Assessment Report | LEAP

Assessment Information
eResource Title	Vendor	Overall Grade
Sage Premier Journals	SAGE	B+

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Sometimes	Almost all instances of images on the sampled pages were in logical places in relation to text. There were two concerns. In search results, symbols are used to indicate to which formats a user has access. There was a small visual gap separating the symbols from the item they were attached to that may push them off the screen upon magnification. In articles that full text available through html, some images are not shown until clicked on by the user. This opens a box over other text that was sometimes difficult to close.

Functional images embedded in the background

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background?	Never	Images enlarge with text and page is reformatted based on magnification and size of browser screen.

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

Alt Text

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes	All informational images in the sample had alt text but often the description was very basic, such as "table" or "figure" which was also redundant to the caption.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes	Buttons that were designed for the database were always well labelled with alt text. Other resource's buttons, such as Altmetrics or Lean Libraries, had no alt text at all.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Always	Found in the headers, both database and journal logos had appropriate alt text.

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	The only exception to this is found in the Adobe pdf icon, which although fuzzy was still recognizable which is why the answer was input as always and not sometimes.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?	Always	The database had no instance of horizontal scrolling on any page in the sample. At 200% the menus even reformatted to limit horizontal requirements to screen width.

Colour and Contrast

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do text and images have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1?	Always

Colour

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do colour coded graphs have text equivalents?	Not Applicable	Only graphs available were included as part of full text read-throughs. No graphs used colour to compare data even after expanding the sample.
Are blocks of content separated from one another using visual separation (such as whitespace or borders)?	Always	The eResource uses a variety of visual cues to organize information such as borders, white space, and background shading. They never put two shaded areas side-by-side without white space nor use different colours in shading to separate menus. White space is enough to tell information is separate. Read order finishes one section before moving to the next even if the text is in line between the two sections.
Are text alternatives provided where colour is used to indicate an action?	Always	Not many actions applicable. Where action succeeds or fails the text is usually what has colour applied to it.

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	Compatible with read-aloud software but no embedded software on eResourse.

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	Pretty standard clickable area for text links. Buttons boundaries are always clearly defined and visual cue matches with clickable area.
Using your mouse to test links, are links and buttons far enough apart for users to accurately activate?	Sometimes	With a mouse there is a good amount of space between almost all links. An exception exists around lists of text that are all links (such as a list of subject headings for an article). There is some space between links --enough for someone with average sight and motor control-- but it could be difficult to tell which link is being hovered over as spacing text looks much like this paragraph. There are a few more instances of clustered links if a touch screen is considered.
Using any method to test links, are all links and buttons functional (i.e., not dead)?	Always	I am sure, on occasion, a user will find a dead link but the sample used at this time hosted no dead links.
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?	Always	Sometimes when sections are switched between, it is difficult to tell what link is selected. This is likely unfamiliarity with 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?	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?	Always	After the cookies notification is closed, the reading experience is as expected for each screen size.

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	There is always placeholder text instructions but clear instructions outside of placeholder text only occurs on certain pages, including off to the side of the advanced search page which visually is out of the way even when looking for it.
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?	Sometimes	Form labels are occasionally used correctly. Drop-down boxes, and check boxes are more correctly labelled to standard than open ended form boxes.
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?	Always	This answer includes the information found in placeholder text because sometimes that is the only place a description is found. In those cases, the placeholder text is easy to understand. Occasionally the description comes in the form of a '+' or magnifying glass, the symbols so commonly mean add or search respectively that they were counted as clear instructions.
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?	Sometimes	Anywhere placeholder text is not used, labels are consistently placed above input fields and spacing makes it clear what the label is associated with. Where placeholder text is used there is rarely labels above the input field.
Are text cues for coloured form control labels available?	Always	Overall the resource uses text cues more frequently than coloured cues and does not fail to use text in the used sample.
Are other visual indicators provided consistently, such as an asterisk for required form fields?	Always	This is based on the sample used and cannot be guaranteed for the who resource.

Error Prevention

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are user input fields either reversible, checked, or confirmed? One of the three is acceptable.	Always	The resource seems to use some combination of Reversible and/or Checked

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	Most messages appeared after there was an attempt at submitting the form, although occasional form fields would alert in real time, such as password requirements while creating a new account.
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix?	Always	This was a visual cue. Screen readers did not catch them in combination with keyboard navigation, although for certain screen resolutions you could hover over the visual alert with the mouse to have the screen reader read it out.
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error?	Always	Even though alerts were after submission in most cases. Fields with errors were just as easy to edit as to input the original information.
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission?	Always	Would advise further exploration of login attempts. However other forms seemed to work until required fields and formats were met.
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order?	Sometimes	The error reports were not always part of keyboard navigation, but they did have a logical reading order.

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	The search function does check spelling and indicates when an error has occurred through the common red underline but not suggestions or synonyms are offered. However, it does search the database based off likely corrections if the incorrect spelling is submitted.

Functionality of Interactive Elements

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are icons such as to save, download, or print consistent across the site?	Always	Based off of the sample used.
Is alternative text clear and consistent for each icon type?	Always	The resource uses consistent language and icons within the sample examined.
Are actions consistently labelled across the site? For example, the “search” button is always labeled “search”.	Always
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?	Always
Can the purpose of each link be determined from the link text alone?	Always	Assuming that users are familiar enough with databases to know a linked title will link to the the article's record, all links in the sample describe purpose in text alone.

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?	Sometimes	The is only exceptions to where search fields are located on the home and help pages found in the sample.
Do other features occur in the same place throughout the website?	Sometimes	Help page is the only exception within the sample.
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?	Sometimes	Most of the main functions do not open a new tab but there are features that open a new tab only a few of those are marked with a symbol indicating it will happen.
Does the database avoid launching pop-up windows automatically when the database is loaded?	Always	In the sample taken there were no examples of launching pop-ups.
Where pop-ups occur, are users able to postpone or suppress any pop-ups?	Sometimes	A user can close any pop-up window found in the sample to be opened later by selecting the same link. This always occurs after the popup is already on the screen.
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	Either the visual organization regarding nested headings is poor or occasionally the website will have a heading 3 not nested in a heading 2 but directly nested in the heading 1. Headings are used but sometimes in a not obviously organized manor.
Are headings concise and clear, and accurately reflect the content under that heading?	Always	Although the structure of headings is sometimes difficult to follow, the eresource does use headings that are concise and clear for the content it represents.

Menus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do database page menus have a reasonable number of navigation items and drop-down options?	Always	Reasonable is a subjective evaluator but not every menu item is a drop down box and as a visual user it is not overwhelming.
Does the main navigation and drop-downs contain a reasonable number of menu items?	Sometimes	Some drop downs, especially for searching years or journals by name, contain an unreasonable number of menu items to sort through.
Can all menus and submenus be accessed with screen readers and via keyboard navigation?	Always	Within testing sample 'always' is true.

Change of context

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the “results” page or item record view avoid opening in a new tab without a warning?	Sometimes	These pages will only do an action, such as opening a new tab, if the user hits enter. However, the action of opening a new tab has inconsistent warning in this eresource.
Is there an "update now" button that requests a refresh of content rather than automatically updating the content?	Sometimes	The refining tools in search results has some features that will update the search results automatically (Moving the date range toggle).
Does the database avoid automatic redirection?	Sometimes	A user could accidentally use a tool to refine their search and (on a fast internet connection where the new results load quickly) not notice they have changed their results.

Change of Context: Focus

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the form refrain from submitting automatically when a component receives focus?	Always	In a form with a submit function, focus on any component including the submit button does not trigger an action.
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	Even when drop-down navigation opens, the focus still stays on the original menu item until the user moves the focus.
Are you able to tab through a page using keyboard navigation without the keyboard focus moving away from the control?	Always	Please review. Unsure of meaning.

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?	Always	Assumed that it is appropriate that non-linked headers cannot be focused on by keyboard navigation
If moving keyboard focus away from a component requires more than arrow or tab keys, is this clearly indicated on the page?	Not Applicable	Within sample Tab and Arrow keys were enough to get to all interactive components.
Is default keyboard navigation order logical and intuitive, following the visual flow of the page as described above?	Always	Between the navigation an the footer the page is often divided into columns. This follows the logical path of left-most column from top to bottom before moving to the next column to the right.
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?	Always
Does focus order move sequentially across form fields?	Always

Skip Links

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there skip links (either visible or invisible)?	Sometimes	Not included on the help page, likely because the skip usually just by-passes the navigation menu(s) which is not included on the help page
Are skip links visible or invisible?	Always	Invisible
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page?	Always	First thing on any page they appear on
Are skip links labelled properly?	Always	"Skip to content" is favoured. Not always obvious what will be picked as content since on a record page it will skip to Authors name and bypass the download pdf area.
Are skip links accessible via keyboard?	Always	Only way they are accessible when they are included on this eresource.
Do anchors (link destinations) appear at the beginning of the relevant content?	Never	After pressing enter on a skip link, tab must be pressed again for the focus to reappear and there is no visual indication for what that focus will be.
Do skip navigation controls appear in the same place on every page?	Always	If they are included at all it is in the same place on every page within the sample.

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 inserted as images if viewable in the record. Not readable.

Frames

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the screen reader successfully navigate from one frame to another?	Not Applicable	No frames used within sample.
Does each frame have a meaningful title that tells the user the purpose of the frame?	Not Applicable	No frames used within sample.
When navigating the page using keyboard navigation, is the user able to navigate effectively from one frame to the next?	Not Applicable	No frames used within sample OR navigation not possible because NVDA did not recognize any frames.

PDFs

Searchable PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the sampled PDFs image-only?	Never	All PDFs in the sample had both searchable and extractable text. However, of note was that the oldest article in the sample (from 1979) did not have extraction programmed correctly. Two adjacent lines in columns were treated as one line of text.
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?	Never	All PDFs in the sample had extractable text. However, of note was that the oldest article in the sample (from 1979) did not have extraction programmed correctly. Two adjacent lines in columns were treated as one line of text.
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?	Always	All PDFs in the sample had searchable text.

Tagged PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are alternative descriptions provided?	Never	According to the report, no articles in the sample pass any aspect of the Alternative Text in the Accessibility Check.
Is primary language specified?	Never	According to the report, no pdf articles in the sample indicate primary language.
Is reliable character encoding provided?	Sometimes	According to the report, most characters in the sample were encoded properly. However the characters that weren't encoded were inconsistent between articles (although they were consistent within each article). One article had trouble with the dot that indicates a new item on a list, while another had poor coding for apostrophes and dashes. In other articles each of these features were encoded properly and passed the check.
Are all page elements tagged?	Sometimes	Most of the elements checked in the report about tagging failed on all articles in the sample. Forms, multimedia, and annotations were the most likely to pass, but may be in part due to the lack of forms, multimedia, and annotations not being used in the articles in the sample.
Are list and table structure correct?	Never	There was not a single passed item in the tables and lists sections of any of the articles in the sample.

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	The read aloud program follows the order of the page, even following columns on the article that failed to extract the text following the column format. Although, in an article that extracted perfectly there was an instance of the reader switching between columns one line at a time. Something that did not make sense initially was reading figures or tables after the main text on the page was completely read, if this is common practice then it would be logical/expected to a screen reader user and not actually an issue.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?	Sometimes	The oldest article in the sample had a little bit of 'garbage' in the read aloud. In a small part of the article it would read a number (that was not visible) at the beginning or end of line of text. The reading of footnote or endnote numbers was startling to a new user. Otherwise the most problematic (and consistent feature) was in most cases read aloud sections were one line long which made a small pause after each line ended, even if it was in the middle of a sentence. There were some examples of multiple lines of text being included in a single section which made the reading fluid.
Are the controls consistent and effective for navigating through the document?	Sometimes	For all articles in the sample, each page was formatted as a document so the read to end of page and read to end of the documents commands accomplished the same thing. The pause feature worked just fine. Arrow keys only had effect on what was being read if the cursor was involved, otherwise they would move the page so a person could follow along.

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

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Sometimes	Logos are in some cases found in corners, otherwise images are prominent and easy to find.

Alternative Description

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Never	No alt text for images within sample. Relied on Figure caption.
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?	Never	No alt text for rich images within sample. Relied on Figure caption.

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?	Sometimes	The reading order is done row by row but it is not tagged and can not be moved through using tabs.
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?	Never	Table headers not included

Additional Navigational Aids

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?	Never
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?	Never	Bookmarks not used. Cannot evaluate link accuracy.

Video Captions

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

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	eResource does not contain videos.
If the video includes described video or a text equivalent of the video, is it an accurate description of the video contents?	Not Applicable	eResource does not contain videos.

Audio Accessibility

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Is a link to a text transcript provided in reasonable proximity to the audio clip?	Not Applicable	eResource does not contain audio clips.
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?	Not Applicable	eResource does not contain audio clips.

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