Assessment Report | LEAP

Assessment Information
eResource Title	Vendor	Overall Grade
HeinOnline	William S. Hein	B-

Key Findings

Strengths

Information is not distorted when zoomed in at 200%

Weaknesses

Some text and images meet contrast requirements
Some images contain a textual alternative
Some information is preserved at different screen resolutions

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Always	There are not many images. However, the images the images that are present are easy to find and well-placed.

Functional images embedded in the background

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background?	Never	There are no misalignments of functional images when the browser window is resized or the font size is changed.

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	Icons appear in the same place for all articles, near the top.	Icons Hein.png

Alt Text

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes	There are not many images included in this database. However, not all images have alt text or a caption describing their content, which may affect accessibility for users relying on screen readers. This image is an example that contains no alt text or caption. It appears with two other images for an introductory article about Civil Rights. These images could be purely decorative, but they do seem to be historical examples and therefore should have some accompanying description.	Hein Informational.png
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always	All functional images contain alt text.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always

Content Scaling

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?	Always	When zoomed in at 200%, text should remain intact, readable, and not cut off to ensure accessibility.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?	Always	All images are clear and unpixellated when zoomed in at 200%. However, the Hein Online logo and some icons do appear to be slightly pixelated.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?	Always	Horizontal scrolling is minimized at 200%. It does not impact any important information

Colour and Contrast

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?	Sometimes	There is one consistent contrast error on every page. The contrast error is 3.25:1.	Hein Contrast.png

Colour

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?	Sometimes	No colour-coded graphs were found.
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?	Always	Blocks of content are always separated in a way that maintains clarity and organization.
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action?	Always

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 is no read aloud or text to speech 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?	Always	Links and buttons are spaced far enough apart to allow users to accurately activate them.
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate?	Always
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)?	Always	All links and buttons tested are functional. No dead links were detected.
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?	Always	All links and buttons are accessible via keyboard navigation

Dynamic content

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Can users pause carousel movement?	Not Applicable	No carousels are found in this database.
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard?	Not Applicable	There is no carousels.

Liquid layout

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap?	Sometimes	Most information is readjusted to match the size of the screen at all resolutions. However, some text overlaps and the preview for the contents of the report does not appear at 320 x 568 and 375 x 667.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?	Always	Images avoid overlapping. However, the images do require users to use the horizontal scroll bar to see the full image at 320 x 568 and 375 x 667
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?	Sometimes	The reading experience is mostly preserved at all screen resolutions. However, users must use the horizontal scroll bar to read some of the text at 320 x 568 and 375 x 667.

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?	Always	There are visible instructions to guide users.
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?	Sometimes	Not all input fields contain labels.	Hein Labels.png
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?	Always	Though some labels are missing, the surrounding descriptions remain clear and understandable for users.
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?	Sometimes	Mixture of labels placed beside the corresponding field and above it.
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available?	Always	A red text cue will appear at the top of the form if the user fails to enter the required information correctly..	Hein Error.png
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields?	Never	No visual indicator is present in any of the field forms.

Error Prevention

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable.	Sometimes	If a user enters an incorrect phrase or leaves the search field empty, results will still be displayed. However, when incorrect login information is entered, an error message will appear, allowing the user to try again.

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?	Sometimes	An error message does not appear when signing in with incorrect credentials. Instead, the user is redirected to the My Library sign-in page without any indication of an error. This has been tested under the MyHein Profile. However, if a user is signing up and either enters incorrect information or forgets to fill out required fields, an error message will appear.However, an error message does appear if a user is trying to sign-up and puts or forgets to add information when creating an account.
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix?	Sometimes	An error message does appear if a user is trying to sign-up and puts or forgets to add information when creating an account.
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error?	Sometimes	It is not possible to correct the error if an incorrect email address or password is entered after an account has already been created, at least when the library is signed in.
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission?	Sometimes	Only if the user is creating a new account.
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order?	Sometimes	When it allows user to correct errors.

Search function spell-check

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
When a user spells a word incorrectly, does the search function offer spelling suggestions or synonyms?	Sometimes	When entering misspelled word in the search field suggestions come up in a drop-down menu. However, there is no suggested correct spelling offered.

Functionality of Interactive Elements

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site?	Always
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type?	Always
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”.	Always	The search button is represented by a magnifying glass icon and is located in the header of the database. "Search" serves as a placeholder in the search field.
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?	Always	Yes, icons with adjacent links are consistent.
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone?	Always	Yes. The purpose of the link can be determined by the text.

Consistent Navigation

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the eresource have a consistent layout and navigation across all pages?	Always
Are search fields located in the same places throughout the website?	Always	The layout and navigation is consistent throughout the database. The same information and links appears in the header on all pages.
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website?	Always	What’s New, Help, Account and MyHein Profile menus and links all appear in the header of every page.
Are links, buttons, images, and other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website labeled consistently?	Always

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	Pop-up windows are avoided.
Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded?	Always
Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups?	Not Applicable	No pop-ups appear.
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing?	Always

Headers

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately?	Sometimes	There are heading errors.
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading?	Always	Headings that are included are clear and concise.

Menus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options?	Always	There are a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options.
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items?	Always	For the drop-down menus in the filters, there are usually between 5 and 10 options. Some do have more, depending on the research topic and whether filters have been used to narrow the search.
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation?	Always	All menus and submenus are accessible with screen reader and keyboard navigation.

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
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content?	Always	There is an “Apply” button for most of the filters.
Does the database avoid automatic redirection?	Always

Change of Context: Focus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus?	Always
Does the database avoid launching new windows when a component receives focus?	Always
Does the database avoid change of focus when a component receives focus?	Always
Are you able to tab through a page using keyboard navigation without the keyboard focus moving away from the control?	Always

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

Keyboard Navigation

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Can keyboard focus be moved to all page elements?	Always	Yes the focus can be moved to all necessary page elements.
If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page?	Always	Keyboard navigation uses the components described in the keyboard navigation section in third-party tools such as pressing enter to access drop-down menus and the spacebar to select a checkbox.
Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above?	Always	Default keyboard navigation order is logical going from left to right and down the page, which is the standard reading order.
When using a keyboard to navigate the interface, is the keyboard focus indicator visible?	Sometimes	The keyboard focus indicator is visible for most navigation; however, it can sometimes be difficult to see on certain icons or appears only as an underline for links, making it less distinct.
Does all interactive functionality work via keyboard, and does it behave consistently and as expected?	Always
Does focus order move sequentially across form fields?	Always

Skip Links

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)?	Never	No skip links were found when testing in both Chrome and Firefox browsers via keyboard navigation.
Are skip links visible or invisible?	Never	No skip links were found when testing in both Chrome and Firefox browsers via keyboard navigation.
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page?	Never	No skip links were detected near the beginning of the page.
Are skip links labelled properly?	Never	There is a "Skip to Main Content" link in the database's code, but it appears to be inactive.
Are skip links accessible via keyboard?	Never	The skip link is not found or accessible through keyboard navigation. However, the screen reader detects a "main content" link, even though there is no visible or hidden link on any of the pages. Despite this, the link is present in the database's code.
Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content?	Never	No anchor links appear in this database
Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page?	Never	No skip link has been identified on any of the pages.

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the reader capture accurate information as it appears in the table and the columns and rows?	Not Applicable	No tables are found within this database.

Frames

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another?	Not Applicable	No frames are found.
Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame?	Not Applicable	No frames are found.
When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next?	Not Applicable	No frames are found.

Key Findings

Strengths

Videos have captions and audio descriptions/transcripts

Weaknesses

PDFs are searchable but not tagged

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?	Never	All seven PDFs tested were not image only. The manual test was conducted and it passed the accessibility checker test.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?	Never	All seven PDFs tested are not locked. Text is searchable and extractable.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?	Always

Tagged PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are alternative descriptions provided?	Never	None of the PDFs reviewed have alternative text tagging.
Is primary language specified?	Never	Primary language is no specified. Though, many of the Canadian documents have both French and English.
Is reliable character encoding provided?	Never	All seven PDFs reviewed failed character encoding test.
Are all page elements tagged?	Sometimes	All of the page elements are not tagged. All seven PDFs failed the tagged PDF test. However, all passed the forms field tagged test and the multimedia tagged test.
Are list and table structure correct?	Never	All documents reviewed failed this test in the accessibility checker.

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?	Always	Articles were read in a logical order, even though they are presented in columns.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?	Always	No issues have been encountered with the 'Read Out Loud' function reading excessive blank spaces as 'blank.' The feature effectively handles document content, reading sections and text in a logical order without skipping or unnecessarily announcing blank spaces.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?	Always

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	Some images appear blurry when zoomed in to 250%, making readability difficult. This is especially noticeable in older legal documents, where the text quality may already be lower.

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Always	Images are positioned in areas that flow with the documents and are easy to find.

Alternative Description

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Never	Informative images in the documents reviewed do not contain appropriate alt text or other textual alternatives.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Not Applicable	There are no images used as titles. The only image serving as a title is the HeinOnline logo, which includes text beneath it.
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Not Applicable	There are no rich images in any of the PDFs reviewed.

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?	Not Applicable	All documents failed this test in the accessibility checker. Additionally, users cannot tab from one row to another; they must use the arrow keys to navigate through the tables. However, none of the reviewed documents contained any tables.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?	Not Applicable	There are no tables found within the documents reviewed.

Additional Navigational Aids

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?	Never	Though some of the PDFs passed the bookmark test. None of them actually had any bookmarks displayed in the panel.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?	Never	No bookmarks appeared in the panel.

Video Captions

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are videos captioned?	Always	All videos reviewed have a closed captioning option. They are embedded and linked from the HeinOnline Youtube channel.
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?	Always	Users can turn on and off the closed captioning. It is in the same place – contained in the video playbar at the bottom. It is easily found like all other Youtube Videos
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?	Always	All videos reviewed were typo-free and grammatically correct.
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?	Always	Captions are at the bottom of the video above the playbar.
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?	Always	All videos reviewed have captions fully in-sync with the narrator who is speaking them.
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?	Always	Transcripts for each video are available on the HeinOnline YouTube channel. However, they are not included with the videos in the HeinOnline training section of the database. While users can still access the transcripts, they must take an extra step to find them.
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?	Always	All videos have both a transcript provided on Youtube channel, with closed-captioning option, and subtitles.

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	Videos do not include described video options or a text equivalent. However, each segment of the videos has chapter titles.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents?	Not Applicable	Videos do not have described video options or a text equivalent.

Audio Accessibility

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?	Not Applicable	The version of HeinOnline that I have access to does not have the audio files available.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?	Not Applicable	The version of HeinOnline that I have access to does not have the audio files available.

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