Bath and North East Somerset Libraries

Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for B&NES Virtual Library

This is an accessibility statement from Bath and North East Somerset Libraries.

Measures to support accessibility

Bath and North East Somerset Libraries takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of B&NES Virtual Library:

  • Each of our locations has an ‘Accessibility Champion’ who is responsible for maintaining and improving accessibility for our customers
  • ‘Review, develop and promote Accessibility in our spaces and core offer’ is one of our 5 key ‘Libraries for Life’ priorities, used to guide our offer.
  • Library stock is provided in a range of accessible formats
  • We are currently working towards RNIB certification in our spaces

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. B&NES Virtual Library is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of B&NES Virtual Library. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on B&NES Virtual Library:

We try to respond to feedback within 2 business days.

Technical specifications

Accessibility of B&NES Virtual Library relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

  • HTML
  • WAI-ARIA
  • JavaScript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

B&NES Virtual Library is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

  • We tested our site on a variety of modern browsers, phones, and devices

Limitations and alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of B&NES Virtual Library , there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

Known limitations for B&NES Virtual Library:

  • ‘Colin’s Big Read’ Game: The game is not accessible for those with visual impairments because the game requires the user to locate items visually. We have not found a way to create a fully accessible version of this game.
  • Crosswords and Wordsearches: These cannot be navigated using the keyboard and may not work with screen readers because the platform we use to generate these cannot create accessible versions. We are looking for a new accessibility-friendly platform. Please email Library_events@bathnes.gov.uk and we can provide Word document versions.
  • Menus: Some menus on the website cannot be accessed with a keyboard. There is a Main Menu at the top of every page that includes all content and is accessible via keyboard. We are working with our web developer to resolve this in the coming months.
  • Menus on mobile version of the site: Some menus on the website have small clickable links. There is a menu at the top of every page that includes all content and is in a large font. We are working with our web developer to resolve this in the coming months.

Assessment approach

Bath and North East Somerset Libraries assessed the accessibility of B&NES Virtual Library by the following approaches:

  • Self-evaluation

Date

This statement was created on 24 October 2024 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool. This Statement will be reviewed again on the 1 May 2025.