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

Submitted by kdaigneau@stcl… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: All five 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 five 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.
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: One of the five PDFs reviewed did pass the character-encoded accessibility checker test.
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most of the page elements are not tagged. However, three of the five PDFs have annotations tagged. All PDFs passed the multimedia and form fields tagged tests.
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 are read in a logical order, even though they are presented in columns. However, the reading speed is quite slow, and there does not appear to be an option to increase it.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The 'Read Out Loud' function does not appear to have issues with reading excessive blank spaces as 'blank.' It effectively handles document content, reading sections and text in a logical order without skipping or unnecessarily announcing blank spaces. However, when footnotes appear at the bottom of a column, they are read as part of that column before moving on to the next, which may affect the flow of reading.
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: At 250% zoom, all text, images, tables, and other elements remain clear and easy to read. The content retains its clarity and readability without distortion or loss of quality, ensuring accessibility at this zoom level. However, users will need to use the horizontal scroll bar to navigate across the page. One exception was an article analyzing images, where the images appeared blurry at various stages of evaluating image quality.
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 that are used as titles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Rich images in the documents reviewed do not contain appropriate alt text. However, many that are embedded in the article do have an accompany explanation of what is represented in a chart or graph.
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. Users also cannot tab from one row to another. They can only use the arrow keys to make their way through the tables.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There are no established table headers or tables found in any of the documents identified by the accessibility checker.
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 IEEE 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 easily turn closed captions on and off from the video playbar at the bottom, just like in other YouTube videos. The format and placement are consistent and familiar. Additionally, users can download a copy of the video, but the MP4 file does not include a closed-caption option.
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 reviewed videos have captions that are fully synchronized with the narrator's speech.







For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: A link is provided under each video, allowing users to download the transcript. However, some of these links do not work. Alternatively, users can access the transcripts through the IEEE YouTube channel.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: All videos have both a transcript provided, 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 have described video options or a text equivalent.
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: There are no audio files
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There are no audio files
eResource: IEEExplore
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: IEEE
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 five 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 five 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.
Is reliable character encoding provided? Sometimes One of the five PDFs reviewed did pass the character-encoded accessibility checker test.
Are all page elements tagged? Sometimes Most of the page elements are not tagged. However, three of the five PDFs have annotations tagged. All PDFs passed the multimedia and form fields tagged tests.
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 are read in a logical order, even though they are presented in columns. However, the reading speed is quite slow, and there does not appear to be an option to increase it.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Always The 'Read Out Loud' function does not appear to have issues with reading excessive blank spaces as 'blank.' It effectively handles document content, reading sections and text in a logical order without skipping or unnecessarily announcing blank spaces. However, when footnotes appear at the bottom of a column, they are read as part of that column before moving on to the next, which may affect the flow of reading.
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 At 250% zoom, all text, images, tables, and other elements remain clear and easy to read. The content retains its clarity and readability without distortion or loss of quality, ensuring accessibility at this zoom level. However, users will need to use the horizontal scroll bar to navigate across the page. One exception was an article analyzing images, where the images appeared blurry at various stages of evaluating image quality.

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 that are used as titles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Sometimes Rich images in the documents reviewed do not contain appropriate alt text. However, many that are embedded in the article do have an accompany explanation of what is represented in a chart or graph.

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. Users also cannot tab from one row to another. They can only use the arrow keys to make their way through the tables.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Never There are no established table headers or tables found in any of the documents identified by the accessibility checker.

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 IEEE Youtube channel.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Always Users can easily turn closed captions on and off from the video playbar at the bottom, just like in other YouTube videos. The format and placement are consistent and familiar. Additionally, users can download a copy of the video, but the MP4 file does not include a closed-caption option.
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 reviewed videos have captions that are fully synchronized with the narrator's speech.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always A link is provided under each video, allowing users to download the transcript. However, some of these links do not work. Alternatively, users can access the transcripts through the IEEE YouTube channel.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Always All videos have both a transcript provided, 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 have described video options or a text equivalent.
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 There are no audio files
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable There are no audio files
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