Accessibility roadmap for Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

This page details all of the known accessibility issues affecting Birkbeck, University of London, the method that was used to find issues, and the plans in place to fix them.

Plans for fixing known accessibility issues

All of the issues that have been highlighted in this review will be fixed in a planned upgrade to this repository

Method for testing accessibility

This repository was tested using WAVE's web accessibility tool. This tool returns a comprehensive list of features that may limit the ability of users to access a website, especially those using assistive technology such as screen readers. We ran this tool on a version of the repository without branding customisation, covering the pages that users most frequently interact with.

Known accessibility issues, listed by page

These issues are listed by page. Pages that are publicly accessible are listed first, and those for repository administrators can be found lower down. The number in brackets following the description represents the number of instances of that issue on the page. Below is a list of all the accessibility issues known to affect Birkbeck, University of London with an explanation of what they mean.

Missing form label: A form control does not have a properly associated text label. This means that the function of the form control may not be presented to those using screen readers. The lack of visible description may also make the page harder to navigate for all users.
Redundant link: Adjacent links go to the same location. This creates additional navigation and repetition for those using keyboard and screen readers.
Layout table: Layout tables are being used to position content visually, for example, to create columns or align content neatly for sighted users. These can introduce reading and navigation order issues especially for those using screen readers.
Missing first heading level: The first heading level is missing. This may cause confusion for those using screen readers.
Missing alternative text: There is no alternative text given for an image included in the page. This means that those using screen readers will not be able to access this content.
Select missing label: A select element may not have an associated label. This means that its purpose might not be clear to those using screen readers.
Image with title: An image has a title attribute but no alternative text value. Though this should describe the image for those using screen readers, alternative text should be used in most cases.
Link to PDF document: This page may link to a PDF document. These documents may not be accessible and the need to use a separate application may cause confusion and navigation difficulties.
Linked image missing alternative text: There is no alternative text given for an image that is linked to from this page. This means that a screen reader has no content to present to the user regarding the function of a link.
Broken ARIA reference: No target is set for ARIA references, this means that the description will not be presented.
Suspicious link text: A link contains extraneous text or may not make sense out of context. This may cause confusion about the purpose of the link.
Possible table caption: Text appears to be a table caption, but is not a caption element. This means it will not be read as a caption by screen readers.
Javascript jump menu: A javascript jump menu is a select element that triggers a new web page with the onchange event handler. This may cause difficulty for users navigating the page with a keyboard as the page will change with each change in the select menu.
Very small text: Text is very small. This may make reading text on this page difficult for users, particular those with low vision.

Publicly accessible pages

Item detail

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the item details page:

Empty table header (1)
Select missing label (1)
Image with title (1)
Layout table (1)

Workflow - upload

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the 'upload' stage of the deposit workflow:

Missing alternative text (1)
Linked image missing alternative text (1)
Missing form label (2)
Layout table (1)

Workflow - bibliographic info

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the 'bibliographic info' stage of the deposit workflow:

Orphaned form label (22)

Workflow - school

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the 'school' stage of the deposit workflow:

Broken ARIA reference (1)

Profile

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the 'upload' stage of the deposit workflow:

Suspicious link text (1)
Layout table (3)

Pages for repository administrators

Manage deposits

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the manage deposits page:

Empty table header (4)
Orphaned form label (1)
Possible table caption (1)
Redundant link (2)

Review

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the review page:

Broken ARIA reference (3)
Orphaned form label (1)

IR stats

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the IR stats reports page:

Missing alternative text (2)
Missing form label (1)
Empty table header (1)
Select missing label (5)
Image with title (3)
Missing first heading level (1)
Javascript jump menu (1)
Very small text (1)
Layout table (9)

Reports

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the reports page:

Orphaned form label (1)

Subject editor

The following accessibility issues are known to affect the subject editor:

Missing form label (1)
Empty table header (1)
Select missing label (1)