Assessment for MedOne Education by McMaster University - Module 4: Content

Submitted by hsltser@mcmaster.ca on
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: Text is searchable and extrable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?
Answer: Never
Score: 2
Notes: Text is extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are alternative descriptions provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The alt text was inconsistent and usually not included.
Is primary language specified?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Adobe's accessibility checker labelled the Primary Language as 'failed'.
Is reliable character encoding provided?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Some fonts use 'custom' encoding.
Are all page elements tagged?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Page elements are never tagged. Occasionally there are tags for 'Page 1', 'Page 2' etc. but never more specific than that.
Are list and table structure correct?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The table structure 'failed' in the Accessibility Checker. We also found that the reader would jump all over within a table (skip cells, skip columns etc).

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: The read aloud would read a normal text left to right as expected, however within Learning Module documents, the questions would be read in the incorrect order and would skip answers. Labels within images and tables would not be read in a logical order.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Did get an audible "warning empty page" when the page was only filled with images (those were not tagged or labeled).
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Outside of a normal book chapter PDF, we could not use controls to easily navigate from question to answers. There were also problems with logically navigating through tables and images.
When zooming in to 250%, does all text, images, tables, and other elements appear clear and easy to read?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Images did not contain alt text, but they would have a short description written underneath.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: No images used as titles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No alt text is available for rich images. Textual alternative is brief and does not describe the context or details of the rich image.
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Tables in pdfs are not tagged.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The screen reader does indicate that it is reading data in a table. The screen reader has oddly placed pauses which could cause the user to misinterpret the information. A table is only read if user places curser inside table… it is not read as a part of entire text in the pdf.
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There are no bookmarks available.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There are no bookmarks
Are videos captioned?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: There is no 'CC' button, it is instead a white box with lines labelled as 'Subtitles'. The captions were not always automatic. User needs to select 'English' to turn them on. The other two options in the 'CC' menu are in a different language and appear to translate to 'off' and 'settings'?

Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: There are notes after videos stating the closed captions are created using AI.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Could not find any transcripts.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: All videos have captions if there is audio with the video
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: There are no described videos or textual equivalents for a screen reader.
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: There is no described video or textual equivalent.
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: There are no transcripts available.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes: There are no transcripts available.
eResource: MedOne Education
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: Thieme
Institution: McMaster University
Score: F

Key Findings

Weaknesses

  • Audio does not have transcripts
  • PDFs are searchable but not tagged
  • Videos have captions but not audio descriptions/transcripts

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? Never Text is searchable and extrable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? Never Text is extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? Always

Tagged PDFs

Question Answer Notes Images
Are alternative descriptions provided? Never The alt text was inconsistent and usually not included.
Is primary language specified? Never Adobe's accessibility checker labelled the Primary Language as 'failed'.
Is reliable character encoding provided? Sometimes Some fonts use 'custom' encoding.
Are all page elements tagged? Never Page elements are never tagged. Occasionally there are tags for 'Page 1', 'Page 2' etc. but never more specific than that.
Are list and table structure correct? Never The table structure 'failed' in the Accessibility Checker. We also found that the reader would jump all over within a table (skip cells, skip columns etc).

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 The read aloud would read a normal text left to right as expected, however within Learning Module documents, the questions would be read in the incorrect order and would skip answers. Labels within images and tables would not be read in a logical order.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? Sometimes Did get an audible "warning empty page" when the page was only filled with images (those were not tagged or labeled).
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document? Sometimes Outside of a normal book chapter PDF, we could not use controls to easily navigate from question to answers. There were also problems with logically navigating through tables and images.

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

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Always

Alternative Description

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always Images did not contain alt text, but they would have a short description written underneath.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Not Applicable No images used as titles.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never No alt text is available for rich images. Textual alternative is brief and does not describe the context or details of the rich image.

Tables

Question Answer Notes Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? Never Tables in pdfs are not tagged.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? Never The screen reader does indicate that it is reading data in a table. The screen reader has oddly placed pauses which could cause the user to misinterpret the information. A table is only read if user places curser inside table… it is not read as a part of entire text in the pdf.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question Answer Notes Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? Never There are no bookmarks available.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? Not Applicable There are no bookmarks

Video Captions

Question Answer Notes Images
Are videos captioned? Always
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? Sometimes There is no 'CC' button, it is instead a white box with lines labelled as 'Subtitles'. The captions were not always automatic. User needs to select 'English' to turn them on. The other two options in the 'CC' menu are in a different language and appear to translate to 'off' and 'settings'?
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? Always There are notes after videos stating the closed captions are created using AI.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? Always
Are the captions in sync with spoken words? Always
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? Never Could not find any transcripts.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? Not Applicable All videos have captions if there is audio with the video

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 There are no described videos or textual equivalents for a screen reader.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? Not Applicable There is no described video or textual equivalent.

Audio Accessibility

Question Answer Notes Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? Never There are no transcripts available.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? Not Applicable There are no transcripts available.
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