Accessibility Statement - British Library Homepage

Scope

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

The British Library operates a number of websites, subsites, and online services (“Sites”).

This accessibility statement supplements our main Accessibility Statement, and applies to the following Site:

How accessible this website is

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

  • The survey popup box can not be tabbed to in meaningful sequence.
  • Text and links do not have sufficient contrast against background
  • Browser zoom functionality is disabled
  • Reflow does not function correctly at 400%
  • Header drop down menus are not accessible via the keyboard
  • Adjacent links go to the same URL
  • Focus is not always visible
  • Multiple form labels are associated with the same input field

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, 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 

  • The keyboard tab goes through background content before accessing the survey pop-up box, meaning that users of alternative input methods may not be able to dismiss it without effort. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence).

  • The colour of both text and links does not provide sufficient contrast against the background colour, meaning that users with moderate visual impairment who do not use assistive technologies may not be able to discern the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast Minimum).

  • Broswer zoom functionality is disabled, meaning that users with moderate visual impairment who do not use assistive technologies may not be able to discern the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text).

  • Reflow functionality does not function correctly at 400% size, rendering some meaning that users with moderate visual impairment who do not use assistive technologies may not be able to access the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).

  • Header dropdown menus and carousel navigation are not accessible using the keyboard, meaning that users of alternative input devices may not be able to access them. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).

  • Adjacent links go to the same URL, meaning that users of assistive technologies or with cognitive impairments may be disoriented by multiple options to accomplish the same effect. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose in Context). 

  • Focus is not always visible on some buttons or options, meaning that it may be more difficult for users of keyboards or alternative input devices to navigate the site. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).

  • The site's internal search functionality has multiple form labels associated with a single input field, meaning that users of assistive technologies or with cognitive impairments may not be able to discern the functionality of the fields. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).

     

We plan to resolve these issues by replacing these sites in their entirety before December 2026.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 16 May 2021. An audit of the site was carried out by the British Library using Axe in response to audit by the Central Digital Data Office.