Accessibility

Accessibility - two people working at a laptop

Accessibility statement for openathens.net

This statement applies to content published on openathens.net

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible:

  • Some older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • Some target elements such as buttons do not have an accessible name that is not empty.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

OpenAthens (a part of Jisc) 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 version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

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 contact@openathens.net or call +44 (0) 20 3880 2626. We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 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, email contact@openathens.net or call +44 (0) 20 3880 2626.

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).

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Issues with PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be marked up so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish should meet accessibility standards.

Issues with buttons on the product tour module

The product tour module used to show screenshots uses a button with a missing accessible name. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Whenever new features are released they must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. We’re also committed to working on the issues above with a fix in place by November 2023.

This statement was prepared August 2023.

Content modified from the GOV.UK accessibility statement – used through the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Shaw Trust Accessible logo

Accessibility statement for OpenAthens products

Technical information about accessibility for our products

OpenAthens is committed to making its products accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

We aim to make our products accessible to anyone, regardless of ability, device, or internet access. We currently strive to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We are partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standards, and we intend to re-audit accessibility of the following features against the WCAG 2.2 AA specification:

Accessibility for Learners and researchers’ products

The products are designed to be used by as many people as possible. You should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 400% without problems
  • navigate the product using just a keyboard
  • use the product with assistive technologies

The following features support the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A and AA standard and we aim to re-audit accessibility against the WCAG 2.2 specification:

  • MyAthens (my.openathens.net)
  • OpenAthens Login (login.openathens.net)
  • OpenAthens Link Generator (go.openathens.net/generate/)
  • OpenAthens Wayfinder (wayfinder.openathens.net)

There are accessibility issues with our Self-registration forms. The self-registration forms developed after June 2020 are partially complaint with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A and AA standard due to the non-compliance listed below:

  • Use of third party tool – reCAPTCHA

The use of reCAPTCHA may make self-registration more complicated to use for users with certain impairments (for example: deafblind). We intend to re-audit accessibility against the WCAG 2.2 specification.

Self-registration forms developed before June 2020 are not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 A and AA standard, due to the non-compliance listed below:

  • The self-registration forms cannot be navigated by keyboard alone
  • The self-registration forms may not be usable with assistive technologies
  • There may be issues with text colour contrast

Email contact details are available on the self-registration forms where help can be requested for problems registering for an OpenAthens account.

The following product features are not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1A or AA standard:

  • Administration area (admin.openathens.net)
  • Reports (reports.openathens.net)
  • Publisher Dashboard (sp.openathens.net)

The reasons why they are not compliant are

  • The Administration area and the Publisher Dashboard cannot be navigated by keyboard alone
  • The features are not usable with assistive technologies
  • The features cannot be zoomed without problems
  • There are issues with text colour contrast

Undergoing Challenge

We are committed to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the WCAG 2.2 AA standard is very much on our immediate radar. Currently, fixing all the accessibility issues we have identified for the Self-registration forms developed before June 2020, the Administration area, Reports, and Publisher Dashboard represents a huge challenge within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. However, we are working on it and we strive to making our features accessible for everyone ensuring that our interface aligns with the new standards.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap shows how and when we plan to improve the accessibility of our features:

  • The process of auditing our features against WCAG 2.2 AA began during 2024
  • Redevelopment of Administration Area (admin.openathens.net) will begin during 2025 and accessibility will be built-in from the start

Reporting accessibility problems

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of the OpenAthens website and products. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, open a support ticket with any questions or issues or email us.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was last reviewed October 2024.

The accessibility of our products was last tested in 2022 . The test was carried out by OpenAthens staff with extensive knowledge of developing and testing accessibility.

VPAT forms

The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is a template that many use to document how accessible products are for users with disabilities. We have evaluated the accessibility of our end-user facing products and documented their conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, at levels A and AA.

We work hard to achieve compliance with accessibility standards. For this reason, we are currently addressing the audit for the WCAG 2.2 AA standard, which we will publish for transparency.