Assessment Report | LEAP

Assessment Information
eResource Title	Vendor	Overall Grade
ASM Handbooks Online	ASM international	B

Images

Positioning of Images

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are the images positioned prominently and easy to find?	Always	The images are put beside pieces of information and are not random. There are few pictures; most of the ones found are the front covers of the books.

Functional images embedded in the background

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are there functional images embedded in the background?	Always	If you zoom in on the main page to at least 250%, you lose some of the text. The institutional accounts and sign-in dropdowns, both become a profile image, that overlaps with other drop-down menus as well.

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	There are icons on the links for looking at the chapters, like “split-screen,” “chapter PDF,” “Share,” “Tools,” etc.

Alt Text

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes	I am giving this one a sometimes, as WAVE is finding errors beside the images, but there is a description of the images, such as one being a picture of a contributor being shown, and his biography beside. With the descriptions beside, there is a learn more button, that follows the same link as clicking on the picture beside. The images are there as a link, and giving a type of visual of a book cover, etc.
Do functional images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes	From my understanding, one functional image would be the symbol of a magnifying glass for search. In the search bar, it says "Search..." in light grey font, but I cannot find Alt text for the magnifying glass button. With the WAVE, the search bar becomes vertical and shows up as a redundant link. There are some images that come up as linked images with alt text, and 2 that come up as null or empty.
Do images used as text contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Sometimes

Content Scaling

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
When zoomed in at 200%, is text intact, readable, and not cut off?	Always	At 200%, the text is intact, readable, and not cut off. The only exception I could find was tabling, as they would have a little bar at the bottom of each to scroll over to see the rest, but these are exceptional cases.
Are images clear and unpixelated at 200%?	Always	Some images can look a little blurry at 200% but are still legible.
Is horizontal scrolling minimized at 200%?	Always	The only horizontal scrolling I could find was again the tables mentioned above.

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	Could not find colour coded graphs.
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?	Never	Cannot find an alt text for these links, it seems like they just show up as regular text.

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	I cannot find this choice, but was able to use an outside source to screen read for parts.

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)?	Sometimes
Are links or buttons accessible via keyboard navigation?	Always

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?	Sometimes	At 800 x 600, can find some issues with the screen where the top bar is not appearing off the right side, even when you scroll. Otherwise, it seems everything else formats the way it needs.
Do images avoid overlapping at all screen resolutions?	Sometimes	Again, have the issue where it condenses some of the sign-in options to a button that covers some of the other dropdown menus.
Is the overall reading experience preserved at all screen resolutions?	Sometimes	For the most part yes, it does move some of them around to all fit, but they all still flow and go together, other than the pieces mentioned above.

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
Do user input fields contain labels in addition to overall instructions mentioned above?	Sometimes	Sometimes it just has the placeholder text for the overall website, but searching within the books, it has labels beside.
Are descriptions for fields and boxes easy to understand?	Sometimes
Are labels placed above the user input fields and clearly associated with each field?	Sometimes
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.	Always	The fields are predictive, suggesting options resulting from the text being typed. Once you search for something, an update search appears on the side that allows you to revise and edit the search that was done.

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	The error would come from the search result page, which tells you to modify the search and try again. When entering dates, it will pop up saying incorrect format, as well as when signing in or registering, you will have a red dialog box that appears after attempting to sign in with a wrong email.
Do alert messages clearly indicate the field in which the error has occurred and a description of the error and the fix?	Sometimes
Is the user able to easily access the user input field to correct the error?	Always
Is the user able to resubmit the form and re-validate their submission?	Always
Do error reports follow a logical reading and navigation order?	Always

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	I'm not sure if this was Google doing it, but it would come up with red lines underneath and you can right-click to find suggestions of others.

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	Search always appears around the search bar and/or in the bar, as well as the symbol of the magnifying glass appearing in many.
Are icons that have adjacent links consistent?	Always
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	Unless you go out of the ASM Handbooks Online section by clicking on the digital library (as these are different databases owned by ASM and need a separate login, everything else is consistent.
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?	Sometimes
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?	Always	They are not pop-ups but separate windows following the links to resources. One could close them if they wanted.
Does the database avoid launching pages in a new browser window with the usual browser controls missing?	Always	It opens another copy of the book or chapter into a separate window for you and looks the same as the rest of the website.

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?	Sometimes	There is an update button, but refining results does automatically update. Also, can choose the filter option to open, but cannot scroll through the filters to add any.
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	Not sure if this is the correct interpretation of this one, but there are no pop-ups to distract from where you are tabbing and going through the page.

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	Goes between all links, but does not access text.
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?	Always
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)?	Always	Have to "shift+tab", as the "skip to main content" link is hidden.
Are skip links visible or invisible?	Not Applicable	They are invisible.
Are skip links (visible or invisible) positioned prominently near the beginning of the page?	Always
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?	Never
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?	Sometimes	It does relay it line by line, but this can make it harder to understand as it does not give you the x axis information to correlate the 2 together.

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?	Sometimes	Some of them do, the navigational frame does not, while the ones on the right side do like "related book content", etc.
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?	Never
Are the sampled PDFs locked (secured)?	Never
Are the sampled PDFs fully searchable?	Always

Tagged PDFs

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are alternative descriptions provided?	Never	Every PDF came up as Failed in all Alt Text rules.
Is primary language specified?	Never
Is reliable character encoding provided?	Sometimes	Out of 4 documents, I only found 1 that passed.
Are all page elements tagged?	Sometimes	Some of them always came up passed such as "multimedia, screen flicker, Scripts", but tagged content was always failed.
Are list and table structure correct?	Never	All of these came up with failed, and summaries were skipped.

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	Most of them are consistent, does not say "blank" spaces, and flows in a meaningful manner. One of the areas that seem to be odd are with figures. My one article it starting reading some of the numbers of the figure, then about halfway through went to the next area of text to continue. Another article the reading went word by word, where the other articles were spoken normally.
Does the Read out Loud function avoid problematic elements such as excessive blank spaces read as “blank”?	Always
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?	Always

Images

Positioning of Images

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

Alternative Description

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Do informative images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Never
Do images used as titles contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Never
Do rich images contain appropriate alt text or an appropriate textual alternative?	Never

Tables

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are tables tagged and described with in-text summaries where appropriate?	Never
Do table headers allow for easy navigation with screen readers?	Never

Additional Navigational Aids

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Does the bookmarks panel display bookmarks?	Sometimes	I found some that did not have bookmarks, while others did.
Do bookmarks link to the correct sections in the document?	Always

Video Captions

Question	Answer	Notes	Images
Are videos captioned?	Not Applicable
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
If a transcript is provided, does it accurately capture the content of the audio?	Not Applicable

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