Project MUSE

This assessment covers portions of the Project Muse platform. The assessment revealed some problems with screen reader compatibility, resulting in screen reader users sometimes missing critical information needed to understand how to operate the features. 

Top 3 Issues:

1. Color – the colors used in the site have combinations that fail the required ratio for regular text of 4.5:1. People who have low vision or are colorblind may have difficulty reading text if the contrast between the text its background is insufficient. When the contrast ratio between text and its background is adequate, people who have low vision or are colorblind are more likely to be able to read the text.
2. Link Keyboard Focus – there are multiple links with no href so they are hidden from keyboard users. Links made from elements must have an href attribute to be valid hyperlinks. Without an href attribute, screen readers will not know that the text within the element is a hyperlink and it will not be keyboard focusable.
3. Labels – the form controls are not always labelled in a meaningful way or at all. People who are blind cannot use the visual layout of a form to determine which labels go with which form elements. In order to be certain which label goes with which form element, the label and form element must be programmatically associated. When labels and form elements are programmatically associated, a screen reader user can put focus on a form element and the screen reader will automatically read the label and element type together. In addition, some coding methods will create a larger clickable area for the form element which benefits people with motor disabilities.