Assessment Information
eResource Title |
Vendor |
Overall Grade |
LWW Journals |
Wolters Kluwer Health |
C+ |
Assessment for LWW Journals by Mohawk - Module 1: Interface Appearance | Status: Complete | Grade: C
Images
Positioning of Images
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? |
Always |
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Functional images embedded in the background
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are there functional images embedded in the background? |
Never |
The width and height of the window of the browser was changed and there was no misalignment.
I did not see an option within the interface to increase text size, however, using the zoom function on browser did not cause misalignment either. |
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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 |
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Alt Text
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? |
Sometimes |
There were only two instances of a missing alternative text for informative images in the OVID interface.
There were several instances where informative images in the OVID Full text of LWW Journals contained redundant alternative text and/or lacked an appropriate textual alternative. Approximately 20 informative images across 6 LWW Journals were assessed and all had redundant alternative text and about half did not have appropriate textual alternatives.
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Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? |
Sometimes |
There were instances of missing alt text for functional images, most of which should have had empty/null alternative text. |
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Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? |
Sometimes |
Logos used as text in the OVID interface had appropriate alt-text.
There were several instances of complex images used as text in LWW Journal content (viewed in 'Ovid Full Text) that had redundant alternative text.
More notably, all of the complex images used as text that I assessed did not have appropriate textual alternatives, if at all. These images included flow charts, diagrams, data tables etc.
I assessed several images in 5 separate journals and looked at 3 articles for each. Each article had anywhere between 2-10 complex images.
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Content Scaling
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off? |
Always |
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Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%? |
Never |
There were instances of blurry and pixelated images in both the interface of OVID, (see attached example of icons) as well as within LWW Journal content when viewed in 'OVID Full text'
In the journals that were tested, all types of images (e.g. complex, informational etc.) were not clear at 200% (especially the text) with some improvement when using the 'View Image Full Size" tool. In some cases, the use of the 'View image full size' tool is essential to see text on an image as without it text was very blurred. See the examples attached.
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Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%? |
Always |
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Colour and Contrast
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1? |
Sometimes |
There were some contrast errors flagged for 'very low contrast between text and background colors' with a failing ratio of 3.49:1 |
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Colour
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents? |
Never |
The only colour-coded graphs found in the OVID interface were within LWW Journal content as viewed in 'Ovid Full text'. 18 bar and line graphs within 8 different LWW journals were assessed and none had text equivalents. See example attached. |
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Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)? |
Always |
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Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action? |
Not Applicable |
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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 |
There doesn't appear to be an option for HTML Full Text and so there are no choices for text-to-speech or read-aloud option. |
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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 |
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Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate? |
Always |
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Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)? |
Always |
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Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation? |
Always |
Although you can navigate to links and buttons using the keyboard, it should be noted you can not always visually see the 'focus' (small border around the area) for some of the links. Instead of a visual 'focus' area, there is an indecipherable and long url. See attached for example. |
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Dynamic content
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Can users pause carousel movement? |
Not Applicable |
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Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard? |
Not Applicable |
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Liquid layout
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap? |
Sometimes |
The order of text was preserved when viewing landing pages, results page, and multiple instances of item records.
There were instances where the order of the text was preserved when viewing a LWW Journal article in OVID Full Text, but the text was cut off.
There were instances where the order of the text of a LWW Journal article when viewing an article in OVID Full Text was preserved but you could not access other parts of the interface.
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Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions? |
Always |
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Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions? |
Sometimes |
There were instances of text and images being cut off or not accessible in the different screen resolutions. |
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Assessment for LWW Journals by Mohawk - Module 2: Interface Navigation | Status: Complete | Grade: B+
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? |
Always |
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Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above? |
Sometimes |
There are instances of empty form labels, multiple form labels, and orphaned form labels. This was consistent across multiple pages assessed. |
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Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand? |
Always |
If the user is familiar with searching databases and the terminology associated, then yes. |
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Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field? |
Sometimes |
Labels are not always above the user input fields |
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Are text cues for coloured form control labels available? |
Not Applicable |
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Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields? |
Always |
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Error Prevention
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable. |
Sometimes |
When using different input fields on different pages, users are not consistently provided an opportunity (or given any indication that a possible error was made) to correct things like spelling errors.
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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 |
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Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix? |
Always |
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Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error? |
Always |
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Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission? |
Always |
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Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order? |
Always |
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Search function spell-check
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms? |
Never |
Some of the search functions on different pages do suggest that there could be an error in spelling (see example attached), however, there is no auto-fill with drop-down options in the search bar or spelling suggestions on the results page. |
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Functionality of Interactive Elements
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site? |
Sometimes |
In a visual assessment of icons for the search function, it is not always consistent. On some pages, it is a 'search' button and on other pages, it is a 'magnifying glass' icon. |
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Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type? |
Always |
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Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”. |
Always |
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Are icons that have adjacent links consistent? |
Always |
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Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone? |
Always |
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Consistent Navigation
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages? |
Sometimes |
There are differences overall in the OVID interface. For example, the navigation of the 'Journal' tab and the 'Book tab' are not consistent in layout and navigation.
However, when navigating 'OVID Full Text' of LWW journals within the interface, there is consistency in layout and navigation. |
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Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website? |
Sometimes |
The search fields for the various tabs i.e. main search page, journals, books, and multimedia are not consistently in the same place. |
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Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website? |
Always |
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Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently? |
Sometimes |
There are instances of buttons and other components that have ARIA labels where the content is hidden and not presented to screen readers. |
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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? |
Sometimes |
Links for Email, Cite, and Print open automatically in pop-up windows.
When images are selected within 'OVID Full Text' of LWW journal articles, they open in a pop-up window with links that then open in a new tab automatically.
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Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded? |
Always |
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Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups? |
Sometimes |
I did not find instances of pop-ups that users are able to postpose, only suppress. Although the majority of pop-ups are able to be suppressed, I found an instance of a pop-up that where this was not an option. |
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Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing? |
Always |
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Headers
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately? |
Sometimes |
There were instances of empty headings. |
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Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading? |
Always |
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Menus
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options? |
Always |
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Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items? |
Always |
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Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation? |
Always |
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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 |
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Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content? |
Never |
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Does the database avoid automatic redirection? |
Sometimes |
When I used a screen reader to conduct a search for example, it was not always clear that a redirect had recurred when I was automatically redirected to the results page. |
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Change of Context: Focus
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus? |
Always |
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Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus? |
Always |
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Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus? |
Always |
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Are you able to tab through a page using keyboard navigation without the keyboard focus moving away from the control? |
Always |
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Assessment for LWW Journals by Mohawk - Module 3: Interface Structure | Status: Complete | Grade: A-
Navigation Links
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Can the purpose of each link can be determined from the link text, or from the link text together with its surrounding context? |
Always |
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Keyboard Navigation
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Can keyboard focus be moved to all page elements? |
Always |
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If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page? |
Not Applicable |
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Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above? |
Always |
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When using a keyboard to navigate the interface, is the keyboard focus indicator visible? |
Sometimes |
There are instances where the visible keyboard focus indicator disappears and reappears for no apparent reason. The only way a user could know where the focus is would be if the if a user was also using a screen reader (as a screen reader would announce links) and/or they could see a long and undecipherable url appear at the bottom of the screen.
For example, none of the links for the 50 journal titles (as well as the 'about' and 'my favorites' link) listed had a visible focus indicator, see attached. |
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Does all interactive functionality work via keyboard, and does it behave consistently and as expected? |
Sometimes |
Besides the issue as noted above, yes. |
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Does focus order move sequentially across form fields? |
Always |
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Skip Links
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)? |
Always |
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Are skip links visible or invisible? |
Always |
Invisible until tab is used. |
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Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page? |
Always |
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Are skip links labelled properly? |
Always |
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Are skip links accessible via keyboard? |
Always |
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Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content? |
Always |
While this is true, I think it should be noted that I think it would be beneficial for the site to have multiple link destinations i.e. “Skip to Site Index” to make it easier for users to navigate to the different sections i.e. Search, Journals, Books, Multimedia, My Workspace, What's New.
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Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page? |
Always |
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Tables
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Does the reader capture accurate information as it appears in the table and the columns and rows? |
Never |
When viewing LWW journals in OVID Full text , it appears that all of the data tables and other visual representations of data found in the articles are presented as complex/rich images, therefore it is not readable. |
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Frames
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another? |
Always |
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Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame? |
Sometimes |
Although the majority do, there were instances where there was no meaningful title and not until I moved to the content of the frame could I hear what the purpose was e.g. search box |
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When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next? |
Always |
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Assessment for LWW Journals by Mohawk - Module 4: Content | Status: Complete | Grade: D-
PDFs
Searchable PDFs
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are the sampled PDFs image-only? |
Sometimes |
11 articles from 11 different LWW journals were tested ranging in dates from 1975-2024. Three articles were found to be image-only from journals dated 1996, 1984 and 2000. |
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Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)? |
Never |
5 articles from 5 different LWW journals were tested ranging in dates from 1975-2024. |
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Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable? |
Sometimes |
11 articles from 11 different LWW journals were tested ranging in dates from 1975-2024. Three articles were found to be not searchable, from journals dated 1984, 1996, and 2000. All were image only. |
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Tagged PDFs
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are alternative descriptions provided? |
Sometimes |
2/5 articles passed the Alt-text test completely. |
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Is primary language specified? |
Sometimes |
1/5 articles passed the Primary Language test. |
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Is reliable character encoding provided? |
Sometimes |
2/5 articles passed the Character Encoding test |
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Are all page elements tagged? |
Sometimes |
1/5 articles had a complete pass for all Page Elements tagged. |
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Are list and table structure correct? |
Sometimes |
2/5 articles passed the List and Table Structure test. |
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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 |
All but one article had issues with preserving the order of text and various sections. The articles' sidebars, photos, figures, tables, and other sections were not presented logically.
In one article, a page that had two columns with a captioned photo in between was read from left to right instead of from one column to another. In other words, it read the first line of the first column, then the photo caption, then the first line of second column, then back to second line of first column and so on. In another article, the introduction was read first, and then the title (which was below the introduction). |
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Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”? |
Sometimes |
In one article, the title wasn't read by the screen reader, as it was not a tagged element.
A table that was not tagged had excessive blank spaces read as "blank."
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Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document? |
Always |
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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 |
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Images
Positioning of Images
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find? |
Always |
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Alternative Description
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? |
Sometimes |
None of the 5 articles with images (approx. 10 images in total) assessed had alternative text (as indicated by the read-out-loud function and confirmed in the accessibility report) and only one had what I would consider an appropriate textual alternative. |
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Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? |
Sometimes |
In one article, an image was used as the title of the article without alt-text. In another article, an image was used as the title of the journal without alt-text. The use of alt-text for logos was inconsistent. |
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Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative? |
Sometimes |
Out of all the rich images (approx. 20 images) found in 5 articles, only one had an appropriate textual alternative. |
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Tables
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate? |
Sometimes |
I was able to tab through row by row on all tables but two (out of 5), where the reading order was set so that tables were read down the columns.
None had summaries. |
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Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers? |
Sometimes |
Some of the table headers were not tagged. |
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Additional Navigational Aids
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks? |
Never |
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Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document? |
Not Applicable |
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Video Captions
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Are videos captioned? |
Sometimes |
Out of the 3 videos assessed, one did not have captions at all. All videos assessed were sourced from LWW journals. |
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If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive? |
Always |
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Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)? |
Sometimes |
Another video was assessed to replace the video that did not have captions at all. All videos assessed were sourced from LWW journals. The videos both had some degree of typos. In one 7-minute video, 6 typos were identified, while 32 typos were identified in a 5-minute video. It should be noted that medical terminology and medical-related phrasing were included in the words and that were not captioned correctly. Examples: the term 'sphygmomanometer' was captioned as ' fig manometers'. The phrase 'quiet and comfortable' was transcribed as 'quite uncomfortable' and the phrase 'the cuff should fit snugly' was captioned as 'somebody fell out'. The word 'bile' was captioned as 'spinal'. |
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Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video? |
Always |
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Are the captions in sync with spoken words? |
Always |
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For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided? |
Never |
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For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided? |
Never |
The one video without captions did not have transcripts provided. |
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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 |
None of the videos had described video or a text equivalent. |
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If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents? |
Not Applicable |
N/A as none of the videos had described video or a text equivalent. |
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Audio Accessibility
Question |
Answer |
Notes |
Images |
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip? |
Never |
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If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio? |
Not Applicable |
N/A as none of the audio clips have transcripts. |
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