Accessibility statement for Talis Reading Lists

This accessibility statement applies to https://notts.rl.talis.com, which hosts the University of Nottingham reading list collection using the software Aspire, which is produced by the supplier Talis.

This website is run by University of Nottingham Libraries in partnership with Talis. 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’ve 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 this website is 

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

• You may have general issues with accessing the site using assistive technology, for example a screen reader, due to missing or misapplied attributes within the code.
• Some of the accessibility challenges in using this website are unique to, or potentially amplified if you are involved in, creating or editing reading lists. Please contact us for support if you find this to be the case.
• Not all of the pages on this site have a design which accommodates resizing of text when zooming or using a mobile interface. You may find it easier to navigate through the site using a desktop personal computer.
• You may find it difficult to see some pages if visually impaired due to low contrast text and insufficient visual cues – you may wish to use a browser plug-in or other assistive technology to enhance contrast. 
• You may encounter some specific issues in navigating the site when using a keyboard, particularly when it comes to navigating menus.
• You may also find it useful to refer to Talis’ own accessibility statement.

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: 

• email library-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days. 

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 University of Nottingham Libraries via library-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk. 

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 

Find out how to contact us www.nottingham.ac.uk/Library/help

Technical information about this website’s accessibility 

University of Nottingham 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 listed below. 

Non-accessible content 

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Navigation and accessing information

You may find it difficult to navigate to, access or interpret some information on the pages for this system overall. We are reporting these issues to Talis and will work with them to address.

• When entering text in the search box on the home page and search results pages, the search is carried out and an auto-complete dropdown list of results displayed. No information about the dropdown is provided to a screen reader. On the search results page, there is a button marked with an ellipsis (between ‘Next’ and ‘Prev’ buttons) which takes the user to the top of the search results. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (on input).
• The search button icon on the home page is labelled as decorative and has no alternative text and the accessibility icon on all pages lacks a visual text alternative. The Google Preview icon and icons to distinguish personal, student and library notes on the List view / edit pages have inadequate ARIA labels. When adding a bookmark, the icon for the calendar where publication date can be picked has an incomplete tooltip and accessible name. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
• The search button icon on the home page is labelled as decorative and has no alternative text and the search box input has no accessible label to indicate expected input. On the search results page the ‘Prev’ and ‘Next’ buttons can be tabbed to when disabled visually. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
• There is no search landmark for the search box on the home and search results pages. In the home, search results and feedback pages there is no landmark for footer information located outside the main landmark. When adding a bookmark there is no main landmark. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
• On the reading list view / edit pages emphasis in some citation styles does not use the em tag. On the ‘My Lists’ and ‘My Bookmarks’ pages the search box and selection checkboxes are missing form labels, the ‘My Bookmarks’ and ‘My Lists’ tables are missing table attributes and labels, and the functionality to sort columns is not communicated visually. When adding a bookmark the look up of the library catalogue is not clearly labelled, and required fields are not clearly identified. There are broken Aria references on both the ‘My Bookmarks’ and List view / edit screens. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
• On the ‘Feedback’ screen the name and email fields do not have an autocomplete attribute of name or email. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 (identify input purpose).
• There are issues across all pages with names and roles for some native HTML elements, particularly buttons and search boxes. Custom HTML elements are not always implemented as per ARIA design patterns with correct roles and / or states, which includes revealed content, buttons (particularly dropdown menu buttons) and tabs. There are broken ARIA references on the ‘My Bookmarks’ and List view / edit pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).
• On the List view / edit page menu links become disabled when actioned, so cannot be focused on by keyboard navigation or screen readers, whereas their visual status changes to indicate an updated status. On the search results page, the ‘Prev’ and ‘Next’ buttons are visually disabled but can still be tabbed to / clicked. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).
• When adding a bookmark or entering information on the ‘Feedback’ screen, required fields are only indicated by a visual asterisk which is not picked up by a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).

Resizing text by zooming and using the mobile view

You may find it difficult to use the system when using a mobile or resizing text by zooming. Only the List view / edit pages have a mobile responsive design and these nonetheless lose functionality as the screen gets smaller including list filters, ‘Edit’ and ‘View’ menus and the item action menu. We are reporting these issues to Talis and will work with them to address. Particular issues are:  

• When zooming in or using the mobile view, navigation via the tab key is not in the same order as the visual screen order on desktop. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence) and WCAG2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (consistent navigation).
• On the ‘Add Bookmark’ page or when editing an item record, it is not possible to resize text to 200% as input fields overlap and it becomes difficult to scroll vertically. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).
• All pages except List edit / view have issues when resizing content. The navigation menu requires horizontal scrolling and the background needed to see menu items does not resize. On the home page the search box does not resize, and on both the home and ‘My Bookmarks’ pages suggested search terms require horizontal scrolling. On the ‘Add a bookmark’ and item edit screens input fields overlap and it becomes difficult to scroll vertically. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (reflow).

Contrast and other visual cues

You may have issues with the using the system due to low contrast or insufficient visual cues. We are reporting these issues to Talis and will work with them to address. 

• On the ‘My Bookmarks’ page there is low colour contrast on resource labels under the ‘Type’ column. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast).
• There are contrast issues on some interface components. These include some buttons, search boxes (when not in focus), Feedback input fields (when not in focus) and the reading intention icon “Will read”. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (non-text contrast).
• Dark blue buttons lack a visual indication of focus, including those in popups and alerts in the List view / edit. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).

Navigating using a keyboard

You may find it difficult to navigate with a keyboard specifically. We are reporting these issues to Talis and will work with them to address.   

• On many screens it is not possible to move through items in dropdown menus using arrow keys. On the bookmarking and List edit screens it is not possible to tab to or select calendars to pick dates for the ‘Pub date’ and ‘Needed by’ fields. In the List view / edit screen it is not possible to tab to the ‘Log in’ menu item. When adding a bookmark, both the ‘Create and add to list’ and ‘Online resource’ options trigger popups which cannot be fully navigated with a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.11 (keyboard).
• Dropdown menus do not close when using tab to move away or escape to close, remaining open until another dropdown list is selected. When selecting ‘Add a paragraph’ on the List edit screen it is not possible to tab away from the input box to close using the necessary buttons. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.2 (no keyboard trap).
• It is possible to tab away to other elements of the page without explicitly dismissing some popups or revealed content. Instances include ‘Share a link’, ‘Report a broken link’, ‘Request a digitisation’ popups, and adding notes on the List view / edit screen and ‘Add to list’ popup on My bookmarks. Most dropdown menus do not close when using tab to move away or escape to close. When adding a bookmark it is not possible to tab into or close with escape revealed content under ‘Online resource’ and ‘Create add to list’. Also when choosing to Add fields ‘Part of’ or ‘Has part’, focus does not go to the first input field on the new tab created. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (focus order).
• In the List view / edit, the Google preview link text does not indicate sufficiently that it will link to Google Books and the link to the library catalogue indicating ‘x copies available’ may not be sufficiently clear. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose).

Creating and editing lists

You may encounter some particular issues with creating and editing lists using the system. We are reporting these issues to Talis and will work with them to address.   

• When clicking ‘Create’ to add a bookmark, a popup box appears saying ‘Saving bookmark’ but there is no verbal alert read out by a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (status messages).
• When adding a bookmark, on clicking ‘Create’ or ‘Create and Add to list’ buttons, visible text in red appears to alert the user if a required field is omitted, but no verbal alert is read out by a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification).
• On the ‘My Bookmarks’ and ‘My Lists’ pages there is a duplicate ID for each selection checkbox for each table row of bookmarks or reading lists. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (parsing).

What we’re doing to improve accessibility 

We are actively reviewing content and have introduced new working practices with a focus on user needs and providing inclusive content to our diverse audiences. 

Talis Aspire also acts as a platform to direct students and staff towards scanned texts hosted on the Copyright Licensing Agency’s Digital Content Store. We have adopted what is recognised as best practice within the sector in creating accessible scans using  Abbyy Finereader.

We are engaging with Talis to highlight and develop accessibility requirements. We considered accessibility as a key requirement when renewing our reading list software in 2020 and will continue to do so in future when reviewing our contract.  

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 30 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 8 October 2020. 

This website was last tested in September 2020. The test was carried out by University Nottingham Libraries. We also referred to different versions of the accessibility statement produced by Talis.

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages: testing by stratified sampling. We sampled example pages within the page types Talis Aspire generates: the home page, viewing and editing reading lists, viewing collections of reading lists and bookmarks, and adding bookmarks.