East View Platform

***Below is a summary of UARC's accessibility evaluation. For the full report, click the pdf link in the menu on the right.*** 

MSU Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting (MSU UARC) conducted a high-level accessibility evaluation of East View to evaluate its conformance with WCAG 2.0 AA Criteria. This evaluation did not include all functionality or content of the site or all WCAG 2.0 AA Success Criteria.

During this evaluation, a number of issues were found that will make the site and its content impossible to use for many individuals with disabilities, and difficult to use for many others.

Keyboard users, including screen reader users and users with dexterity impairments, will be unable to access a variety of site functionality and content. Some critical interactive elements cannot be reached or opened via keyboard. Many interactive elements that can be reached lack a sufficiently visible focus indicator, making it difficult or impossible for many keyboard-only users to effectively use them, as they cannot determine when they have reached the correct element. Focus order is also incorrect in places, further increasing the difficulty of using the site with a keyboard.

Individuals with visual impairments, including those that rely on screen readers, will have additional problems. Most lightbox content cannot be read with a screen reader, making lightboxes impossible to use. Some content is not read out or is read out incorrectly and structural information is not appropriately conveyed to users, making it difficult or impossible to understand content and organization in places. Some form inputs are not appropriately labeled, making those inputs difficult or impossible to use for those that rely on screen readers. Custom elements do not correctly announce themselves to screen readers, making them difficult or impossible to understand and use. Some images lack appropriate alternative text, significantly impacting users with visual impairments.

While text in the PDF is provided to screen readers (if they have Russian capabilities), the PDF has not been tagged for accessibility and no structural information is provided to assistive technologies, making it extremely difficult to use and navigate for users with disabilities. Additionally, no title or language are provided to assistive technologies.

Other issues were found that will make it difficult for users with a variety of disabilities to effectively use the system, including insufficient link context, insufficient color contrast, no means to bypass repeated navigation, and language changes not being properly documented in the code.

To improve access for users with disabilities, UARC recommends a full WCAG 2.0 AA evaluation and that the problems discovered be remediated.