Assessment for Scott's Directories by Fanshawe - Module 1: Interface Appearance

Submitted by ahawkins@fansh… on
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Images are infrequent and only located on "Contact" and "About Scott's" pages. These include three staff photos of the account managers, as well as a visual advertisement. Staff photos are located immediately to the left-hand side of the respective contact information. However, the advertisement is at the bottom of the page after a break in text.
Are there functional images embedded in the background?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: When the window size is adjusted, there is a "Video Tutorial" button in the top-right corner of the page that will dramatically increase/decrease in size, even eliminating the static menu on the side of the page until the window is further readjusted.
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Photos are limited (staff images and one advertisement) but none contain alternative text.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: No buttons or embedded images/videos contain alternative text. Note: when clicking on the buttons, alternative text will appear that contains further instructions in relation to those buttons, but not the button text itself.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: The company logo is the only image that contains alternative text.
Are there icons where appropriate, such as icons to indicate PDF Full Text, Download, Folder, Citation, etc?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes: Yes, there are extensive use of icons in relation to options available.
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Text is clear (not pixelated) and readable. However, menus are cut-off and moved around the page, making it difficult to navigate. There are multiple vertical scroll bars within the same page. Images are moved and stacked, in some cases.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most icons and images are clear. However, the problematic "Video Tutorial" button mentioned earlier is blurry and disproportionately maximized to the rest of the page/text.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: When in normal resolution, the menu is located down the left-hand side of the page. However, when zoomed in, the menu is suddenly hidden in an icon and moved to the top right of the page. This prevents horizontal scrolling. However, without knowing that the menu has moved, it initially appears to be lost / unreachable until the brand new icon is found in a new location.
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Images and icons consistently fail contrast ratio tests.
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: The "About Scott's" page contains the most text and it it separated by white spaces. Icons on other pages are also separated by white space. However, the search function (when displaying number of results, selected criteria, etc.) contains text within the same whitespace with no visual distinction.
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The database relies on blue and orange as a colour scheme. In some instances, this seems decorative. In others, blue and orange buttons are used interchangeably on the page, but without a clear indication of why they are respectively coloured as such. There is no text alternatives to any coloured images or buttons.
Is there a choice embedded within the database that offers text to speech or read aloud options?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Cannot locate any text-to-speech or read aloud options.
Using your mouse, is the clickable area around links and buttons large enough for users to see and activate easily?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Most links and buttons contain significant clickable area to make the options easy to navigate. However, the search options along the top of the page do not and also do not indicate they are clickable (the mouse does not convert from an arrow to a pointed finger).
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Buttons are far enough apart. However, the search options at the top of the page and the results list contain pop-up text that appears, when clicked on / hovered over, that can get in the way of the text or link itself.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)?
Answer: Always
Score: 2
Notes:
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: The only feature available through keyboard navigation are the fields for entering search criteria. But the first field must be clicked on before others can be tabbed through. No menus, links, buttons are accessible via keyboard navigation.
Can users pause carousel movement?
Answer: Not Applicable
Score: -1
Notes:
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: When clicking on the search options at the top of the page, dynamic/alternative text appears that gives further instructions on how to use that button, but does not clearly repeat or indicate the button text itself. These small pop-up windows cannot appear (or disappear) through keyboard navigation, but only through the use of the mouse.
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: As the resolution gets smaller, the page rearranges in ways that are not intuitive. The menu moves from the left-hand side of the page to become an icon in the top-right. The vertical text contains scroll bars within scroll bars. The demo video (usually at the bottom of the menu) becomes stacked over the menu options, making them impossible to select.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?
Answer: Sometimes
Score: 1
Notes: Buttons at top of the page remain visible and usable. However, the demo video within the menu becomes overlapped with links to other pages that contain images, so this cannot be further evaluated.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?
Answer: Never
Score: 0
Notes: Lower resolutions make an already challenging database nearly impossible to navigate outside of the search form.
eResource: Scott's Directories
eResource Type: Database
Vendor: Scott's Directories
Institution: Fanshawe
Score: F

Images

Positioning of Images

Question Answer Notes Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? Sometimes Images are infrequent and only located on "Contact" and "About Scott's" pages. These include three staff photos of the account managers, as well as a visual advertisement. Staff photos are located immediately to the left-hand side of the respective contact information. However, the advertisement is at the bottom of the page after a break in text.

Functional images embedded in the background

Question Answer Notes Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background? Sometimes When the window size is adjusted, there is a "Video Tutorial" button in the top-right corner of the page that will dramatically increase/decrease in size, even eliminating the static menu on the side of the page until the window is further readjusted.

Presence of Icons

Question Answer Notes Images
Are there icons where appropriate, such as icons to indicate PDF Full Text, Download, Folder, Citation, etc? Always Yes, there are extensive use of icons in relation to options available.

Alt Text

Question Answer Notes Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never Photos are limited (staff images and one advertisement) but none contain alternative text.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Never No buttons or embedded images/videos contain alternative text. Note: when clicking on the buttons, alternative text will appear that contains further instructions in relation to those buttons, but not the button text itself.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? Always The company logo is the only image that contains alternative text.

Content Scaling

Question Answer Notes Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off? Sometimes Text is clear (not pixelated) and readable. However, menus are cut-off and moved around the page, making it difficult to navigate. There are multiple vertical scroll bars within the same page. Images are moved and stacked, in some cases.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%? Sometimes Most icons and images are clear. However, the problematic "Video Tutorial" button mentioned earlier is blurry and disproportionately maximized to the rest of the page/text.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%? Sometimes When in normal resolution, the menu is located down the left-hand side of the page. However, when zoomed in, the menu is suddenly hidden in an icon and moved to the top right of the page. This prevents horizontal scrolling. However, without knowing that the menu has moved, it initially appears to be lost / unreachable until the brand new icon is found in a new location.

Colour and Contrast

Question Answer Notes Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1? Never Images and icons consistently fail contrast ratio tests.

Colour

Question Answer Notes Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents? Not Applicable
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)? Sometimes The "About Scott's" page contains the most text and it it separated by white spaces. Icons on other pages are also separated by white space. However, the search function (when displaying number of results, selected criteria, etc.) contains text within the same whitespace with no visual distinction.
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action? Never The database relies on blue and orange as a colour scheme. In some instances, this seems decorative. In others, blue and orange buttons are used interchangeably on the page, but without a clear indication of why they are respectively coloured as such. There is no text alternatives to any coloured images or buttons.

Text to speech

Question Answer Notes Images
Is there a choice embedded within the database that offers text to speech or read aloud options? Never Cannot locate any text-to-speech or read aloud options.

Clustered Links

Question Answer Notes Images
Using your mouse, is the clickable area around links and buttons large enough for users to see and activate easily? Sometimes Most links and buttons contain significant clickable area to make the options easy to navigate. However, the search options along the top of the page do not and also do not indicate they are clickable (the mouse does not convert from an arrow to a pointed finger).
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate? Sometimes Buttons are far enough apart. However, the search options at the top of the page and the results list contain pop-up text that appears, when clicked on / hovered over, that can get in the way of the text or link itself.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)? Always
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation? Never The only feature available through keyboard navigation are the fields for entering search criteria. But the first field must be clicked on before others can be tabbed through. No menus, links, buttons are accessible via keyboard navigation.

Dynamic content

Question Answer Notes Images
Can users pause carousel movement? Not Applicable
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard? Never When clicking on the search options at the top of the page, dynamic/alternative text appears that gives further instructions on how to use that button, but does not clearly repeat or indicate the button text itself. These small pop-up windows cannot appear (or disappear) through keyboard navigation, but only through the use of the mouse.

Liquid layout

Question Answer Notes Images
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap? Sometimes As the resolution gets smaller, the page rearranges in ways that are not intuitive. The menu moves from the left-hand side of the page to become an icon in the top-right. The vertical text contains scroll bars within scroll bars. The demo video (usually at the bottom of the menu) becomes stacked over the menu options, making them impossible to select.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions? Sometimes Buttons at top of the page remain visible and usable. However, the demo video within the menu becomes overlapped with links to other pages that contain images, so this cannot be further evaluated.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions? Never Lower resolutions make an already challenging database nearly impossible to navigate outside of the search form.
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