Primo Accessibility Statement

The platform can be viewed at a magnification of 400% and content reflows accordingly, across it and is generally responsive working with desktops, laptops and mobile devices. 

All platform pages can be accessed easily by keyboard. There are different ways to navigate the site. You can:

• use the provided menu structures
• search for content
• use the breadcrumb trail to navigate

There are some issues surrounding the focus state identification across the platform (see Technical Information section below for more details).

The platform tries to use a logical semantic structure to all pages so that content is as meaningful to users of assistive technologies, as possible. Users can benefit by:

• using browser plugins like HeadingsMap to swiftly navigate a menu of headings
• using screen reader functionality to browse by heading level

That noted, there are some issues surrounding the use of some headings and the semantic structure of some pages across the platform (see Technical Information section below for more details).

Primo uses a pseudo-consistent page structure wherever possible and provides a "Skip link" to allow repetitive navigable elements (e.g. the site menu) to be avoided.

All parts of the website, including menus and interactive resources can be navigated using a keyboard using keystrokes like Tab, Enter, Escape and the Arrow keys. The tab order is logical, and the currently focused item is highlighted for keyboard users.

This noted, there are some issues surrounding the use of keyboard focus, alternative text, programmatically identifiable elements, and semantic structure of pages across the platform (see Technical Information section below for more details).

Unfortunately, at the time of publication, across the platform, default colour contrast does not meet accessibility guidelines. We have identified several instances and elements where this is the case (see Technical Information section below for more details).

We are working to address this as soon as possible by reviewing and reworking the platform CSS. 

You can change the default background colours using browser plugins like HighContrast or ScreenShader.

We are working to ensure that appropriate alternative text descriptions have been added to platform interactive elements across the site for users of assistive technologies. Call-to-action controls and link navigation allow contextual information to be used.

There are a significant number of broken links on the website which link to websites and platforms of external third-party providers. We are working to rectify these or remove them completely (see Technical Information section below for more details).

The platform has been assessed using NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA). It uses page and element labels and instructions to ensure that visually impaired users understand the purpose and content therein. 

There several are known issues though with semantic structure, hidden content and missing programmatic information etc. We are working to rectify these issues (see Technical Information section below for more details).

A minority of our hyperlinks have non-unique text such as 'Download' or 'Click Here'. This is covered in more detail in the technical section below.

Some of our embedded online forms may be difficult to complete when using a screen reader. We use external, third party platforms for embedding or linking to online forms on the website to gather appropriate data from users.

Not all downloadable PDFs on the website are fully accessible. We are currently working to address this.

KEYBOARD FOCUS

There are interactive elements that do not receive focus when tabbing through the page. As a result, they cannot be operated with a keyboard. Interactive elements must be entirely compatible with a keyboard. Users should never need to use a mouse. This fails success criterion 2.1.1: Keyboard. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

There are instances across the platform where the keyboard focus order is not logical, navigates onto the same interactive component a number of times, is not set onto the component when it is opened, does not follow into expanded elements, fails when content has been removed from certain pages, does not remain on a currently active element, does not return to triggered elements, is given to page elements unnecessarily. There are also instances across the platform where non-interactive components receive focus; this may confuse keyboard users. The Focus Order does not need to mirror the visual order, but interactive elements must receive focus in a manner that makes sense; it must not be illogical or make the interfere with the operability of components. This fails success criterion 2.4.3: Focus Order. We have identified these issues to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

DISASSOCIATION OF INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS FROM ASSOCIATED INFORMATION

There are checkboxes and form fields across the platform that are not associated with their visual group label. The purpose of the interactive elements may be unclear to users and content may seem unstructured. This fails success criterion 1.3.1: Info & Relationships. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

FORM FIELDS

Some form fields across the platform may either be visible but not associated with the form element itself, or not visible at all. Every form element must have a descriptive text label associated with it. If it doesn’t, it makes it difficult for users of assistive technologies to use the platform, e.g. speech-input users to control the form element. This fails success criterion 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

COLOUR CONTRAST

There are a number of instances across the platform where we have identified interactive elements, regular link text and placeholder text as having insufficient colour contrast between displayed text and a coloured background. This fails success criteria 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum), 1.4.6: Contrast (Enhanced), and 1.4.11: Non-text Contrast. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

USING COLOUR ONLY TO COMMUNICATE INFORMATION

There is information across the platform that is visually communicated exclusively through the use of colour. Understanding content and operating interactive elements on websites and platforms must not rely on colour. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour-blind users. There is not an additional visual cue that these elements are links. This fails success criteria 1.4.1: Use of Colour and 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum). We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

PERMANENT LABELS

Interactive elements must have labels. In the context of this success criterion, the label is the visual signifier that communicates the nature of the form field. These visual signifiers must appropriately communicate the purpose of the form fields. There are elements that do not have a permanent label. This may particularly disadvantage users that find navigating the web cognitively challenging. Users may struggle to understand the purpose and operation of the interactive elements. The use of temporary labels may confuse or misguide users. This fails success criterion 3.2.2: Labels or Instructions. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

MALFORMED LISTS

If a relationship between elements is expressed with visual cues, it also needs to be programmatically determined. This enables assistive technology to communicate the relationships to users. Content may otherwise seem unstructured or disorganised. There are elements that are visually communicated as being interrelated, unordered list items. However, malformed list semantics have been used. This fails success criterion: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

SEMANTIC STRUCTURE

Content in some page elements across the platform that do not categorise the content within the page or element structure. If a relationship between elements is expressed with visual cues, it also needs to be programmatically determined within an element on a webpage. This enables assistive technologies to communicate the relationships to users. 

Some unordered lists have not been marked up semantically across the platform. In addition, there are some elements that are visually communicated as being key and value pairs (description list items) which have not been programmatically determined. These fail success criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships. We aim to fix this by September 2025.

Some headings are not marked-up semantically and some text uses heading semantics inappropriately across the platform. Some elements categorise content but are not marked as headings and there are some elements contained within heading tags that do not title or categorise other content. This can be confusing for users of assistive technologies. These fail success criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships. We aim to fix this by September 2025.

PROGRAMMICALLY IDENTIFIED ELEMENTS

There are pages across the platform where interactive elements and page states are not programmatically identifiable. All such elements need a programmatically determined name, role and value. These properties must be accurate and appropriate. There are interactive elements with overridden/no accessible names. The result is that the names are inappropriate. This may impact users who interact with the platform using accessibility properties, e.g. users of screen readers and voice recognition technology. This fails success criterion 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

In addition, there are dynamic selection tracking updates that are not programmatically determined across the platform. This may impact users who interact with the platform using accessibility properties, e.g. users of screen readers and voice recognition technology. This fails success criterion 4.1.3: Status Messages. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

BROKEN LINKS

We are aware of a number of broken links across the platform on a number of pages. These were added to our platform in order to link users to external third-party platforms and resources. Over time, some of these third-party platform owners have changed the asset/page names to which we initially linked to or have removed the assets/pages from their platform completely. We are working to resolve the broken links by updating them and / or removing them where appropriate. This relates to success criterion 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context). This is an ongoing exercise, but we will update this aspect of this statement by September 2025.

HYPERLINK ISSUES

Many hyperlinks on the platform do not all have text alternatives. Text alternatives do not need to be visible and is usually added in HTML. Missing alternative text in links presents real difficulties for users of assistive technologies and impairs the user experience. Text alternatives should describe the link’s purpose – what visitors can expect to see after they click it. This fails success criteria 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context), 2.4.9: Link Purpose (Link Only), and 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value. We aim to fix these by September 2025.

INLINE FRAME ISSUES

A number of pages across the platform have used inline frames (iframes) to display content (often new media) from other parts of the web, e.g. YouTube videos etc. These do not currently have text alternatives. Every iframe should have a text alternative that summarises its content or purpose. This fails success criterion: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value. We aim to fix these by September 2025. 

USE OF HEADINGS

Headings are used to manage the presentation and therefore the digestion of content for users. They need to be used correctly especially for users of screen readers. Failing to properly define and use headers for content (no text) or images (no alternative text) impairs the user experience of vision impaired users. Some headings are not marked-up semantically and some text uses heading semantics inappropriately across the platform. This fails success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships. We aim to fix this by September 2025.

BUTTON MISSING A TEXT ALTERNATIVE

A small number of pages on the platform refer to buttons which have missing alternative text within content blocks. If a text alternative is not provided, buttons represented by images or icons may be unusable to visitors using assistive technology. In this case, the text alternative should describe what the button does or what users can expect to happen if they click it (not the visual features of the button). Titles need to be added to some buttons. This fails success criterion 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value. We aim to fix this by September 2025.

IMAGES WITH INAPPROPRIATE / NO TEXT ALTERNATIVES

Some functional images have been identified as having inappropriate or missing text alternatives. Non-text content must have appropriate alternatives. This is required for the content to be understood by all users. This fails success criterion 1.1.1: Non-text Content. We have identified this issue to our supplier and will update this statement in September 2025.

MISSING PAGE TITLES

Every webpage needs a descriptive title. The title is the first thing announced by a screen reader after a page loads. This lets the user know where they are on your site and what type of content to expect. You should be able to add a page title from your CMS without needing to access the source code. Some pages on Primo do not have a title. This fails success criterion 2.4.2: Page Titled. We aim to fix this by September 2025.

VISIBLE LABEL AND ACCESSIBLE NAME DO NOT MATCH

The accessible name of any interactive element should contain its visible text label. There are a small number of instances on the platform where elements do not conform to this requirement. Using two different names for a single page element can create a confusing user experience for assistive technology users. This is especially true for speech-input users who will experience difficulty activating a control if the displayed label does not match the assigned accessible name for the element. This fails success criterion 2.5.3: Label in Name. We aim to fix this by September 2025.

At this particular juncture, an upgrade of the Primo platform to the latest version would require staffing levels that we do not currently have budget for. It would require the secondment of several members of the core library staff for several months on a project of this scale. As there is insufficient budget to facilitate the backfilling of any seconded posts, this would mean that we would not be able to support our core services and library users would suffer as a result. 

Consequently, we are unable to commit to upgrading the Primo platform at this juncture and are citing platform upgrading as a disproportionate burden. 

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The manual digital accessibility assessment of the website was completed on the 15 July 2024. The assessment was carried out using a variety of tools, including assistive technologies such as the NVDA screen reader. It was carried out by AbilityNet Ltd. and used a Windows 11 computer using a Firefox browser.

Primo is a third-party platform by Clarivate™ which is a template-based and allows us to leverage content to enhance the user and learner experience. 

The manual assessment was undertaken on a cross-sample pages and components that are representative of the platform itself. In this way, it could identify accessibility issues that would need to be addressed for the site to be compliant with accessibility legislation and guidelines. 

The manual audit and assessment had two main components:

• A headline review of 3 pages (Search the Collection, Search Result Listing and Individual Search Result) assessing accessibility criteria on each page and focusing on component types and templates that are reused across the site. 
• Functional accessibility testing of the components found to be causing accessibility issues during the headline review. Whilst this testing is grounded in the WCAG 2.2 level AA standards, its primary purpose was to identify issues that cannot be found with automatic checkers and provide recommendations on how to resolve or mitigate these issues.

The website is also assessed using a sector-leading, automated website governance platform to identify website errors, warnings - Siteimprove.