Assessment for ASME Standards by Durham - Module 4: Content

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Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Always
Score: 0
Notes: Unable to download PDF documents directly from the database; had to print to PDF. Checked three standards from 1991, 2003 and 2023. Unable to search or extract from any of the three. Screen reader (NVDA) unable to read any of the three (skipped right over full text).
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: See above
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: See above
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: None of the three standards checked had Figures alternate text
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: 'Passed'
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Tagged content and tab order failed in all three documents checked.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does the Read Out Loud function read the PDF in a logical way, preserving the order of the text and various sections?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There is no option to download PDFs in this database so must use the print to PDF option. However, the PDFs are image only and are not readable by Adobe.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: See note above
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: See note above
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: As mentioned above, downloading is not available in this database and the user must print to PDF. Resulting PDFs can be zoomed with no negative effects on content.
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Content was text-based - diagrams were included within content, but nothing was readable by screen reader.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: As noted above, print to PDF documents were image only - no alt text present.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: See above
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: See note above
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: See note above re: image only PDFs
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: See note above
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Image only PDFs - no bookmarks.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: See above
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos, no captions
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos, no captions
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos, no captions
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos, no captions
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos, no captions
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos
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: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No video content.
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: see above
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No audio content
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No audio content
eResource: ASME Standards
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Institution: Durham
Score: F

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • PDFs are not searchable and not tagged

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Always Unable to download PDF documents directly from the database; had to print to PDF. Checked three standards from 1991, 2003 and 2023. Unable to search or extract from any of the three. Screen reader (NVDA) unable to read any of the three (skipped right over full text).
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never See above
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Never See above

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Sometimes None of the three standards checked had Figures alternate text
Is primary language specified? Always 'Passed'
Is reliable character encoding provided? Always
Are all page elements tagged? Sometimes Tagged content and tab order failed in all three documents checked.
Are list and table structure correct? Always

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? Never There is no option to download PDFs in this database so must use the print to PDF option. However, the PDFs are image only and are not readable by Adobe.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Never See note above
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document? Never See note above

Magnification

Question Answer Notes Images
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read? Always As mentioned above, downloading is not available in this database and the user must print to PDF. Resulting PDFs can be zoomed with no negative effects on content.

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Not Applicable Content was text-based - diagrams were included within content, but nothing was readable by screen reader.

Alternative Description

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never As noted above, print to PDF documents were image only - no alt text present.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable See above
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never See note above

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Never See note above re: image only PDFs
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Not Applicable See note above

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Never Image only PDFs - no bookmarks.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Not Applicable See above

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Not Applicable No videos.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Not Applicable No videos, no captions
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Not Applicable No videos, no captions
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Not Applicable No videos, no captions
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Not Applicable No videos, no captions
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable No videos, no captions
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable No videos

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? Not Applicable No video content.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? Not Applicable see above

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Not Applicable No audio content
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable No audio content
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