Thorium Reader by EDR Lab
- Reading System Thorium Reader
- Vendor EDR Lab
- OS: macOS
- Tested with Braille: No
- Tested with Screenreader: No
- Input type: Keyboard
Results for Visual Adjustments: 87.5%
Test book used: Fundamental Accessibility Tests: Visual Adjustments, version 1.0.0
Summary
Visual adjustments: • The app provides for changing the text size, font, and colors. Larger fonts and a wider choice of color themes would be appreciated by some users. There are some notable and high-value features in terms of visual adjustments: • The display can be selected as paginated or scrolling, the margin can be justified or left-aligned, and the number of columns controlled. These provide control for the user that of often not available to the user. Furthermore, the spacing can be adjusted in flexible ways, with control over margin, word, letter and line spacing. This level of adjustment over visual presentation will be highly appreciated by some users. • Ideally Keyboard shortcuts for changing text size should be provided and discoverable. • There is no obvious way to increase the size of an image.
| Test ID | Name | Description | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| visual-010 | Change font size | Use the controls available in the application or else in the operating system to change (increase/decrease) the size of the font. The font size change should apply uniformly on all the book content including the Table of Contents, Footnotes, Page List, Notes and Bookmarks. | Pass | Changing font size is achieved via settings/text/font size, then moving a slider control. The change is visible in the dimmed window behind the panel. Could not discover a keyboard shortcut to change the font size. A larger maximum size would be preferable to some users. |
| visual-110 | Change background and foreground color | Change background and foreground colour (May be through reading system feature or through OS settings). | Pass | Changing color is via settings/theme. Three options are provided, neutral, sepia and night. Additional themes would be appreciated by some users. |
| visual-210 | Change brightness | Use the controls available in the application or else in the operating system to change (increase/decrease) the screen brightness. | Pass | This is achieved using the hardware or OS adjustment. |
| visual-310 | Apply high contrast system configuration | The reading system interface and book content except images should respect the high contrast mode (invert colors) if present in the Operating System. | Pass | Invert colors worked as expected. |
| visual-410 | Magnify the User Interface(UI) | Use the controls available in the application or else in the operating system to magnify the Reading System screen. All aspects of the User Interface such as Menus, Pop-up Windows, Dialog Boxes and Search Box should get magnified uniformly. | Pass | The macOS Zoom feature worked as expected. |
| visual-510 | Change Font | Choose from a selection of fonts, including sans-serif and serif options. | Pass | Changing font is achieved via settings/text, then choosing from the font dropdown box. Eight options are included, including a mix of serif and sans sarif fonts, the default font and Readable (dys). |
| visual-610 | Support for SVG | Check if a image is displayed below this paragraph. This image is in SVG format. | Pass | The gray circle is displayed as expected. |
| visual-710 | Enlarge SVG image | Check if the image given in the previous test can be enlarged. | Fail | The gray circle remains the same size when the font size is changed. There is no obvious method to increase the size of the SVG image within the reader. |
Results for Read Aloud: 100%
Test book used: Fundamental Accessibility Tests: Read Aloud, version 1.0.0
Summary
Read aloud in Thorium works well, with good control of reading position and different options for the visual display of the publication content. The text to speech voice switches automatically to the indicated language.
| Test ID | Name | Description | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ReadAloud-010 | The content can be read aloud | Focus on the beginning of a paragraph or a sentence and initiate reading with text-to-speech using a feature of the reading system. | Pass | Readloud is started using the speaker button in the middle of the toolbar. At the time of evaluation there was no keyboard shortcut implemented. |
| ReadAloud-110 | Stop and resume reading | Initiate reading from any point in the book. Stop Read Aloud and note the last read position. Initiate reading again using the Read Aloud feature and check if reading starts at the last read location. | Pass | This works as expected. |
| ReadAloud-210 | The Read Aloud feature should continue until interrupted by the user | The Read Aloud feature should continue until interrupted by the user, keeping the text being spoken in view. | Pass | This works as expected. |
| ReadAloud-310 | All text should be read in the proper order | Sample text has been provided below to test the reading order. The Paragraph 2 should be read after Paragraph 1 by the Read Aloud feature. Note that visually Paragraph 2 is placed to the left of Paragraph 1 but it is second in the reading order. | Pass | This works as expected. |
| ReadAloud-410 | Change Read Aloud reading speed | It should be possible to adjust (increase/decrease) the speed of reading. | Pass | A speed control is available when read aloud is selected, with a range from x0.5 to x2 |
| ReadAloud-510 | Text to Speech handles punctuations and document structure appropriately | When Read Aloud is activated, there should be slight pauses after headings, list items etc., rather than reading as if it is one continuous section of text. | Pass | |
| ReadAloud-610 | Text is emphasised as it is spoken by read aloud | Check if the Text is emphasised as it is spoken by read aloud. | Pass | The current sentence is highlighted in feint yellow, and each word as it is spoken has a red underline. |
| ReadAloud-710 | The emphasis or highlight colour can be changed | Activate Read Aloud feature as described in the previous test. Change the colour of emphasis or visual highlight of the text being read aloud using any feature available in the reading system or the operating system. The users should have a choice of different colours for text highlighting. | Pass | An alternative (simplified) view of the publication is provided via Settings / Readaloud |
Results for Mathematics: 100%
Last updated: 18 January 2022
Test book used: Accessibility Tests Mathematics, version 1.1.1
Summary
Tested with Thorium 1.8.0 NOTE: Under Settings / Display / MathJax must be checked. Having MathJax unchecked (Which I believe might be the default setting) will fail the visual potions of these tests. Read Aloud Functionality included in these tests
| Test ID | Name | Description | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mathml-010 | Navigating block MathML with assistive technology and other technologies | The test checks if block MathML works with assistive technology and related technologies. | Pass | MathJax Enabled Visual: Displayed correctly Read Aloud: Speaks the MathJax generated equation description. MathJax Disabled: Visual: Math incorrectly displayed Read Aloud: Speaks MathML's Alt Text Description. |
| mathml-020 | Navigating inline MathML with assistive technology and other technologies | The test checks if inline MathML works with assistive technology and related technologies. | Pass | MathJax Enabled Visual: Displayed correctly Read Aloud: Speaks the MathJax generated equation description. MathJax Disabled: Visual: Math incorrectly displayed Read Aloud: Speaks MathML's Alt Text Description. |
| math-image-030 | Navigating Block Math images followed by Summary/Details with MathML | The test checks if block MathML works with assistive technology and related technologies in a HTML Summary/Details as an option to get at the native MathML. | Pass | MathJax Enabled Visual: Displayed correctly Read Aloud: Speaks the MathJax generated equation description, only if the summary/details was expanded initially otherwise it is skipped. MathJax Disabled: Visual: Math incorrectly displayed Read Aloud: Speaks MathML's Alt Text Description only if the details was already expanded otherwise it is skipped. |
| math-image-040 | Navigating Inline Math images followed by commented out MathML | This test shows an inline math expression as an image with only alt-text describing the math equation. This is not ideal but if a publisher can not use raw mathML directly this is an option for reprocessing in the future. | Pass | Always displays correctly since this is an image of the math equation. Read Aloud: speaks the image's alt text description. |
Results for Extended Descriptions: 100%
Last updated: 18 January 2022
Test book used: Accessibility Tests Extended Descriptions, version 1.1.1
Summary
Tested with Thorium 1.8.0
| Test ID | Name | Description | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| extdescription-010 | Detection and Utilization of HTML Details and Summary elements | Check if you can use HTML details and summary successfully and read the extended description contained in it. | Pass | Able to expand and collapse the summary/details and see the extended description. Read Now: Fails to read unless you click into the expanded details. |
| extdescription-020 | Technique for linking to a single extended description placed in a separate HTML file via text hyperlinks | Check if activating the hyperlink placed under the image takes you to a separate HTML file with extended descriptions, and the back link there brings you back to the image. | Pass | Navigating to / from the extended description as expected. Read Aloud accurately reads the extended description and links to and from the additional content. |