scrolling to see the entire entry.

Colour and Contrast

Question Answer Notes Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1? Never No, none of the images and text pass the contrast test.

Colour

Question Answer Notes Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents? Not Applicable
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)? Always On the "account summary page", text is separated using white space, and it is easy to read. When looking at the "search" page, information is separated by borders.
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action? Sometimes When looking at the results page, one can see the back button, which when clicked, takes one back to the search criteria page. When clicking on links from the "About Scott's" page, the text that when clicked opens another page is blue, but it does not change colour after it is clicked. On the "search criteria" page, there are 'add' buttons, which indicate to add the word from the search bar. All action buttons have different colours, some are blue, some are white and some are orange, but no explanation why the colours are used.

Text to speech

Question Answer Notes Images
Is there a choice embedded within the database that offers text to speech or read aloud options? Never There are no text to speech or read aloud options available.

Clustered Links

Question Answer Notes Images
Using your mouse, is the clickable area around links and buttons large enough for users to see and activate easily? Sometimes The area around links and buttons is large enough for users to see and activate. But on the menu, one cannot click on "search manager", so it was confusing. The search buttons at the top of the page, such as "search criteria", "search results" are not clickable, unless information is added to perform a search.
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate? Always Yes, links and buttons are far apart for users to activate.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)? Always All links are functional.
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation? Never No links or buttons are accessible via keyboard navigation.

Dynamic content

Question Answer Notes Images
Can users pause carousel movement? Not Applicable
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard? Never No, the website cannot be navigate using the keyboard. The only way to navigate the website is to use the mouse.

Liquid layout

Question Answer Notes Images
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap? Sometimes The menu moves to the upper-right corner.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions? Never There is no overlapping.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions? Sometimes It is easier to navigate on a larger screen than a smaller screen, like a phone.
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