Assessment Report | LEAP

Assessment Information
eResource Title	Vendor	Overall Grade
Communications & Mass Media Complete	EBSCO	B

Key Findings

Strengths

All images contain a textual alternative
Information is not distorted when zoomed in at 200%
Information is preserved at different screen resolutions

Weaknesses

Some text and images meet contrast requirements

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Always		No Images

Functional images embedded in the background

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background?	Never		No Images

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		No Images

Alt Text

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always		No Images
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always		No Images
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always		No Images

Content Scaling

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?	Always		No Images
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?	Always		No Images
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?	Always		No Images

Colour and Contrast

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?	Sometimes	While most of the readable text appears to have good contrast, Wave tool files contrast issues around the buttons. It's a bit unclear whether or not the contrast of the text label on some buttons is an issue, or whether or not it's something in the underlying code (not meant to be seen visually?) That is triggering the warnings.	No Images

Colour

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?	Always	Didn't encounter any graphs.	No Images
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?	Always		No Images
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action?	Always	Not encountered	No Images

Text to speech

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is there a choice embedded within the database that offers text to speech or read aloud options?	Sometimes	Available at the article/resource level. Not visible on search pages or search results.	No Images

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?	Always		No Images
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate?	Sometimes	Generally usable, but some links are quite close together(textual) with only a keyboard space or two between them.	No Images
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)?	Always		No Images
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?	Always		No Images

Dynamic content

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Can users pause carousel movement?	Always	No carousel visible.	No Images
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard?	Always	No carousel visible.	No Images

Liquid layout

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap?	Always		No Images
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?	Always		No Images
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?	Always		No Images

Key Findings

Strengths

The platform’s layout and navigation is consistent across all pages

Weaknesses

Some user input fields contain labels and clear instructions to help users successfully complete the form
Page content sometimes has appropriate headers and is tagged appropriately

Labels and Instructions for Interactive Elements

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are user input fields accompanied by clear instructions on what the user needs to do to successfully complete the form?	Sometimes	Advanced search field has instruction's for keywords and the topic finder has instructions, however other search fields such as basic search and publication search do not have instructions for their input fields.	No Images
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?	Always	Input fields have labels associated with them, providing clear instructions.	No Images
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?	Always		No Images
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?	Never	Labels are placed to the side of the user input fields but are clearly associated with each field.	No Images
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available?	Always	When filling out a form there is instructions that "Required fields marked with *"	No Images
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields?	Always	When filling out a form there is instructions that "Required fields marked with *"	No Images

Error Prevention

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable.	Always	Forms are checked, when entering a email address that is not valid, an error message came up in red and highlighted the text within the form that is incorrect.	No Images

Error Reports

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are alert messages clearly visible to the user, either at the top of the form field, inline, or through a dialog box?	Always	Error messages appear right under the field that has the error. The text in the field is also highlighted red.	No Images
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix?	Always		No Images
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error?	Always		No Images
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission?	Always		No Images
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order?	Always		No Images

Search function spell-check

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms?	Always	Misspellings are underline in red within the search box. If a search is continued there is a suggestion to search for the correct spelling instead, above the results.	No Images

Functionality of Interactive Elements

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site?	Always	Icons are consistent across the site.	No Images
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type?	Always		No Images
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”.	Always		No Images
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?	Always		No Images
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone?	Always		No Images

Consistent Navigation

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages?	Always		No Images
Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website?	Always		No Images
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website?	Always		No Images
Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently?	Always		No Images

Pop-up windows/Interruptions

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the electronic resource avoid the use of pop-up windows which open automatically in a new tab if a user clicks on a button?	Always		No Images
Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded?	Always		No Images
Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups?	Not Applicable	No Pop-ups	No Images
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing?	Always		No Images

Headers

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately?	Sometimes	On the advanced search page, H2 heading is above a H1 heading.	No Images
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading?	Always		No Images

Menus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options?	Always		No Images
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items?	Always		No Images
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation?	Sometimes	Most submenu's can be accessed with screen reader and keyboard navigation. The only sub menu I was unable to access with keyboard navigation was the Subject's sub menu on the results list.	No Images

Change of context

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the “results” page or item record view avoid opening in a new tab without a warning?	Always		No Images
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content?	Sometimes	when setting some filters, there is an apply button that refreshes the content rather than automatically updating the content. However, if a subject filter is clicked, the content is automatically updated.	No Images
Does the database avoid automatic redirection?	Always		No Images

Change of Context: Focus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus?	Always		No Images
Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus?	Always		No Images
Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus?	Always		No Images
Are you able to tab through a page using keyboard navigation without the keyboard focus moving away from the control?	Always		No Images

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		No Images

Keyboard Navigation

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Can keyboard focus be moved to all page elements?	Always		No Images
If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page?	Always		No Images
Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above?	Always		No Images
When using a keyboard to navigate the interface, is the keyboard focus indicator visible?	Always		No Images
Does all interactive functionality work via keyboard, and does it behave consistently and as expected?	Always		No Images
Does focus order move sequentially across form fields?	Always		No Images

Skip Links

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)?	Always	Skip links on the results page and article pages.	No Images
Are skip links visible or invisible?	Always	Invisible	No Images
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page?	Always	Beginning of the page	No Images
Are skip links labelled properly?	Always		No Images
Are skip links accessible via keyboard?	Always		No Images
Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content?	Always		No Images
Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page?	Always		No Images

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the reader capture accurate information as it appears in the table and the columns and rows?	Not Applicable	Unable to find any article with a table.	No Images

Frames

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another?	Never	The screen reader says no next or previous frame.	No Images
Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame?	Never	Screen reader does not detect a frame.	No Images
When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next?	Never	Screen reader does not detect a frame.	No Images

Key Findings

Strengths

Videos have captions and audio descriptions/transcripts

Weaknesses

Some audio has transcripts
PDFs are searchable but not tagged

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 1980's, but some articles are still image only.	No Images
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?	Never		No Images
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.	No Images

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.	No Images
Is primary language specified?	Never	Failed in all sample articles image-only & digital PDF.	No Images
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.	No Images
Are all page elements tagged?	Never	Tagging is failed on all sample PDFs.	No Images
Are list and table structure correct?	Sometimes	No examples in sample PDFs.	No Images

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 screen readers. Image only PDFs can't be read out loud.	No Images
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?	Never		No Images
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?	Always		No 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?	Sometimes	Works for digital PDFs, not as good for image based PDFs.	No Images

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.	No 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.	No Images
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.	No Images
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.	No Images

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 in the same. Untagged text with columns created by spacing/tabs.	No Images
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?	Never	No structure to PDF tables/html tables, written as text-based.	No Images

Additional Navigational Aids

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?	Never	Not visible.	No Images
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?	Never	Not visible.	No Images

Video Captions

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are videos captioned?	Always	Even very old content (1976) appears to have captions.	No Images
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.	No Images
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.	No Images
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.	No Images
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?	Always	Seemed accurate and well timed, even on older videos.	No Images
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?	Sometimes	Newer videos seem to have transcripts, but not the very old content.	No Images
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?	Not Applicable	Not encountered in this sample.	No Images

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.	No Images
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.	No Images

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.	No Images
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?	Always		No Images

Export CSV Go Back To Assessment