This accessibility statement applies to LibGuides (escala.org.uk).
This websites are run by ESCALA. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand where possible.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
We know some parts of the website are not accessible:
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read or audio recording:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 3 working days.
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of these websites. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: escala@essex.ac.uk with the specific issues you are having and the Digital Systems and Services team will respond to your report.
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).
ESCALA is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018).
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 in conformance with the AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below. You can also see the full list of the WCAG 2.1 on the W3 website.
The content below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. Web-authors will be given training on adding alternative text to images. We will also review a sample of new images periodically to ensure that images have alternative text.
In some instances, content may fail the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum). The website styles will fit the contrast requirements, but content created by web-authors may not be. Web authors will be given training on contrast and content will be reviewed periodically to ensure that content will not fail this criterion.
In-house written code may fail the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks. This code mainly includes headers and footers which will be updated to meet this success criterion by the 23rd September 2020.
Some links may fail the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) by not holding the full context of the link. The most common instances of these will be the full URL link or a link attached to the phrase ‘click here’. Web-authors have been taught about how to form links and links will be periodically reviewed and changed to ensure that they are removed.
We currently have no items we would classify as disproportionate burden. This may change as regulations and content changes, or if items are discovered that we would classify under this heading.
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services. By September 2020, we plan to either fix or replace them with accessible versions.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 23 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not currently plan to fix Special Collections content. If you need to access this content and cannot, please contact us and we can look into this specifically.
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
ESCALA is committed to ensuring that web content is as accessible as possible for as many people as possible. All web authors undergo training on how to create accessible content and ensure that the material they produce follows as closely as possible to the government regulations.
As well as this, ESCALA work with the library Web Authors Group specifically set up to periodically review and provide support for staff to ensure our content meets the expected standards where possible. This group will review the website, and will respond and update when regulations change and when issues are found and reported.
We will also be working with SpringShare to ensure that, where possible, their system meets the standards expected by the government regulations.
Accessibility starts with our team and training. Our web-authors have received training on creating accessible content, and internally material will be created to help these web-authors and teaching new web-authors. The main priority with this is to ensure that our Web-authors team are confident in creating content that conforms with the WCAG 2.1
From a content side, we will be periodically reviewing a changing sample of pages (following the same principles explained below) to ensure that content that may have been missed can be updated and to ensure that new pages also reach the standards expected of us.
From a technical side, we will be working with SpringShare and the University of Essex to ensure that our systems can be used to the standard expected of us and to adapt to any changes made by SpringShare
From a user side, we will be communicating with you when you find parts of the website that do not conform to the standards expected. We will look to fix or find an alternative where possible and as soon as possible.
We will be prioritising content that fall under the Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations part of the statement, followed by Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations.
If you find content within either of these headings, we will prioritise where possible and try to get content that works for you.
This statement was prepared on 15/09/2021. It was last reviewed on 15/09/2021.
This website was last tested on 15/09/2021. The test was carried out by Adam Cowlin of the University of Essex Library Services Team.
When testing, we chose a sample of pages to cover a broad range of content and built our samples on the following principles: