Assessment for Africa Commons by University of Toronto - Module 4: Content

Submitted by allie.landy@ma… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: For news articles and digitized documents, pdf downloads are image only. For books, journals, and articles, most PDFs are searchable and extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: PDFs that are searchable are also extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some items have alternative descriptions, but they are not always available.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most PDFs did not have a primary language indicated, but it varies based on the platform the database redirects to.
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: PDFs have all or most page elements tagged.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: When present, tables are inconsistently structured. This inconsistency seems to come from the external platforms that Africa Commons redirects users through to access downloadable content.
Does the Read Out Loud function read the PDF in a logical way, preserving the order of the text and various sections?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
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: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Image placement varies based on resource type and provider. They are mostly placed prominently within the body of text in books, journal articles, and documents.
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: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Images are not used as titles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: In some cases, tables are read down columns or lacking in-text summaries. Tables are not commonly used.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Tables, when they occur, have clear headers.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most PDFs do not have bookmarks. Some have bookmarks for each chapter.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: When present, bookmarks link to the appropriate place.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some videos have subtitle/captions available, but most do not.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Captions need to be turned on. The media player has an icon to select captions.
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: When present, captions are well formatted.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: In most cases, captions appear at the bottom of the screen and occasionally obscure visuals.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: When available, captions are synced with spoken words.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: When captions are available, they are available in a text transcript file.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some videos without captions do provide a transcript, but many do not.
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: Videos do not have described video or text descriptions.
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: Described video is not available.
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Many audio clips do not have a text transcript. Those that do are obvious and relatively straightforward to access.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
eResource: Africa Commons
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: Other
Institution: University of Toronto
Score: B

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • Some audio has transcripts
  • PDFs are searchable but not tagged
  • Videos do not have audio descriptions/transcription or captions

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Sometimes For news articles and digitized documents, pdf downloads are image only. For books, journals, and articles, most PDFs are searchable and extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never PDFs that are searchable are also extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Always

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Sometimes Some items have alternative descriptions, but they are not always available.
Is primary language specified? Sometimes Most PDFs did not have a primary language indicated, but it varies based on the platform the database redirects to.
Is reliable character encoding provided? Always
Are all page elements tagged? Sometimes PDFs have all or most page elements tagged.
Are list and table structure correct? Sometimes When present, tables are inconsistently structured. This inconsistency seems to come from the external platforms that Africa Commons redirects users through to access downloadable content.

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? Always
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Always
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? Always

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Sometimes Image placement varies based on resource type and provider. They are mostly placed prominently within the body of text in books, journal articles, and documents.

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? Not Applicable Images are not used as titles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Sometimes In some cases, tables are read down columns or lacking in-text summaries. Tables are not commonly used.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Always Tables, when they occur, have clear headers.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Sometimes Most PDFs do not have bookmarks. Some have bookmarks for each chapter.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Always When present, bookmarks link to the appropriate place.

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Sometimes Some videos have subtitle/captions available, but most do not.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Always Captions need to be turned on. The media player has an icon to select captions.
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Always When present, captions are well formatted.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Sometimes In most cases, captions appear at the bottom of the screen and occasionally obscure visuals.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Always When available, captions are synced with spoken words.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always When captions are available, they are available in a text transcript file.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Sometimes Some videos without captions do provide a transcript, but many do not.

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 Videos do not have described video or text descriptions.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? Not Applicable Described video is not available.

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Sometimes Many audio clips do not have a text transcript. Those that do are obvious and relatively straightforward to access.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Always
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