Assessment for Communication & Mass Media Complete by Georgian - Module 4: Content

Submitted by Jen.Booth@Geor… on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There seems to have been considerable effort to digitize and OCR PDFs as far back as the 1980s, but some articles are still image only.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes:
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Digital first and digitized PDFs are searchable. Likely about 75% of PDFs are searchable, the remaining image-only pdfs are not. However, all articles are presented as HTML/text in the database before PDF, and the PDF is a download option. So, the text version can still be used.
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Unclear. Most PDFs are "machine generated" text versions of the articles. Text is fully readable/searchable/etc but images are not included.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Failed in all sample articles image-only & digital PDF.
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Flag for character encoding is passed in all samples, but the image-based pdf is obviously not going to meet this requirement.
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Tagging failed on all sample PDFs.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: No examples in sample PDFs.
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: Digital PDFs are structured in a plain text format that reads nicely with Read Out Loud and will also work reliably with most screenreaders. Image only PDFs can't be read out loud.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
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: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Works for digital PDFs, not as good for image based PDFS.
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Scanned PDFs that are image based are hit and miss in terms of how images appear. Digital PDFs are in a consistent, text-only format, so they don't contain images.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Images are only present in scanned/image only PDFs. Digital PDFs are plain text.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Images are only present in scanned/image only PDFs. Digital PDFs are plain text.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Images are only present in scanned/image only PDFs. Digital PDFs are plain text.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The only tables encountered are plain text in the main database, so the PDF download is the same. Untagged text with columns created by spacing/tabs.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No structure to PDF tables/html tables, written as text-based.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Not visible.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Not visible.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Even very old content (1976) appears to have captions.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Standard looking embedded video player.
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Sample videos all had accurate captions.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: In some older videos, the captions occasionally seemed to overlay over top of a timer or countdown. It didn't seem to cause issue, but there could be potential in other videos for important info to be obscured by the captions.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Seemed accurate and well timed, even on older videos.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Newer videos seem to have transcripts, but not the very old content.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: not encountered in this sample.
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: Captions/transcripts but actual described video not present.
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 described video.
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Noted below on same page for newer videos.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
eResource: Communication & Mass Media Complete
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: EBSCO
Institution: Georgian
Score: F

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • Some audio has transcripts

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Sometimes There seems to have been considerable effort to digitize and OCR PDFs as far back as the 1980s, but some articles are still image only.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Sometimes Digital first and digitized PDFs are searchable. Likely about 75% of PDFs are searchable, the remaining image-only pdfs are not. However, all articles are presented as HTML/text in the database before PDF, and the PDF is a download option. So, the text version can still be used.

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Never Unclear. Most PDFs are "machine generated" text versions of the articles. Text is fully readable/searchable/etc but images are not included.
Is primary language specified? Never Failed in all sample articles image-only & digital PDF.
Is reliable character encoding provided? Sometimes Flag for character encoding is passed in all samples, but the image-based pdf is obviously not going to meet this requirement.
Are all page elements tagged? Never Tagging failed on all sample PDFs.
Are list and table structure correct? Sometimes No examples in sample PDFs.

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 Digital PDFs are structured in a plain text format that reads nicely with Read Out Loud and will also work reliably with most screenreaders. Image only PDFs can't be read out loud.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Never
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 Works for digital PDFs, not as good for image based PDFS.

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Sometimes Scanned PDFs that are image based are hit and miss in terms of how images appear. Digital PDFs are in a consistent, text-only format, so they don't contain images.

Alternative Description

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never Images are only present in scanned/image only PDFs. Digital PDFs are plain text.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never Images are only present in scanned/image only PDFs. Digital PDFs are plain text.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never Images are only present in scanned/image only PDFs. Digital PDFs are plain text.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Never The only tables encountered are plain text in the main database, so the PDF download is the same. Untagged text with columns created by spacing/tabs.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Never No structure to PDF tables/html tables, written as text-based.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Never Not visible.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Never Not visible.

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Always Even very old content (1976) appears to have captions.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Always Standard looking embedded video player.
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Always Sample videos all had accurate captions.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Sometimes In some older videos, the captions occasionally seemed to overlay over top of a timer or countdown. It didn't seem to cause issue, but there could be potential in other videos for important info to be obscured by the captions.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Always Seemed accurate and well timed, even on older videos.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Sometimes Newer videos seem to have transcripts, but not the very old content.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable not encountered in this sample.

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 Captions/transcripts but actual described video not present.
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 described video.

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Sometimes Noted below on same page for newer videos.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Always
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