Assessment for British Online Archives by University of Toronto - Module 4: Content

Submitted by kimukimu.kim@m… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: As the resource is a primary source repository and not a journal articles repository, you are allowed to download only a portion of the primary source at a time.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes:
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The pdfs are digitized historical documents. As such, the texts are made searchable but the OCL function is not perfect and reads some texts wrong. Examples would be a long s (which looks like an f), and where the line/spacing is a bit off.
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Alternative text not applicable for this kind of resource.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes:
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Page elements not applicable for this type of resource.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Some of the sampled PDFs had lists and tables, but they failed the test because they are digitized historical documents, as mentioned above.
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: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The quality of Read Out Loud function depends on the layout of the digitized page, which is sometimes elaborately decorated using many fonts and is not ideal for machine recognition. Sometimes it reads out every problematic elements, such as "underscore underscore underscore underscore underscore ...".
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: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Digitized pages of historical documents--i.e. the position of images do not change.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Resource does not have articles with informative images.
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: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Resource does not have rich images.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Digitized documents--evaluation not applicable.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No tables; evaluation not applicable.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: PDFs created for the user-specified pages out of digitized historical documents. Pre-identified bookmarks do not exist.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No bookmarks for this type of documents.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos included in the resource.
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 included in the resource.
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 included in the resource.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos included in the resource.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos included in the resource.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos included in the resource.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No videos included in the resource.
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 included in the resource.
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 included in the resource.
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Resource does not contain audio files.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Resource does not contain audio files.
eResource: British Online Archives
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: Microform Academic Publishers
Institution: University of Toronto
Score: A-

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • PDFs are searchable but not tagged

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Never As the resource is a primary source repository and not a journal articles repository, you are allowed to download only a portion of the primary source at a time.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Always The pdfs are digitized historical documents. As such, the texts are made searchable but the OCL function is not perfect and reads some texts wrong. Examples would be a long s (which looks like an f), and where the line/spacing is a bit off.

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Not Applicable Alternative text not applicable for this kind of resource.
Is primary language specified? Never
Is reliable character encoding provided? Always
Are all page elements tagged? Not Applicable Page elements not applicable for this type of resource.
Are list and table structure correct? Not Applicable Some of the sampled PDFs had lists and tables, but they failed the test because they are digitized historical documents, as mentioned above.

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”? Sometimes The quality of Read Out Loud function depends on the layout of the digitized page, which is sometimes elaborately decorated using many fonts and is not ideal for machine recognition. Sometimes it reads out every problematic elements, such as "underscore underscore underscore underscore underscore ...".
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? Not Applicable Digitized pages of historical documents--i.e. the position of images do not change.

Alternative Description

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable Resource does not have articles with informative images.
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? Not Applicable Resource does not have rich images.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Not Applicable Digitized documents--evaluation not applicable.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Not Applicable No tables; evaluation not applicable.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Not Applicable PDFs created for the user-specified pages out of digitized historical documents. Pre-identified bookmarks do not exist.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Not Applicable No bookmarks for this type of documents.

Video Captions

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

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 included in the resource.
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 included in the resource.

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Not Applicable Resource does not contain audio files.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable Resource does not contain audio files.
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