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Library Services

Accessibility statement for City, University of London Library Services

This accessibility statement applies to :

(The City, University of London’s accessibility statement applies to libraryservices.city.ac.uk)

This website is run by City University of London Library Services. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • new PDFs of digitised course readings from April 2020 have tags, bookmarks, headings.
  • we’ve made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

For help with navigating CityLibrary Search, see the Summon Accessibility Compliance Guide for user guidance on skip navigation and user navigation.

See our guide to accessing PDFs for advice on reading PDFs and how to activate accessibility features which can be found in Adobe Acrobat.

Our e-book guide provides more information about the accessibility of individual e-book platforms and content. The guide explains the accessibility benefits and restrictions of different platforms and format types. If you find that any of our e-books are not accessible to you, we can provide an alternative format; please see our alternative formats guide for more information. City took part in the ASPIRE e-book accessibility audit to evaluate and drive improvement of publishers' and platforms' accessibility statements. Find out more about the ASPIRE project including Publishers' and Platforms' ASPIRE scores.

For help with Readings Lists Online, see the Talis accessibility statement page which also provides guidance about compatibility with assistive software and adaptations you can make in your browser.

CityLibrary News is our library news hub which uses CampusPress Wordpress blogs. We are using the University's customised “accessibility-ready” theme.

Library Guides (LibGuides),  Enquiry recording, and room and workshop booking (LibCal),  online forms and questionnaires (LibWizard) are provided by Springshare, 'Ask Us' and Online Chat (LibAnswers). View the Springshare Accessibility Statement.

Customisations and user generated content are the responsibility of Library Services. We have checked each staff generated Libguide page and FAQ and we have fixed alternative text, headings, meaningful link text and tables. All new FAQs and LibGuide pages follow accessibility standards and best practices.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Most older PDF documents in Library Guides, Reading Lists Online and City Research Online are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • You cannot skip to the main content or the accessibility help when in City Research Online.
  • Some accordions created with H5P are difficult to navigate using a keyboard.
  • In Library Guides and CityLibrary News some book display widgets from Proquest Syndetics UnBound cannot be opened using a keyboard with Mac/Safari.
  • A small number of auto-scrolling carousels on Library Guides landing pages cannot be stopped.
  • Some parts of the search interface in City Research Online is not accessible with a keyboard.
  • On a small number of pages the text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window.
  • The tab order on Browzine widgets is not logical.
  • Some alternative text is missing on the City Research Online homepage which should be null.
  • The alternative text on a small number of pages in Library Guides and Ask Us is not concise or written effectively.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print:

We will review your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Web Content team.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

To get in touch with someone to discuss accessibility issues:

Find out how to contact us.

City University of London provides Portable Induction Loops (PILs) for students, staff and visitors with hearing loss.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

City, University of London Library Services is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to ‘the non-compliances and exemptions’ listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Library Guides

Customisations and user generated content is the responsibility of Library Services. We have conducted our own testing and have fixed these elements with the exceptions below. We have checked each page and have fixed alternative text, headings, meaningful link text, colour contrast and meaning, and tables.

  • Some ARIA labels are missing on list items on the more… link text. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context).
  • There is some low colour contrast in some calendar widgets. This fails Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).

We have reported all of the issues above to Springshare. They have added the issues to their fix log. We will continue to chase our account manager for a resolution.

  • Some PDFs and Word documents lack navigable structure and alt-text. A small number of PDFs are not tagged and cannot be reflowed. By September 2022, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages. This fails  Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow. There are no PDF or Word documents which are essential to providing our services.
  • A small number of PDFs do not have meaningful, friendly page titles. By September 2022, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks.
  • Some short videos are video-only. Most of these videos provide an alternative to a text learning resource. We plan to provide descriptions of all content by September 2022.

Syndetics Unbound

Proquest Syndetics Unbound provide book display widgets which can be embedded into Library Guides pages and CityLibrary News posts. We are in the process of replacing these with Libguide book display widgets by September 2022.

  • Book widgets are not operable with a keyboard using Mac/Safari. This fails Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard.
  • The pause and play button on the carousel widget has low contrast. This fails Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).
  • Book Widgets do not increase in size when the page is zoomed. This fails Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow.
  • Book Widget covers do not have adequate focus when used with a keyboard. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible.

We have reported all of the issues above to Library Thing. They have added the issues to their fix log.

Browzine (Third Iron)

Browzine widgets are embedded on LibGuide pages referring to academic journals. Browzine accessibility guidance.

Browzine widgets have the wrong tab order for the ‘Explore Journals’ and ‘Watch the Video’ buttons. This fails Success Criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence. Keyboard users can find these links before the skip navigation link. Screenreader users can generate a list of links to find these links.

The problem has been reported to Third Iron. We will continue to chase our account manager for a resolution.

H5P

H5P content is embedded in some LibGuide pages. We choose content types which are listed as accessible.

City Research Online

We use Eprints for City Research Online. Eprints are working on updating the product with regards to WCAG 2.1 standards. There is an accessibility roadmap for Eprints future releases.

  • Some images and icons are missing alt text. This fails Success Criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content.
  • Some pages have multiple Heading 1 elements. This fails Success Criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content.
  • Some form field labels are missing. This fails Success Criterion 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions.
  • When a page is zoomed the focus indicator on the main menu has poor contrast. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible Success Criterion 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced).
  • When zoomed in at 300% some boxes spill off the page. This fails Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow.
  • When text is increased to 200% text in the calendar may overlap. This fails Success Criterion 1.4.4 Resize text.
  • ORCiD icon has a hover over which cannot be opened with the keyboard. This fails Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard
  • Calendar/ date selector pop-out filter is not operable by keyboard. This fails Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard.
  • Graphs have hover over for data breakdown which cannot be accessed with a keyboard. This fails Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard.
  • All internal navigation links are broken: Skip to main content link – not working. Skip to search link - not working. Skip to accessibility help link not working. This fails Success Criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks.
  • Search functions and fields are presented in a layout table. This fails Criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence.)
  • The 'metadata' and CORE' accordions on the item pages have no ARIA labels to indicate when they are in a collapsed or expanded state.

The problems above have been reported to E-Prints. We will continue to chase our account manager for a resolution.

CityLibrary Search

Our discovery tool, CityLibrary Search is powered by Summon. Summon is continually designed and developed to meet Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions. Summon is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.1 AA standard. See Summon's Accessibility statement and VPAT for non-compliances.

Other third-party products including e-books, online journals and databases

Accessibility information relating to our other third party resources including e-books, online journals and databases have been incorporated into our Databases A-Z page, so the information can be found at point of need. Where accessibility information is not publicly available, we have contacted our suppliers to request the information.

Some suppliers have provided us with a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), which is a self-evaluation of how accessible their product is. Where possible we have supplied a link to this information. Some suppliers have requested that their VPATS are not published, in those cases we can supply details on request.

We will continue to work with and chase suppliers for the information. Accessibility compliance and the visibility of accessibility information form key criteria when making decisions for subscriptions renewals.

We can arrange an alternative format of content which is not accessible. Please see our alternative format guidance.

Disproportionate burden

PDF documents

City Research Online contains over 14,000 research outputs mostly in PDF. Not all of the documents are fully accessible to a screenreader. While all items are machine readable, some are lacking correct tagging of elements, correct reading order, reflow, accessible metadata, alt text and accessible equations. We believe that remediating these documents would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

Reading List digitisations contains over 900 legacy digitized course readings in PDF. Not all of the documents are fully accessible to a screenreader. While all items have been processed with Optical Character Recognition software and are machine readable, some are lacking correct tagging of elements, correct reading order, reflow, accessible metadata, alt text and accessible equations. We believe that remediating these documents would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

If you are unable to access any of our PDFs we can provide an alternative format; please see our alternative formats guide for more information.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

We have replaced most PDFs and Word documents which are essential to providing our services with HTML content. We have fixed errors in a small number of PDFs identified by the Adobe Pro Accessibility Checker and manual checks. There are a small number of inaccessible PDFs. By April 2022, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. We aim to create new content in HTML format, any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

In addition to addressing the problems above with our suppliers above we have committed to improving accessibility of our online content and resolving the following issues.

  • Third party online resources. Not all suppliers have accessibility statements. Some statements are not compliant. We have contacted our suppliers who do not provide public accessibility information about their products. We will be adding updated information to SearchBOX where available. We will supply an alternative format of any third-party content not available in an accessible format.
  • Procurement. We have established workflows to make accessibility a priority at all stages of our content management procedures and we will continue to refine our processes to ensure that accessibility is a key criterion in procurement of platforms, resources and the digital tools we use.
  • Library Guides. Library Guides content is produced by multiple creators. We have introduced training to help all contact creators to make their content accessible. We have a publishing workflow in place to make sure all content is checked against an accessibility checklist before it is made live.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 24th August 2020. It was last reviewed on 21st April 2022.

This website was last tested on 21st April 2022. The test was carried out by City, University of London Library staff.

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test .

We used a mixture of:

Library Guides

We selected a sample of 20 pages within the site:

  • Key pages such as the Homepage and the Further Support page.
  • Frequently used pages such as subject guide content templates and landing pages
  • Guides which use distinct template types
  • Pages which contain distinct types of content such as search fields, buttons, forms, widgets or documents.

City Research Online

We selected a sample of 10 pages within the site:

  • Key pages such as the homepage
  • Frequently used pages such as item record pages
  • Pages which contain distinct types of content such as search fields and buttons.

Ask Us

We knew there were issues with alt text, headings and lists in staff generated content so we checked and fixed the content on each page.