Assessment Report | LEAP

Assessment Information
eResource Title	Vendor	Overall Grade
Academic Writer	American Psychological Association (APA)	A-

Images

Positioning of Images

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

Functional images embedded in the background

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background?	Never

Presence of Icons

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there icons where appropriate, such as icons to indicate PDF Full Text, Download, Folder, Citation, etc?	Not Applicable	This site is a guide, containing mostly tutorials and samples. It's not a regular database where users usually search and download/save their results, so Icons aren't commonly used here.

Alt Text

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes	Most pictures on this site do not have alt text, but they don't really affect how users interpret and understand the content. Most of the pictures are just accompanying the content, e.g. when the content is about disability, there is a picture with a person in a wheelchair.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Not Applicable	The only image used as text is the page logo "AW" for Academic Writer.

Content Scaling

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?	Always
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?	Always
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?	Sometimes	One has to scroll horizontally to see the entire page at 200%, but the scrolling is minimal.

Colour and Contrast

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?	Sometimes	Home page has a contrast ratio of 8.9:1, very high, but a few features on other pages have low contrast.

Colour

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?	Not Applicable	The only colour coded graph is a bar-chart that depends on color to represent the data changes. If colour was removed or changed, content and meaning of the chart will definitely change, but it doesn't seem fair to lower the score based on this single factor.
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?	Always
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	Didn't find this option through out of the website.

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
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
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?	Sometimes	Most of them are accessible via Keyboard navigation, but sometimes are quite difficult to locate where your key is on. Yes accessible, but with difficulty.

Dynamic content

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Can users pause carousel movement?	Not Applicable	No Carousel movement found
Is all functionality, including navigating between carousel items, operable by keyboard?	Not Applicable

Liquid layout

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is the order of the text preserved at all screen resolutions, without overlap?	Always
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?	Always
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?	Sometimes	No, on smaller screens, users have to scroll horizontally to view the whole page.

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?	Not Applicable	The only user input field is the only search box on this website. There is simple text in placeholder, and also help page for detailed instructions.
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?	Not Applicable
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?	Always
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?	Not Applicable
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available?	Not Applicable
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields?	Not Applicable

Error Prevention

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable.	Sometimes	for the search feature, it underlines the word when spelled wrong and gives the suggested correct words

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?	Not Applicable
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix?	Not Applicable
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error?	Not Applicable
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission?	Not Applicable
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order?	Not Applicable

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

Functionality of Interactive Elements

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site?	Not Applicable	there aren't icons/buttons for those functions
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type?	Not Applicable
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”.	Not Applicable	there is only one search box across the entire website. There isn't a search button, but a magnifying glass within the search box instead and placeholder text "search the learning centre".
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?	Not Applicable
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone?	Always

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
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website?	Always
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?	Not Applicable
Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded?	Not Applicable
Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups?	Not Applicable
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing?	Not Applicable

Headers

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is page content subdivided hierarchically into appropriate headings and tagged appropriately?	Always
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading?	Always

Menus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options?	Always
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items?	Always
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation?	Always

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?	Not Applicable
Does the database avoid automatic redirection?	Not Applicable

Change of Context: Focus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus?	Not Applicable
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

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

Keyboard Navigation

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Can keyboard focus be moved to all page elements?	Sometimes	They can get accessed with keyboard but sometimes it's hard to follow where the focus has gone to. Also, it's hard to go backwards.
If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page?	Not Applicable
Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above?	Sometimes	most of the times, but again, sometimes it's hard to follow and it's hard to move backwards.
When using a keyboard to navigate the interface, is the keyboard focus indicator visible?	Always
Does all interactive functionality work via keyboard, and does it behave consistently and as expected?	Not Applicable
Does focus order move sequentially across form fields?	Sometimes	somewhat. but it's hard to go backwards

Skip Links

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)?	Sometimes	Skip link showed on some pages, but not all.
Are skip links visible or invisible?	Not Applicable	Invisible
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page?	Sometimes
Are skip links labelled properly?	Always
Are skip links accessible via keyboard?	Always
Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content?	Not Applicable
Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page?	Always

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the reader capture accurate information as it appears in the table and the columns and rows?	Not Applicable	Tables are images

Frames

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another?	Always
Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame?	Always
When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next?	Always

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?	Not Applicable	It's hard to answer this question. There are sample papers that are image-only, but when you click on the image, a word doc is downloaded. So I selected Not Applicable.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?	Not Applicable
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?	Always	I would rate this one as Always because when the word doc is downloaded, and then of course it's both searchable and extractable.

Tagged PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are alternative descriptions provided?	Not Applicable
Is primary language specified?	Not Applicable
Is reliable character encoding provided?	Not Applicable
Are all page elements tagged?	Not Applicable
Are list and table structure correct?	Not Applicable

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?	Not Applicable
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?	Not Applicable
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?	Not Applicable

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	yes, but you have to scroll a bit to read the whole page

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Not Applicable	There aren't images in the PDFs

Alternative Description

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Not Applicable	The images on this site are just to company the text, like how the cover page illustration is to a book. For example, when the topic is about disability, there is a picture of a person in wheelchair. There isn't a particular Alt text for the informational images, but the message is clear without. And the text message is clear without the image as well.
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?	Not Applicable	Tables are image only, and you can't tab through. A word doc is downloaded when click on the table.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?	Always	Table headers allow for easy navigation with screen reader, but tables are images

Additional Navigational Aids

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?	Not Applicable
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?	Not Applicable

Video Captions

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are videos captioned?	Not Applicable	Did not find videos
If captions are closed, and need to be turned on by the user, is that process straightforward and intuitive?	Not Applicable
Are captions typo-free and grammatically correct (unless slang and grammatical errors are intentionally used in the video)?	Not Applicable
Does caption placement avoid blocking any important visual components necessary to understand the video?	Not Applicable
Are the captions in sync with spoken words?	Not Applicable
For videos that contain captions, are transcripts provided?	Not Applicable
For videos that do not contain captions, are transcripts provided?	Not Applicable

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?	Not Applicable
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents?	Not Applicable

Audio Accessibility

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?	Not Applicable	There aren't audio clips found on this site
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?	Not Applicable

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