Bloomsbury Collections Accessibility Statement

Last updated May 2020

 

 
Bloomsbury Digital Resources is committed to ensuring equal access for all users of our resources, regardless of technology or ability. For all our resources, we aim for compliance with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/).
 
Our sites are all 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, and the following items were all improved in May 2020:
  • The carousel on the home page is now fully accessible to screen reader users, with pause and stop mechanisms now available to keyboard controls
  • A ‘Skip to Main Content’ link is now available for keyboard navigation on all pages
  • Search Results page: tab focus now move to filters, to the favorite icons associated with each book title, and to the Author Name associated with book title
  • Users can now navigate to a ‘close’ button in the Email pop-up on the book landing page
  • Tab focus now moves to 'Available Collection' and 'Forthcoming Collection' dropdowns on Collections page.

Our testing has identified other areas that still need improving, and these are listed below under ‘Areas for Improvement’ within each section. We will continue to update this statement as we roll out improvements.

 
All of our sites have been developed to work well with keyboard-only operation, screen readers and other assistive software, and have been tested for color contrast compliance and correct rendering with browser controls zoomed to 200%. Our sites have 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, text content for all recently published books 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.
 
A number of titles on the site (mostly published prior to 2014) are presented in searchable PDF form only. All book chapters, including those with HTML full text, can also be downloaded as chapter-level PDFs. These are DRM-free, so do not require any plug-ins or special software, so can more easily be modified for accessibility, through zoom, changing color, reflowing or text-to-speech. 
 
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: 
  • Sequence of navigation is incorrect for the ‘Go to Page’ feature on the book landing page. 
Yes, the site has been manually tested throughout using JAWS 18, NVDA 2018, Apple VoiceOver and Android Talkback.
 
The carousel on the home page is screen reader accessible, and can be paused or stopped. On the main content pages such as book chapters, all content is correctly tagged to allow screen reader users to navigate the content and understand its structure. Screen reader users are able to follow text in the correct reading order throughout. 
 
Areas for improvement: 
  • 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). Also, screen reader users are not notified on submitting the ‘Clear’ button. 
  • Some editable fields are incorrectly labelled (checkboxes and Captcha field on the Contact Us page, several fields on the Search Results page, the ‘Other Title and ‘Occupation’ options on Register page)
  • On the Collections pages, sub-headings are not tagged as headings, and the screen reader reads hidden text from collection descriptions even when the user has not opted to reveal the text through the ‘Show more’ link
  • Headings need to be correctly tagged on the Library Resources, Search Results and My Collections pages. 
  • Link text is inappropriate for the links available to adjust font size on book chapter pages
  • Screen reader users are not notified after successfully sending Email on book page, or selecting Select All / Deselect All subjects on Advanced Search. 
  • Screen reader does not read the expanded/collapsed state of Browse by Subject, Recently Viewed and Recent Searches links in global navigation
Yes, appropriate alternative text is given for jacket cover images and book illustrations, so these can be correctly interpreted using screen reader software.
 
Areas for improvement:
  • Jacket cover images appearing under the ‘Related Content’ feature on book landing pages do not have correct alternative text
  • Padlock icons on the Collections pages are not correctly labelled
To ensure accessibility for low-vision or colorblind users, we aim to ensure that the color contrast ratio for all interactive elements meets the WCAG standard minimum of 4.5:1. We also aim never to use color as the only source of information: whenever color is used to convey meaning this is also conveyed using text equivalents and HTML tags.
 
Areas for improvement:
  • In My Collections, the current state of a selected folder is presented in the form of color only. 
  • The expandable/collapsible links on the home page in red, green and light blue do not meet minimum contrast standards; nor does the purple text used in the carousel, the gray text on white background (used for author and publisher names on Search Results page and in Related Books sections) or the gray ‘close’ icon on Citation overlay on book chapter page
  • Social media links are not visible in High contrast mode.
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.