Scope and ownership

This accessibility statement applies to the Library Search (ALMA) website (https://library-collections-search.westminster.ac.uk/ ). The Business Systems Operations team, within Information Systems and Support is responsible for the digital accessibility of this website.

 

Using the website

This website is run by the University of Westminster. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, which means that you should be able to:  

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate the website using just a keyboard
• navigate the website using speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (most well-known screen readers)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

For more advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability, visit the AbilityNet website.

Accessibility of the website  

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible and have listed the issues according to level of impact, from high to low:

Higher priority issues

• Some interactive elements are not operable using a keyboard, which might block users from navigating the website
• Focus is not visible on certain elements, making the navigation unclear for keyboard users.
• Forms without accessible names and associated labels might cause difficulty for screen reader users to understand the purpose of the input fields.
• Some functional images do not have appropriate alternative text. As a result, assistive technology users might not understand the image content and purpose.
• There are elements with insufficient colour contrast. These elements can be difficult to read, especially for those with low vision, poor eyesight, or colour blindness.

Lower priority issues

• Some elements cannot be resized with browser settings. Users relying on browser text resize might have difficulties reading the content on the pages
• The site does not appropriately reflow content when viewed at 400% zoom. As a result, low vision users might miss some information and functionality.
• Some elements overlap when the user changes the text spacing in the browser. This may cause some users to miss important information.

Feedback and contact information  

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please visit our digital accessibility contact us webpage for information on how to request this.

 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We have tested a sample of pages on the website. If you find an issue we have not yet identified, you can report it to us. We’ll pass this information to the website owner who will review the issue, make sure it is included in our plan to fix issues and add it into the accessibility statement when it is next updated.

Please visit our digital accessibility contact us webpage for information on how to report an accessibility problem.

 

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).

 

Ways to contact us

 You can contact us by email or phone. If you prefer to visit us in person, get in touch and we’ll advise on which teams are available to meet with you.

 Information on how to contact us is available on our digital accessibility contact us webpage.

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The University of Westminster is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

 

Compliance status

This website is not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 - AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

 

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• Search field inaccessible by keyboard except when using skip to search link (WCAG 2.1 - 2.1.1)
• Focus indicator is not shown on some buttons (WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.7)
• Search field has no label (WCAG 2.1 - 3.3.2)
• Text in the chat pop up does not respond to text resizing (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.4)
• Social media image links have no alternative text (WCAG 2.1 - 1.1.1)
• Reflowing the page means the user is required to scroll in 2 directions (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.10)
• Text in the chat pop up does not respond to changes in text spacing (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.12)
• Text overlaps when page is reflowed (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.10)
• Numerous colour combinations do not have sufficient contrast. (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.3)

Disproportionate burden

N/A

Content not within the scope of the accessibility regulation

PDFs and other documents

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 are working to review the PDFs and Word documents that are essential to providing our services. We’ll either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish after 23 September 2020 will meet accessibility standards.

Pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020

We do not plan to add captions to pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020 because these are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 5^th September 2020. It was last reviewed on 20^th August 2021.

This website was last tested on 28^th April 2020. The test was carried out by AbilityNet, an external auditor who specialises in digital accessibility.

We took expert advice from AbilityNet to identify a sample of pages to test. AbilityNet selected a sample of webpages based on the potential challenges that non-accessible content would have on the core user journey of the site.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are working to address the issues identified in the ‘Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations’ section above. We will prioritise our efforts to address the issues with the highest impact on users. We are working to develop an accessibility roadmap to show how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

The University contracts with an external supplier Ex-libris to provide this website. Therefore, some of these issues are not within our control to address. We will raise these issues with the supplier and work with them to find solutions, where possible.