Assessment for Libguides by St. Clair - Module 1: Interface Appearance

Submitted by kdaigneau@stcl… on
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Libguides from various colleges were evaluated. Due to the customizable ability of library guides, libraries get to structure, organize, and make decisions on the front-facing appearance of each guide and page.
Are there functional images embedded in the background?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Functional images do not become misaligned when the width and height of the browser is changed. Not applicable was used for this answer as it is the best option to describe the outcome and this will not negatively affect the score.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All informative images contain appropriate alt text that succinctly describes the essential information conveyed by the images, ensuring accessibility for users relying on screen readers or unable to view the images.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All functional images within the contain appropriate alt text or an adjacent textual alternative, ensuring that all users can understand the purpose of the image and interact with buttons or links effectively. Library staff that maintain these guides have the option to put in the alt text for the images as part of the customizable features.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The logos for each college libguides assessed contain appropriate alt text.
Are there icons where appropriate, such as icons to indicate PDF Full Text, Download, Folder, Citation, etc?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Icons, if libraries included them in the guides, are appropriate and consistently placed.
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Text remains intact, readable, and is not cut off when zoomed in at 200%, ensuring a consistent and accessible reading experience for all users.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All types of images, including informational, functional (e.g., icons), and images used as text, remain the same level of clarity and pixelated zoomed in at 200% as they are at normal scale. Some images are blurry, unclear, and pixelated due to the image that has been uploaded.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Horizontal scrolling is always minimized at 200%, ensuring a smoother and more accessible browsing experience for all users. There are two navigational layout views to choose from, side-layout and tab-layout. In both cases, when zoomed at 200%, the tabs for other pages in the guide will appear first and the information aligns into one column.
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: While the contrast ratio for images generally meets the requirement, there are instances of low contrast between text and background colours, indicating some areas where improvement may be needed for accessibility. Some of the college libguides had these contrast errors. These errors are not a direct issue from the database but rather the institution creating the guide and can be easily fixable.
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There are resources posted on some of the libguides that do contain a text equivalent for colour code graphs. Important to note that many of the resources that are linked or included in libguides may not be created by the library but are from other organizations.
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Blocks of content are consistently separated from one another using visual separation, such as whitespace or borders
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Text alternatives are always provided where colour is used to indicate an action. In some cases, if it is a button the text appears below rather than embedded in the button.
Is there a choice embedded within the database that offers text to speech or read aloud options?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There is not an embedded text-to-speech or read aloud option embedded into the Library Guides.
Using your mouse, is the clickable area around links and buttons large enough for users to see and activate easily?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The clickable area around links and buttons is always large enough for users to see and activate easily, ensuring a smooth user experience.
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Links and buttons are always spaced far enough apart for users to accurately activate them when using a mouse.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most of the links and buttons are fictional. However, there are some links that lead to webpages that no longer exist or website has moved. In these cases, it is not the problem of the vendor Lipapps or the product, but an issue with the links not being updated by the library staff that created the guide.
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Links and buttons are always accessible via keyboard navigation.
Can users pause carousel movement?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Staff that build and maintain their library guides have the option to build a carousel within the guide or embed one from other applications such as syndetics. With the built-in carousel (called galleries), the library staff can decide the speed and setup of the carousels. In both options, users viewing the published library guide can pause or scroll through the carousel.
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Yes, it is essential to ensure that all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, is always operable by keyboard for accessibility compliance.
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The order of the text is always preserved at all screen resolutions, without any overlap.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Images consistently avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The overall reading experience is always preserved at all screen resolutions.
eResource: Libguides
eResource Type: Website
Vendor: Other
Institution: St. Clair
Score: A

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Sometimes Libguides from various colleges were evaluated. Due to the customizable ability of library guides, libraries get to structure, organize, and make decisions on the front-facing appearance of each guide and page.

Functional images embedded in the background

Question Answer Notes Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background? Not Applicable Functional images do not become misaligned when the width and height of the browser is changed. Not applicable was used for this answer as it is the best option to describe the outcome and this will not negatively affect the score.

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 Icons, if libraries included them in the guides, are appropriate and consistently placed.

Alt Text

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always All informative images contain appropriate alt text that succinctly describes the essential information conveyed by the images, ensuring accessibility for users relying on screen readers or unable to view the images.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always All functional images within the contain appropriate alt text or an adjacent textual alternative, ensuring that all users can understand the purpose of the image and interact with buttons or links effectively. Library staff that maintain these guides have the option to put in the alt text for the images as part of the customizable features.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always The logos for each college libguides assessed contain appropriate alt text.

Content Scaling

Question Answer Notes Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off? Always Text remains intact, readable, and is not cut off when zoomed in at 200%, ensuring a consistent and accessible reading experience for all users.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%? Always All types of images, including informational, functional (e.g., icons), and images used as text, remain the same level of clarity and pixelated zoomed in at 200% as they are at normal scale. Some images are blurry, unclear, and pixelated due to the image that has been uploaded.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%? Always Horizontal scrolling is always minimized at 200%, ensuring a smoother and more accessible browsing experience for all users. There are two navigational layout views to choose from, side-layout and tab-layout. In both cases, when zoomed at 200%, the tabs for other pages in the guide will appear first and the information aligns into one column.

Colour and Contrast

Question Answer Notes Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1? Sometimes While the contrast ratio for images generally meets the requirement, there are instances of low contrast between text and background colours, indicating some areas where improvement may be needed for accessibility. Some of the college libguides had these contrast errors. These errors are not a direct issue from the database but rather the institution creating the guide and can be easily fixable.

Colour

Question Answer Notes Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents? Always There are resources posted on some of the libguides that do contain a text equivalent for colour code graphs. Important to note that many of the resources that are linked or included in libguides may not be created by the library but are from other organizations.
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)? Always Blocks of content are consistently separated from one another using visual separation, such as whitespace or borders
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action? Always Text alternatives are always provided where colour is used to indicate an action. In some cases, if it is a button the text appears below rather than embedded in the button.

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 is not an embedded text-to-speech or read aloud option embedded into the Library Guides.

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? Always The clickable area around links and buttons is always large enough for users to see and activate easily, ensuring a smooth user experience.
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate? Always Links and buttons are always spaced far enough apart for users to accurately activate them when using a mouse.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)? Sometimes Most of the links and buttons are fictional. However, there are some links that lead to webpages that no longer exist or website has moved. In these cases, it is not the problem of the vendor Lipapps or the product, but an issue with the links not being updated by the library staff that created the guide.
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation? Always Links and buttons are always accessible via keyboard navigation.

Dynamic content

Question Answer Notes Images
Can users pause carousel movement? Always Staff that build and maintain their library guides have the option to build a carousel within the guide or embed one from other applications such as syndetics. With the built-in carousel (called galleries), the library staff can decide the speed and setup of the carousels. In both options, users viewing the published library guide can pause or scroll through the carousel.
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard? Always Yes, it is essential to ensure that all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, is always operable by keyboard for accessibility compliance.

Liquid layout

Question Answer Notes Images
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap? Always The order of the text is always preserved at all screen resolutions, without any overlap.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions? Always Images consistently avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions? Always The overall reading experience is always preserved at all screen resolutions.
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