EPUB (Assistive Technologies): Checkpoint 8

Below you will find video tutorials for completing accessibility evaluations of eTextbooks in EPUB format using Assistive Technologies (AT).  Click here to view the EPUB AT Manual as a PDF. 

  1. Getting Started
  2. Checklist Instructions
  3. Software Requirements
  4. Checkpoint 1: Accessibility Documentation
  5. Checkpoint 2 and 3: Text Access and Text Adjustment
  6. Checkpoint 4 and 5: Reading Layout and Reading Order
  7. Checkpoints 6 and 7: Structural Markup Navigation (Text, Lists, eReader) and Tables
  8. Checkpoint 8: Hyperlinks
  9. Checkpoint 9: Color and Contrast
  10. Checkpoint 10 and 11: Language and Images
  11. Checkpoints 12 and 13: Multimedia (Text Track, Transcript, Assistive Player) and Flickering
  12. Checkpoint 14: STEM (Markup and Notation)
  13. Checkpoint 15: Interactive Elements

Checkpoint 8: Hyperlinks

Transcripts

The eighth checkpoint is for hyperlinks and includes within book and live links. Functionality includes how links (e.g., website or email addresses) within the text of the digital resource are rendered as active that allows them to be activated. You need to check that the link redirects to the correct location, if it does not then it would fail. If the link does nothing when clicked on then it would fail. All hyperlinks also need to be descriptive. Descriptiveness means the link is descriptive enough for the users to know where the link will take them. If the link appears as a URL, then fail this sub category. Check both within book links and live hyperlinks for both functionality and descriptiveness.Check for functionality and descriptive links. Your excel sheet will show how many links need to be evaluated in the amount of material column. If you need to evalue 30 in-book links, check 10 from the beginning of the book, 10 from the middle, and 10 from the end. An example of an in-book link is exemplified in the first picture to the right. If you need 20 website hyperlinks, find links that should redirect you to a live website. The hyperlink should take you somewhere outside of the book. This second picture exemplifies a hyperlink. If 70% or more within-book hyperlinks redirect to the correct location and were descriptive enough to inform the user where the link would go then the checkpoint passes. Links would fail functionality if it does not redirect you to the correct section of the book and would fail descriptiveness if it does not inform the user to where he/she is being redirected to. For example, a symbol or arrow is not descriptive. In the additional column of your Excel sheet, explain how many links pass and which pages were used for the checkpoint. In the details column, restate the passing ratio for within book hyperlinks, which pages were used and how many links were found on those pages, why/if pages failed, and how Adobe Digital Editions, and that the screen reader NVDA was used to access and evaluate this text. Since the within-book contains two points (functionality and descriptiveness), average both of the scores. For example, if 30/30 within-book hyperlinks pass for functionality and 0/30 pass for descriptiveness, the score would be 30/60 which will be a ranking 5 out of 10. 

The second part of checkpoint 8 involves the hyperlink functionality which are live on the internet. Again, this second part combines the average of the following two subsections (functionality and descriptiveness). This row will combine the following two evaluations of hyperlink functionality and hyperlink description. First, start with the hyperlink functionality. When clicking on the hyperlink, it should redirect the user to a hyperlink on the internet. Use Google Chrome as the internet browser. Passing includes 70% or more within book hyperlinks being functional by redirecting you to the appropriate website. In the additional information column of the Excel sheet, state the ratio of how many within book hyperlinks pass for functionality and which pages were used. The live hyperlinks also need to be descriptive. Descriptive hyperlinks means that the link is descriptive enough to inform the user where the link would go. A failed descriptive hyperlink is exemplified by including the URL. Passing includes 70% or more within book hyperlinks being descriptive and read by NVDA. In the additional information column of the Excel sheet, state the ratio of how many within book hyperlinks pass for descriptiveness and which pages were used. In the details column explain if or why pages failed and what was used to access the links online.