Assessment for Sage Premier Journals by Durham - Module 4: Content

Submitted by trish.johns-wi… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: Six articles were checked and all were both searchable and extractable. The articles were from 1996, 2001, 2008, 2018, 2020 and 2024.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: All six articles checked were not locked.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All six articles checked were fully searchable.
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All six articles failed.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All six articles failed.
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Of the six articles checked, one (2020) failed to provide character encoding. Five articles (1996, 2001, 2008, 2018 and 2024) passed character encoding (but did fail on tagged content and tagged order though).
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All six articles failed in this area.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All six articles failed.
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: All articles stopped reading at the end of the first page, despite being set to read the full document. Several of the articles were fine with the reading order in general (including one where fulltext was in columns) but a few had issues with the order of items read usually at the start of the article e.g. journal info, citation, title, authors.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Several of the articles stopped at the end of the first page and one then said 'blank' when I manually moved it to the second page. A few read each line as a sentence (with a pause after) before dropping down to read the next line.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: For several of the articles, the up and down arrow keys worked, but the command functions did not.
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
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: Never
Score: 0
Notes: None of the articles checked had alt text for images.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No images used this way within the sample articles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No rich images within sample.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: A few of the articles checked had problems.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: A few of the articles checked had problems.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No bookmarks in the six articles examined.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos available in database.
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
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
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos
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 videos
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: No videos
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No audiofiles in database
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No audiofiles
eResource: Sage Premier Journals
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: SAGE
Institution: Durham
Score: F

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • PDFs are searchable but not tagged

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Never Six articles were checked and all were both searchable and extractable. The articles were from 1996, 2001, 2008, 2018, 2020 and 2024.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never All six articles checked were not locked.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Always All six articles checked were fully searchable.

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Never All six articles failed.
Is primary language specified? Never All six articles failed.
Is reliable character encoding provided? Sometimes Of the six articles checked, one (2020) failed to provide character encoding. Five articles (1996, 2001, 2008, 2018 and 2024) passed character encoding (but did fail on tagged content and tagged order though).
Are all page elements tagged? Never All six articles failed in this area.
Are list and table structure correct? Never All six articles failed.

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 All articles stopped reading at the end of the first page, despite being set to read the full document. Several of the articles were fine with the reading order in general (including one where fulltext was in columns) but a few had issues with the order of items read usually at the start of the article e.g. journal info, citation, title, authors.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Sometimes Several of the articles stopped at the end of the first page and one then said 'blank' when I manually moved it to the second page. A few read each line as a sentence (with a pause after) before dropping down to read the next line.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document? Sometimes For several of the articles, the up and down arrow keys worked, but the command functions did not.

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

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? Never None of the articles checked had alt text for images.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable No images used this way within the sample articles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable No rich images within sample.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Sometimes A few of the articles checked had problems.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Sometimes A few of the articles checked had problems.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Never
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Not Applicable No bookmarks in the six articles examined.

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Not Applicable No videos available in database.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Not Applicable No videos
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Not Applicable No videos
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Not Applicable No videos
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Not Applicable No videos
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable No videos
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 videos
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? Not Applicable No videos

Audio Accessibility

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