Accessibility statement for the H&F library catalogue

This accessibility statement applies to the Hammersmith & Fulham library catalogue. There’s a separate accessibility statement for the main H&F website.

The Hammersmith & Fulham library catalogue is run by Hammersmith & Fulham Council through our third-party supplier Sirsi Dynix.

Using this website

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
get from the start of the service to the end using just a keyboard
get from the start of the service to the end using speech recognition software
listen to the service 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:

some colours do not have enough contrast
some images are missing alternative text
form fields are missing labels or not grouped in fieldsets
mandatory fields are only indicated by an asterisk (*)
form submissions are not validated meaning errors are not picked up
there is no way to skip repeated links and move to the main content
content does not reflow into one column on mobile devices

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 us at libraries@lbhf.gov.uk

You can also contact your local library.

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of the library catalogue.

If you find any problems that aren't listed on this page or think we're not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please use our report form to let us know.

Report an accessibility issue

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

We provide a text relay service for people who are Deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment. Please call 18001 followed by 020 8748 3020.

Alternatively, you can use the Relay UK service. Relay UK (previously Next Generation Text) - helps people with hearing and speech difficulties communicate with anyone over the phone, using the national relay service.

All of our libraries are wheelchair accessible.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

H&F Libraries 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

Colour contrast

In some places, the contrast between text and background is too low. Affected elements include the:

advanced search link
green ‘available’ label
red text used on the homepage and for the asterisk (*) on forms

This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast - minimum).

Images, video and audio content

The thumbnail images used in the carousel on the homepage are missing alt tags and alternative text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

Interactive tools and transactions

The join a library form has several accessibility issues:

form fields are marked as being mandatory with an asterisk (*) but there are no instructions to say this and the * isn’t announced as part of the label
the first name field has both the first name and last name labels attached to it – the last name field has no label
the birthdate form fields don’t have individual labels and are not grouped in a fieldset with a descriptive legend to indicate their purpose. The visual label ‘birthdate’ is an orphaned label and not associated to any fields
no instructions are given on how to create a password or PIN
the re-enter email address and re-enter password/PIN fields rely on colour to show if the data entered matches or not.

These issues fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

1.1.1 (non-text content)
1.3.1 (info and relationships)
1.4.1 (use of colour)
2.4.6 (headings and labels)
3.3.2 (labels or instructions).

Form submissions are not validated meaning errors are not identified. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification).

The log in and forgot my pin forms are missing the aria-atomic attribute. This ensures assistive technologies can read error messages after more than one invalid submission has been made. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification).

The search results found message (for example, 149 Results) does not have an aria role or live region attribute that will enable assistive technologies to read out the message. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (status message).

The radio buttons and checkbox options in the search filter are not grouped in fieldsets with descriptive legends to indicate their purpose. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content), 1.3.1 (info and relationships), 2.4.6 (headings and labels) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).

It is not clear for users of assistive technology which filter options the ‘include’ and ‘exclude’ buttons are associated to as each is identified by the same name and are not unique. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (parsing).

In accessibility mode:

an input field has replaced the pagination links of search result pages. However, the input field is missing a label. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships), and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions)
each item in the search result has its own select an action menu - however, the same link text is used for every item and goes to different destinations, meaning assistive technology users won’t be able to tell where the links go. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose in context)

There is no way to skip repeated links and move to the main content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks). Users can get around this issue by switching to accessibility mode.

Although the search limit and search field dropdown boxes are associated with the search button, because they are coded as individual forms they should have their own submit buttons. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (on input) and 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

The search textbox has the aria role ‘combobox’ but is missing the aria-expanded attribute. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

With the advanced search:

some form fields such as title, author and subject are missing a label
radio buttons and checkbox options are not grouped in fieldsets with descriptive legends to indicate their purpose

These fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).

Technology

Content does not reflow into one column on mobile devices or when the user has zoomed in at a high percentage. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (reflow).

Some content becomes truncated when zoomed up to 200% on mobile devices. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).

Users can get around these issues by switching to accessibility mode. However, users may struggle to activate accessibility mode on mobile devices without pinching the screen to zoom in and make the button bigger. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.1 (pointer gestures).

User sessions do timeout. Users are provided with an alert and can request additional time when needed. User session timeouts are not applied to the page when accessibility mode is used.

Users cannot pause, stop or hide the carousel displaying videos on the homepage. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 (pause, stop, hide).

In accessibility mode, the search text field appears after the search button in the tab focus order when it should come before it. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (focus order).

Text, links and tables

On some page’s links may not be underlined and only identifiable by colour. Users with visual impairments cannot see these links. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (use of colour).

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations