ARCADIAN LIBRARY ONLINE: ACCESSIBILITY

The Arcadian Library and is committed to ensuring equal access for all users, regardless of technology or ability. We aim for compliance with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/). 

Our site is built using code compliant with W3C standards for HTML and CSS. The site displays correctly in current browsers and using standards-compliant HTML/CSS code means that any future browsers should also display it correctly. Where possible content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily and intuitively. 

We’re working hard to achieve our goal of Level AA accessibility, but our testing has identified a number of areas that still need improving, and these are listed below under ‘Areas for Improvement’ within each section. We will update this statement as we roll out improvements in these areas. 

The site has been developed to work well with keyboard-only operation, screen readers and other assistive software, and has been tested for colour contrast compliance and correct rendering with browser controls zoomed to 200%. The site has all been tested by specialist accessibility testers at QA InfoTech, who use a pair-testing methodology using combinations of sighted and non-sighted testers, and have been found to support Level AA with the exceptions noted below. 

Yes, most text content is presented as HTML so it is resizable and reflowable. The site has been tested with 200% browser zoom to ensure that text still renders correctly and legibly, without losing any of the site’s functionality or navigation. 

Yes, the site has been tested thoroughly to assess how sight-impaired or mobility-impaired users would access the content, and most of the site’s functionality is fully accessible via keyboard. The focus order moves correctly in most cases, and there are no ‘keyboard traps’ in the site. 

Areas for improvement: 

- A ‘Skip to Main Content’ link needs to be added

- Keyboard-only users cannot expand/collapse the post-search filters

- The HTML Language tag should be added throughout to clarify that the content is in English

- Keyboard focus is not visible on 'Search' and 'Go' buttons

- Focus is not visible in the 'Explore By' and 'Browse Contents' navigation menus

Yes, the site has been manually tested throughout using JAWS 18, NVDA 2018, Apple VoiceOver and Android Talkback. 

Areas for improvement: 

• Some elements are not tagged as headings for screen reader users (e.g. navigation bar links) 

• On submitting invalid entries in forms, there is no automatic error notification, although there is a workaround (users can navigate the page manually to read error messages). 

Some home page images lack alt text, but these are purely decorative and the relevant information is also provided in text format.

An area of improvement is the images of documents in the Digital Archive view, which do not contain meaningful alt text, so this content is not accessible to vision-impaired users (the thumbnails for the Digital Archive view do, however, have alt text).

To ensure accessibility for low-vision or colour-blind users, we aim to ensure that the colour contrast ratio for all interactive elements meets the WCAG standard minimum of 4.5:1. We also aim never to use colour as the only source of information: whenever colour is used to convey meaning this is also conveyed using text equivalents and HTML tags. 

Areas for improvement which do not currently meet this standard include the ‘Back to top’ links throughout the site the ‘Search’ icon in main navigation bars, and coloured hyperlinked text on some pages.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require assistance, or have any queries or feedback relating to accessibility. Use the Contact Us form, and select ‘Access or Technical Problem’ from the Inquiry drop-down. 

If required, we will be happy to provide a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) which gives further details of this site’s compliance with both the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act.