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    Accessibility statement for White Rose University Press

    This is the accessibility statement for the White Rose University Press website, including the journal webpages. 

    This website, including the journal webpages, is run and supported by Ubiquity, on behalf of White Rose University Press. 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
    • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
    • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

    We have also 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.

    How accessible White Rose University Press is

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

    High Priority Issues

    • Some images represent unique information on the page. Due to the lack of alternative text, users might miss this information
    • Some pages lack a heading structure, as heading semantics are not provided. Users cannot use the headings to understand the page structure and may struggle to navigate the page content.
    • Some elements cannot be resized with browser settings. Users relying on browser text resize might have difficulties reading the content on the pages
    • Some elements overlap when the user changes the text spacing in the browser. This may cause some users to miss important information.
    • Some elements that are visually styled as lists are not marked up as such. This may make them difficult to understand when using assistive technology.
    • Some interactive elements lack a visible focus indicator. Users who rely on keyboard might lose track of the navigation
    • There are no error messages present for some elements. Users may not know something has gone wrong with the data they enter.
    • Some pages have illogical focus order. Keyboard-only users depend on meaningful focus order.

    Other Issues

    • Some elements that are visually styled as lists are not marked up as such. This may make them difficult to understand when using assistive technology.
    • 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 multimedia content plays automatically. This may prove disorienting for some users.
    • No skip link is available for users to bypass certain blocks of content.
    • Some pages lack a descriptive page title. This may cause initial confusion over the purpose of the page.
    • Some pages have non-interactive elements in the focus order. Keyboard-only users depend on meaningful focus order and may be confused by focus on elements they can't interact with.

    Feedback and contact information

    What to do if you cannot access parts of the White Rose University Press website

    If you need information on this website in a different format please contact us.  We will consider your request and get back to you in 7 working days. You can contact us by email at: universitypress@whiterose.ac.uk. 

    Reporting accessibility problems with the White Rose University Press website

    We are always looking to improve the accessibility of White Rose University Press. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please email: universitypress@whiterose.ac.uk. This will raise the issue with Kate Petherbridge (Press Manager) who is responsible for dealing with these reports. 

    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).

    Technical information about White Rose University Press accessibility

    White Rose University Press is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

    This website, including the journal pages, is provided by Ubiquity as part of their publishing services contract with White Rose University Press. Currently, the Ubiquity Press Portal platform front end content (the White Rose University Press website) and the Ubiquity Journals platform front end content (the White Rose University Press journal pages) partially support assistive technologies that visitors might use, such as screen readers or text only browsers. Ubiquity are working to achieve complete support with updates in the coming 12 months, and are currently in the process of redesigning and reimplementing the public-facing frontends of all of their sites, including the White Rose University Press site. This process puts a priority on designing for accessibility. Current interface redesign efforts employ the REACT framework javascript library with accessibility step-testing with axe Tools, as well as manual audits.

    Compliance status

    This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances and exemptions are listed below. 

    Non-accessible content

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

    Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

    Known Issues -- Journals Front end
    Issue Where is it found? What we are doing about it
    2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (Level A) --Submission form “Comments for the Editor” RTF widget control strip.
    		 Consulting with PKP, developer of OJS platform.
    2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A) -- Bypass link not present for main navigation
    		 Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) --Focus Order is temporarily lost (skips to top of page) when tabbing away from expanded filter dropdown 

    --Filter/Sort controls in Content>Articles do not precede content in Tab order      		Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.4.4 Link Purpose (in Context) (Level A) --Linked Main logo images in main navigation lack meaningful names that describe unique destination for AT

    --Linked icons (download arrow) in Issue TOCs lack meaningful name that describes unique destination/purpose for AT--Linked icons (upward arrows in References section of Article XML) lack meaningful name that describes unique destination for AT    		 Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)


    Known Issues -- Press Portal Front end
    Issue Where is it found? What we are doing about it
    2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) --Main navigation (subnav)
    --Carousel controls are not keyboard accessible
    --Keyboard trap in main navigation (when reversing from “AddThis” focus, focus jumps to bottom of screen)
    --“Download” (+subnav buttons) and “Buy Book” buttons do not receive visible focus on “Books”
    --“Download” (+subnav buttons) and “Buy Book” buttons do not receive visible focus on individual book title record
    --Hidden author affiliation detail in individual book title record does not receive keyboard focus
    --In hidden “Get citation” modal, citation style tabs (Harvard, MLA, etc.) do not receive visual keyboard focus
    --In hidden “Get citation” modal, close icon (“X”) does not receive visual keyboard focus
    		 Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    1.1.1 Non-text (Level A) --Carousel images lack descriptions
    --Captcha iframe in “Contact Us” is not labeled
    --Twitter iframes are not labeled
    --Button icons and thumbnail images in several locations are not labeled     		Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) --Headings to not match visual outline level (across site) Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A) --Home page carousels and Twitter feed automatic autoplaying cannot be paused. Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A) --Bypass link not present for main navigation
    		 Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A) --Main Press Portal pages in folder structure are titled with Press name but lack additional descriptions (e.g., “Press Name – About”, Press Name – Journals,” etc.). Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A) --Elements in typeset article PDFs currently lack logical focus order. Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.4.4 Link Purpose (in Context) (Level A) --Several links lack meaningful name
    --Several ambiguous links
    --Several linked images lack meaningful name     		Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) --Required fields in Contact Form on “Contact Us” are not visually identified. Some elements in the header are missing labels. Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) --“About” tab and subnav (in main navigation) is not labeled for AT
    --Interactive UI components across the site do not tend to include proper label elements and therefore do not allow state changes to be programmatically determined.     		Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) --White text on gray background in footer does not meet minimum contrast ratio (4.5:1)
    --White text on tertiary color background often does not meet minimum contrast ratio (4.5:1)
    --White text on gray background in “Submit an Article” button in “Journals” does not meet minimum contrast ratio (4.5:1)
    --White text on Discipline buttons, Keyword buttons, Download buttons, Buy book buttons, does not meet minimum contrast ratio (4.5:1)    		 Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA) --Interactive buttons in main press banner disappear when screen is zoomed Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)
    2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) --Textbox (“Filter”) in “Journals” lacks accessible name
    --Textbox (“Filter”) in “Books” lacks accessible name    		 Will be corrected in upcoming release (~ 12 months)


    Disproportionate burden

    N/A

    Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

    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 will meet accessibility standards.

    What we’re doing to improve accessibility

    We are working with Ubiquity to improve accessibility of this website. They are in the process of redesigning and reimplementing the public-facing frontends of all of their sites, including the White Rose University Press site. This process puts a priority on designing for accessibility. Current interface redesign efforts employ the REACT framework javascript library with accessibility step-testing with axe Tools, as well as manual audits. Our expectation is that the redesign, and the associated accessibility improvements, will be fully completed within 12 months.

    How we tested the White Rose University Press website

    This site was last tested on 6 July 2023 by Ubiquity. This was done as part of the accessibility review of all the websites they provide and support. You can access their broader accessibility statements at: https://ubiquitypress.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/1/topic/85c04aa8-741b-49a0-90a7-feaf7eaddb76

    Preparation of this accessibility statement

    This statement was prepared on 21 September 2020. It was last reviewed and updated on 10 August 2023.