Assessment for Business Source Premier by Lambton - Module 3: Interface Structure

Submitted by Michelle.Koski… on
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text, or from the link text together with its surrounding context?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: advanced search page:
Filters list contains headings: "Publication" and "Publication type" are hard at a glance to differentiate ["publication" could instead read "publication title"], "Publication type" and "Document type" have overlapping subheadings such as "Book".
results page: There is a heading similar to "document type" and "publication type" on the results page: "source type"; the filter for publication date is defaulting to "All time" and there is no custom range from this drop down list.
item record 1: Under the main entry for the article is a section with tabs "details" and "publication contents". Details is metadata, which is fine to me. "Publications contents" seems to be a list of references cited by the article...which might be clearer if labelled "References"
bookmark pages: no issues
Can keyboard focus be moved to all page elements?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: Tab and arrow keys are all that are needed.
Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
When using a keyboard to navigate the interface, is the keyboard focus indicator visible?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: It is frequently difficult to figure out where the focus has gone to, as highlighting is either absent or very subtle.
Does all interactive functionality work via keyboard, and does it behave consistently and as expected?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does focus order move sequentially across form fields?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There is a link at the bottom of the page to go up the top of the page.
There is another visible skip link that appears if the user has a screen reader, such as NVDA, which says "skip to advanced search page"

Invisible skip links: None
Are skip links visible or invisible?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There is one skip link visible to all users to return to the top of the page.
There are additional skip links that are visible to users with a screen reader, to skip from the left pane containing "My dashboard" content, to the main pane, with to the advanced search page search bars, or the results in the results pane, for example.
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: One link present is the one to return to the top of the page, which is logically placed at the bottom of the page.

The other skip link identified is positioned prominently at the beginning of the column for My Dashboard, when the user is initially brought to the advanced search page pane. A similar skip link is present on other pages, such as the results page, to move from the pane for My Dashboard to the "results" pane.

Are skip links labelled properly?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There is no alt text for the skip link to return to the top of the page.
Skip links to move from the My Dashboard pane to the main content pane are well labelled.
Are skip links accessible via keyboard?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are some anchors at the start of relevant content.

Some link destinations are a bit peculiar. For example, in the My Dashboard pane, there is a research tool "subjects authority" that is anchored to the search bar for the full database rather than the search bar for the subjects authority.
Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are no skip links to return to the top of the page for article pages, or create an account.

Does the reader capture accurate information as it appears in the table and the columns and rows?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No tables in the database.
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The navigation pane is named and described before the user tabs through it. The main content pane is not named and not described.
When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
eResource: Business Source Premier
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: EBSCO
Institution: Lambton
Score: B+

Key Findings

Strengths

  • All interactive functionality works consistently for users who are navigating a site via keyboard

Navigation Links

Question Answer Notes Images
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text, or from the link text together with its surrounding context? Always advanced search page: Filters list contains headings: "Publication" and "Publication type" are hard at a glance to differentiate ["publication" could instead read "publication title"], "Publication type" and "Document type" have overlapping subheadings such as "Book". results page: There is a heading similar to "document type" and "publication type" on the results page: "source type"; the filter for publication date is defaulting to "All time" and there is no custom range from this drop down list. item record 1: Under the main entry for the article is a section with tabs "details" and "publication contents". Details is metadata, which is fine to me. "Publications contents" seems to be a list of references cited by the article...which might be clearer if labelled "References" bookmark pages: no issues

Keyboard Navigation

Question Answer Notes Images
Can keyboard focus be moved to all page elements? Always
If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page? Not Applicable Tab and arrow keys are all that are needed.
Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above? Always
When using a keyboard to navigate the interface, is the keyboard focus indicator visible? Sometimes It is frequently difficult to figure out where the focus has gone to, as highlighting is either absent or very subtle.
Does all interactive functionality work via keyboard, and does it behave consistently and as expected? Always
Does focus order move sequentially across form fields? Always

Skip Links

Question Answer Notes Images
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)? Sometimes There is a link at the bottom of the page to go up the top of the page. There is another visible skip link that appears if the user has a screen reader, such as NVDA, which says "skip to advanced search page" Invisible skip links: None
Are skip links visible or invisible? Always There is one skip link visible to all users to return to the top of the page. There are additional skip links that are visible to users with a screen reader, to skip from the left pane containing "My dashboard" content, to the main pane, with to the advanced search page search bars, or the results in the results pane, for example.
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page? Sometimes One link present is the one to return to the top of the page, which is logically placed at the bottom of the page. The other skip link identified is positioned prominently at the beginning of the column for My Dashboard, when the user is initially brought to the advanced search page pane. A similar skip link is present on other pages, such as the results page, to move from the pane for My Dashboard to the "results" pane.
Are skip links labelled properly? Sometimes There is no alt text for the skip link to return to the top of the page. Skip links to move from the My Dashboard pane to the main content pane are well labelled.
Are skip links accessible via keyboard? Always
Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content? Sometimes There are some anchors at the start of relevant content. Some link destinations are a bit peculiar. For example, in the My Dashboard pane, there is a research tool "subjects authority" that is anchored to the search bar for the full database rather than the search bar for the subjects authority.
Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page? Sometimes There are no skip links to return to the top of the page for article pages, or create an account.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the reader capture accurate information as it appears in the table and the columns and rows? Not Applicable No tables in the database.

Frames

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another? Always
Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame? Sometimes The navigation pane is named and described before the user tabs through it. The main content pane is not named and not described.
When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next? Always
Previous1234Next