Assessment for Materials Science Collection by Northern - Module 4: Content

Submitted by splanej@northe… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: About 1/3 of PDFs, mostly older, but some recent PDFs are not searchable and/or extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: I did not encounter a PDF that was searchable but not extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: About 2/3rds of the PDFs were searchable and extractable.
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Alternate descriptions not provided.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes:
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Does the Read Out Loud function read the PDF in a logical way, preserving the order of the text and various sections?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Used Microsoft Edge read aloud. Read Aloud read everything between pages, including page number and volume number.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The probability of problematic elements varies, even among the newer PDFs.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There can be some slight blurriness when zoomed in.
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: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: They don't when the whole pdf is one image.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Alt text often, but not always, conveys the image in sufficient detail.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The PDFs from the early 2000s and before don't have bookmarks, the more recent ones do.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 2/3 of the videos had Closed or Open captions.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
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: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The video's are comprised of people sitting and talking, so this might be the reason that there is no described video.
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:
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
eResource: Materials Science Collection
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: ProQuest
Institution: Northern
Score: D+

Key Findings

Strengths

  • Videos have captions and audio descriptions/transcripts

Weaknesses

  • PDFs are searchable but not tagged

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Sometimes About 1/3 of PDFs, mostly older, but some recent PDFs are not searchable and/or extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never I did not encounter a PDF that was searchable but not extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Sometimes About 2/3rds of the PDFs were searchable and extractable.

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Never Alternate descriptions not provided.
Is primary language specified? Never
Is reliable character encoding provided? Sometimes
Are all page elements tagged? Never
Are list and table structure correct? Never

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? Sometimes Used Microsoft Edge read aloud. Read Aloud read everything between pages, including page number and volume number.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Sometimes The probability of problematic elements varies, even among the newer PDFs.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document? Always

Magnification

Question Answer Notes Images
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read? Sometimes There can be some slight blurriness when zoomed in.

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? Always
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Sometimes They don't when the whole pdf is one image.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Sometimes Alt text often, but not always, conveys the image in sufficient detail.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Never
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Never

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Sometimes The PDFs from the early 2000s and before don't have bookmarks, the more recent ones do.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Always

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Sometimes 2/3 of the videos had Closed or Open captions.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Always
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Always
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Always
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Always
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always

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? Never The video's are comprised of people sitting and talking, so this might be the reason that there is no described video.
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
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable
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