Assessment for HeinOnline by St. Clair - Module 4: Content

Submitted by kdaigneau@stcl… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: All seven PDFs tested were not image only. The manual test was conducted and it passed the accessibility checker test.


Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: All seven PDFs tested are not locked. Text is searchable and extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: None of the PDFs reviewed have alternative text tagging.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Primary language is no specified. Though, many of the Canadian documents have both French and English.
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All seven PDFs reviewed failed character encoding test.
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: All of the page elements are not tagged. All seven PDFs failed the tagged PDF test. However, all passed the forms field tagged test and the multimedia tagged test.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: All documents reviewed failed this test in the accessibility checker.
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: Articles were read in a logical order, even though they are presented in columns.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: No issues have been encountered with the 'Read Out Loud' function reading excessive blank spaces as 'blank.' The feature effectively handles document content, reading sections and text in a logical order without skipping or unnecessarily announcing blank spaces.
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: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some images appear blurry when zoomed in to 250%, making readability difficult. This is especially noticeable in older legal documents, where the text quality may already be lower.
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Images are positioned in areas that flow with the documents and are easy to find.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Informative images in the documents reviewed do not contain appropriate alt text or other textual alternatives.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There are no images used as titles. The only image serving as a title is the HeinOnline logo, which includes text beneath it.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There are no rich images in any of the PDFs reviewed.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: All documents failed this test in the accessibility checker. Additionally, users cannot tab from one row to another; they must use the arrow keys to navigate through the tables. However, none of the reviewed documents contained any tables.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There are no tables found within the documents reviewed.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Though some of the PDFs passed the bookmark test. None of them actually had any bookmarks displayed in the panel.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No bookmarks appeared in the panel.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All videos reviewed have a closed captioning option. They are embedded and linked from the HeinOnline Youtube channel.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Users can turn on and off the closed captioning. It is in the same place – contained in the video playbar at the bottom. It is easily found like all other Youtube Videos
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All videos reviewed were typo-free and grammatically correct.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Captions are at the bottom of the video above the playbar.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All videos reviewed have captions fully in-sync with the narrator who is speaking them.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Transcripts for each video are available on the HeinOnline YouTube channel. However, they are not included with the videos in the HeinOnline training section of the database. While users can still access the transcripts, they must take an extra step to find them.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All videos have both a transcript provided on Youtube channel, with closed-captioning option, and subtitles.
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 include described video options or a text equivalent. However, each segment of the videos has chapter titles.
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: Videos do not have described video options or a text equivalent.
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: The version of HeinOnline that I have access to does not have the audio files available.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: The version of HeinOnline that I have access to does not have the audio files available.
eResource: HeinOnline
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: William S. Hein
Institution: St. Clair
Score: C

Key Findings

Strengths

  • Videos have captions and audio descriptions/transcripts

Weaknesses

  • PDFs are searchable but not tagged

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Never All seven PDFs tested were not image only. The manual test was conducted and it passed the accessibility checker test.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never All seven PDFs tested are not locked. Text is searchable and extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Always

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Never None of the PDFs reviewed have alternative text tagging.
Is primary language specified? Never Primary language is no specified. Though, many of the Canadian documents have both French and English.
Is reliable character encoding provided? Never All seven PDFs reviewed failed character encoding test.
Are all page elements tagged? Sometimes All of the page elements are not tagged. All seven PDFs failed the tagged PDF test. However, all passed the forms field tagged test and the multimedia tagged test.
Are list and table structure correct? Never All documents reviewed failed this test in the accessibility checker.

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 Articles were read in a logical order, even though they are presented in columns.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Always No issues have been encountered with the 'Read Out Loud' function reading excessive blank spaces as 'blank.' The feature effectively handles document content, reading sections and text in a logical order without skipping or unnecessarily announcing blank spaces.
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? Sometimes Some images appear blurry when zoomed in to 250%, making readability difficult. This is especially noticeable in older legal documents, where the text quality may already be lower.

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Always Images are positioned in areas that flow with the documents and are easy to find.

Alternative Description

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never Informative images in the documents reviewed do not contain appropriate alt text or other textual alternatives.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable There are no images used as titles. The only image serving as a title is the HeinOnline logo, which includes text beneath it.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable There are no rich images in any of the PDFs reviewed.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Not Applicable All documents failed this test in the accessibility checker. Additionally, users cannot tab from one row to another; they must use the arrow keys to navigate through the tables. However, none of the reviewed documents contained any tables.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Not Applicable There are no tables found within the documents reviewed.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Never Though some of the PDFs passed the bookmark test. None of them actually had any bookmarks displayed in the panel.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Never No bookmarks appeared in the panel.

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Always All videos reviewed have a closed captioning option. They are embedded and linked from the HeinOnline Youtube channel.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Always Users can turn on and off the closed captioning. It is in the same place – contained in the video playbar at the bottom. It is easily found like all other Youtube Videos
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Always All videos reviewed were typo-free and grammatically correct.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Always Captions are at the bottom of the video above the playbar.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Always All videos reviewed have captions fully in-sync with the narrator who is speaking them.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always Transcripts for each video are available on the HeinOnline YouTube channel. However, they are not included with the videos in the HeinOnline training section of the database. While users can still access the transcripts, they must take an extra step to find them.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always All videos have both a transcript provided on Youtube channel, with closed-captioning option, and subtitles.

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 include described video options or a text equivalent. However, each segment of the videos has chapter titles.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? Not Applicable Videos do not have described video options or a text equivalent.

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Not Applicable The version of HeinOnline that I have access to does not have the audio files available.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable The version of HeinOnline that I have access to does not have the audio files available.
Previous1234Finish