Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 1. 1999 not extractable, not searchable
2. 2005 extractable, searchable
3. 2010 extractable, searchable
4. 2015 extractable, searchable
5. 2024 extractable, searchable
6. 1979 not extractable, not searchable
7. 2000 not extractable, not searchable
8. 2001 extractable, searchable
9. 2002 extractable, searchable
10. 2004 extractable, searchable
3 out of 10 sampled PDF items appear to be image-only.
PDFs from before 2000 do not appear to be accessible (seem to be image-only), while those after 2000 appear to be both extractable and searchable (Optical character recognition in use).
Score: 1
Notes: 1. 1999 not extractable, not searchable
2. 2005 extractable, searchable
3. 2010 extractable, searchable
4. 2015 extractable, searchable
5. 2024 extractable, searchable
6. 1979 not extractable, not searchable
7. 2000 not extractable, not searchable
8. 2001 extractable, searchable
9. 2002 extractable, searchable
10. 2004 extractable, searchable
3 out of 10 sampled PDF items appear to be image-only.
PDFs from before 2000 do not appear to be accessible (seem to be image-only), while those after 2000 appear to be both extractable and searchable (Optical character recognition in use).
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: None of the sampled PDF documents are locked.
Score: 2
Notes: None of the sampled PDF documents are locked.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 1. 1999 not extractable, not searchable
2. 2005 extractable, searchable
3. 2010 extractable, searchable
4. 2015 extractable, searchable
5. 2024 extractable, searchable
6. 1979 not extractable, not searchable
7. 2000 not extractable, not searchable
8. 2001 extractable, searchable
9. 2002 extractable, searchable
10. 2004 extractable, searchable
3 out of 10 items were not searchable
PDFs from before 2000 do not appear to be accessible (seem to be image-only), while those after 2000 appear to be both extractable and searchable (Optical character recognition in use).
Score: 1
Notes: 1. 1999 not extractable, not searchable
2. 2005 extractable, searchable
3. 2010 extractable, searchable
4. 2015 extractable, searchable
5. 2024 extractable, searchable
6. 1979 not extractable, not searchable
7. 2000 not extractable, not searchable
8. 2001 extractable, searchable
9. 2002 extractable, searchable
10. 2004 extractable, searchable
3 out of 10 items were not searchable
PDFs from before 2000 do not appear to be accessible (seem to be image-only), while those after 2000 appear to be both extractable and searchable (Optical character recognition in use).
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected initially. Adobe Pro generates the same error
1. # 8 (2005)
Alternate text sections all failed
2. #3 (2010)
Alternate Text sections all failed.
3. #11 (2024) Failed Figures alternative text, but passed other categories
4. #12 (2016) Failed all alternate text
5.#13 (2025) Failed all alternate text
Score: 1
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected initially. Adobe Pro generates the same error
1. # 8 (2005)
Alternate text sections all failed
2. #3 (2010)
Alternate Text sections all failed.
3. #11 (2024) Failed Figures alternative text, but passed other categories
4. #12 (2016) Failed all alternate text
5.#13 (2025) Failed all alternate text
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro generates the same error.
1. #8 (2005) Primary language failed
2. #3 (2010) Primary language failed
3. #11 (2024) Primary language failed
4. #12 (2016) Primary language failed
5. #13 (2025) Primary language failed
Score: 0
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro generates the same error.
1. #8 (2005) Primary language failed
2. #3 (2010) Primary language failed
3. #11 (2024) Primary language failed
4. #12 (2016) Primary language failed
5. #13 (2025) Primary language failed
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro generates the same error.
1. #8 (2005) Character encoding passed
2. #3 (2010) Character encoding failed
3. #11 (2024) Character encoding passed
4. #12 (2016) Character encoding failed
5. #13 (2025) Character encoding failed
Score: 1
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro generates the same error.
1. #8 (2005) Character encoding passed
2. #3 (2010) Character encoding failed
3. #11 (2024) Character encoding passed
4. #12 (2016) Character encoding failed
5. #13 (2025) Character encoding failed
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro generates the same error.
1. #8 (2005)
Tagged content "failed". There are no tags for section headings, chapters, paragraphs, footnotes, tables and figures.
2. #3 (2010)
Tagged content "failed".
3. #11 (2024)
Tagged content "passed".
4. #12 (2016)
Tagged content "failed"
5. #13 (2025)
Tagged content "failed"
Score: 1
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro generates the same error.
1. #8 (2005)
Tagged content "failed". There are no tags for section headings, chapters, paragraphs, footnotes, tables and figures.
2. #3 (2010)
Tagged content "failed".
3. #11 (2024)
Tagged content "passed".
4. #12 (2016)
Tagged content "failed"
5. #13 (2025)
Tagged content "failed"
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro can.
1. #8 (2005)
Tables are present and failed accessibility checker.
2. #3 (2010)
Tables are present and failed accessibility checker.
3. #11 (2024)
Table is present and while "rows" and "TH and TD" passed, "Headers" failed.
4. #12 (2016)
Table is present. Tables failed. Lists failed.
5. #13 (2025)
Tables failed. Lists failed.
Score: 0
Notes: Adobe Reader cannot access any of the PDFs selected. Adobe Pro can.
1. #8 (2005)
Tables are present and failed accessibility checker.
2. #3 (2010)
Tables are present and failed accessibility checker.
3. #11 (2024)
Table is present and while "rows" and "TH and TD" passed, "Headers" failed.
4. #12 (2016)
Table is present. Tables failed. Lists failed.
5. #13 (2025)
Tables failed. Lists failed.
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: 1. #11 (2024) The sequence is generally good, but because the images are not tagged, they get skipped over entirely.
The shortcuts work.
2. #12 (2016) It is read in order.
The shortcuts work.
3. #13 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2024.2376214 This article is searchable. I was unable to get Adobe to read this document. The shortcuts do not work. I re-accessed the document via the database, in Micrsoft Edge, and tried the EBSCO reader. It was unable to continue reading from the left column to the right, without jumping to the footnotes first.
4. (2025) Read out loud moved through the sections of the document in order, through a two column formatted document with a few issues. There was no mention of the formula that made up figure 1 in the document under methodology. (There was no pause, there was no announcement for the formula, or an image, so the sentence preceding the formula simply ran into the sentence which continued after the formula.) Read Out Loud skipped over Figure 1, Figure 2, and Table 1, with no note of their presence. Read Out Loud shortcuts work fine.
Score: 1
Notes: 1. #11 (2024) The sequence is generally good, but because the images are not tagged, they get skipped over entirely.
The shortcuts work.
2. #12 (2016) It is read in order.
The shortcuts work.
3. #13 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2024.2376214 This article is searchable. I was unable to get Adobe to read this document. The shortcuts do not work. I re-accessed the document via the database, in Micrsoft Edge, and tried the EBSCO reader. It was unable to continue reading from the left column to the right, without jumping to the footnotes first.
4. (2025) Read out loud moved through the sections of the document in order, through a two column formatted document with a few issues. There was no mention of the formula that made up figure 1 in the document under methodology. (There was no pause, there was no announcement for the formula, or an image, so the sentence preceding the formula simply ran into the sentence which continued after the formula.) Read Out Loud skipped over Figure 1, Figure 2, and Table 1, with no note of their presence. Read Out Loud shortcuts work fine.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: 1. #12 (2016) I don't think the screen reader in Adobe handled the equations well in the paper that I read, which included mathematical operation symbols, superscripts and subscripts. I think it was handling the equation as though it were a long word, and thus created gibberish.
2. #13 (2025) It didn't handle Figure 1 well. It was as though there was an attempt made to put tabs inside the diagram, rather than to explain it's significance in one go. Very hard for me to follow.
3. (2025) This article skips over a formula that is mid-sentence but set off in the page like a figure, and it is invisible to the screen reader. It skips over Figures 1 and 2, and Table 1 which are also likely untagged.
Score: 0
Notes: 1. #12 (2016) I don't think the screen reader in Adobe handled the equations well in the paper that I read, which included mathematical operation symbols, superscripts and subscripts. I think it was handling the equation as though it were a long word, and thus created gibberish.
2. #13 (2025) It didn't handle Figure 1 well. It was as though there was an attempt made to put tabs inside the diagram, rather than to explain it's significance in one go. Very hard for me to follow.
3. (2025) This article skips over a formula that is mid-sentence but set off in the page like a figure, and it is invisible to the screen reader. It skips over Figures 1 and 2, and Table 1 which are also likely untagged.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 1. #11 (2024) Navigation through the document with arrow keys was not possible. Shortcut keys did work.
2. #12 (2016) Navigation through the document with arrow keys was not possible. Shortcut keys did work.
3. (2025) Navigation through the document with up and down arrow keys while in the screen reader was not possible. Shortcut keys did work.
Score: 1
Notes: 1. #11 (2024) Navigation through the document with arrow keys was not possible. Shortcut keys did work.
2. #12 (2016) Navigation through the document with arrow keys was not possible. Shortcut keys did work.
3. (2025) Navigation through the document with up and down arrow keys while in the screen reader was not possible. Shortcut keys did work.
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 1. 2010 : clear and easy to read
2. 2015: clear and easy to read
3. 1979: not perfect, but easy to read
4. 2000: a bit hazy around the text, which affects the contrast of the type, so not impossible, but not easy to read at 250%
5. 2004: clear and easy to read
Score: 1
Notes: 1. 2010 : clear and easy to read
2. 2015: clear and easy to read
3. 1979: not perfect, but easy to read
4. 2000: a bit hazy around the text, which affects the contrast of the type, so not impossible, but not easy to read at 250%
5. 2004: clear and easy to read
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Score: 2
Notes:
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: 1. No alt text for informative images in PDF (2025)
2. No alt text for informative images in PDF (2025)
3. No alt text for informative images in PDF (2025)
Score: 0
Notes: 1. No alt text for informative images in PDF (2025)
2. No alt text for informative images in PDF (2025)
3. No alt text for informative images in PDF (2025)
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: One article in all of the ones I checked had alt text for logos and the like. These were from a Routledge publication.
Score: 1
Notes: One article in all of the ones I checked had alt text for logos and the like. These were from a Routledge publication.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: 1. No alt text for rich images in PDF (2025).
2. No alt text for rich images in PDF (2024).
3. No alt text for rich images in PDF (2024).
I did not find any examples of PDFs where the graphs, charts or diagrams had alt text to describe the content or significances of the rich image. Few PDFs even tagged rich images in the first place.
Score: 0
Notes: 1. No alt text for rich images in PDF (2025).
2. No alt text for rich images in PDF (2024).
3. No alt text for rich images in PDF (2024).
I did not find any examples of PDFs where the graphs, charts or diagrams had alt text to describe the content or significances of the rich image. Few PDFs even tagged rich images in the first place.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Few tables were even located by the screen reader. The tables are generally not tagged at all, and I did not find any with in-text summaries.
Score: 0
Notes: Few tables were even located by the screen reader. The tables are generally not tagged at all, and I did not find any with in-text summaries.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 1. (2020) Table not accessible and not navigable .
2. (2024) Table not accessible, but Adobe can make it accessible, and navigable with a screen reader.
3. (2025) Table accessible and navigable without modifications in Adobe.
Score: 1
Notes: 1. (2020) Table not accessible and not navigable .
2. (2024) Table not accessible, but Adobe can make it accessible, and navigable with a screen reader.
3. (2025) Table accessible and navigable without modifications in Adobe.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: 1. #13 (2025) Yes there are excellent bookmarks.
2. #12 (2016) Yes there are reasonable bookmarks.
3. #14 (2024) Yes there are excellent bookmarks.
Score: 2
Notes: 1. #13 (2025) Yes there are excellent bookmarks.
2. #12 (2016) Yes there are reasonable bookmarks.
3. #14 (2024) Yes there are excellent bookmarks.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: 1. #13 (2025) Yes they are linked to the correct sections in the document.
2. #12 (2016) Yes they are linked to the correct sections in the document.
3. #14 (2024) Yes they are linked to the correct sections in the document.
Score: 2
Notes: 1. #13 (2025) Yes they are linked to the correct sections in the document.
2. #12 (2016) Yes they are linked to the correct sections in the document.
3. #14 (2024) Yes they are linked to the correct sections in the document.
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Older videos (pre 2010) rarely have captions, there is no "CC" option in the corner of the file windows for these items. Newer videos frequently have captions.
Some more recent (2025) videos have automatic captions right on the screen (no CC button).
Score: 1
Notes: Older videos (pre 2010) rarely have captions, there is no "CC" option in the corner of the file windows for these items. Newer videos frequently have captions.
Some more recent (2025) videos have automatic captions right on the screen (no CC button).
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Score: 2
Notes:
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: USA: PAULA JONES CLINTON SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE LATEST (1998) is not grammatically correct. It seems to be a machine transcription. The transcription misses the spoken content in a few of the clips in this file.
Transgender people seek name change privacy (2023) "what sites" [should be "web sites"]... "and away" [should be Van De Wege] thus this appears to be another machine translation.
Michigan governor sues to secure abortion rights (2022) "is hard on our cations" [should be "It is hard on our patients"]. More machine translation.
Score: 1
Notes: USA: PAULA JONES CLINTON SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE LATEST (1998) is not grammatically correct. It seems to be a machine transcription. The transcription misses the spoken content in a few of the clips in this file.
Transgender people seek name change privacy (2023) "what sites" [should be "web sites"]... "and away" [should be Van De Wege] thus this appears to be another machine translation.
Michigan governor sues to secure abortion rights (2022) "is hard on our cations" [should be "It is hard on our patients"]. More machine translation.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Sometimes the captioning goes over text on the screen intended for all viewers.
Score: 1
Notes: Sometimes the captioning goes over text on the screen intended for all viewers.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: 1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No...captions can appear ahead of pauses, and can be ungrammatical. See Michigan governor sues to secure abortion rights (2022)
Score: 1
Notes: 1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No...captions can appear ahead of pauses, and can be ungrammatical. See Michigan governor sues to secure abortion rights (2022)
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: 1. Yes (2015)
2. Yes (2025)
3. Yes (2017)
Score: 2
Notes: 1. Yes (2015)
2. Yes (2025)
3. Yes (2017)
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: 1. No (1995)
2. No transcripts but a summary in English was available (2015)...Welcoming Lunar New Year with goat’s milk skin creams. [s. l.]: Associated Press, 2015. 1 vídeo. https://research-ebsco-com.lambton.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=fbae0c1f-fb8c-379e-88eb-1b952c68e9aa. Accessed: 17 July 2025. This item was probably in Korean, with no English subtitles, no closed captions, and no transcription in either Korean or English. There was an English "summary". The summary was meaningful, but I have no way of knowing whether it accurately represented the video.
3. No transcripts, but there was a summary in English. Mosque accepts cryptocurrency donations. [s. l.]: Not Available, [s. d.]. 1 vídeo. https://research-ebsco-com.lambton.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=b36d4ad9-fb02-31ad-9d0a-8fbf8515ba7e. Accessed 17 July 2025. The summary was quite good, but there were no non-speech sounds reported.
I do believe that an effort has been made to include videos with on-screen subtitles where there are no formal "closed captions", and the summaries provided are an attempt to remedy the lack of a transcript for videos that are missing closed captions. It was challenging for me to locate videos with no closed captions, so it is hard to know for sure how prevalent they are in the database as a whole.
Score: 0
Notes: 1. No (1995)
2. No transcripts but a summary in English was available (2015)...Welcoming Lunar New Year with goat’s milk skin creams. [s. l.]: Associated Press, 2015. 1 vídeo. https://research-ebsco-com.lambton.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=fbae0c1f-fb8c-379e-88eb-1b952c68e9aa. Accessed: 17 July 2025. This item was probably in Korean, with no English subtitles, no closed captions, and no transcription in either Korean or English. There was an English "summary". The summary was meaningful, but I have no way of knowing whether it accurately represented the video.
3. No transcripts, but there was a summary in English. Mosque accepts cryptocurrency donations. [s. l.]: Not Available, [s. d.]. 1 vídeo. https://research-ebsco-com.lambton.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=b36d4ad9-fb02-31ad-9d0a-8fbf8515ba7e. Accessed 17 July 2025. The summary was quite good, but there were no non-speech sounds reported.
I do believe that an effort has been made to include videos with on-screen subtitles where there are no formal "closed captions", and the summaries provided are an attempt to remedy the lack of a transcript for videos that are missing closed captions. It was challenging for me to locate videos with no closed captions, so it is hard to know for sure how prevalent they are in the database as a whole.
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: I did not find any videos with links for described video. Videos with closed captions typically appear to have a text equivalent on the same page, as a "transcription".
Score: 0
Notes: I did not find any videos with links for described video. Videos with closed captions typically appear to have a text equivalent on the same page, as a "transcription".
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There are frequent inaccuracies in the texts, which indicate that they are machine generated, and not edited by a human for accuracy. In some cases this can lead to the reader being completely misled about the content of the video. Please see my earlier comments under closed captions.
Score: 1
Notes: There are frequent inaccuracies in the texts, which indicate that they are machine generated, and not edited by a human for accuracy. In some cases this can lead to the reader being completely misled about the content of the video. Please see my earlier comments under closed captions.
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: I did not find any audio clips in this resource.
Score: -1
Notes: I did not find any audio clips in this resource.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: I did not find any audio clips in this resource.
Score: -1
Notes: I did not find any audio clips in this resource.
