Accessibility Statement - Discover and Learn

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 Sites:

How accessible these websites are

We know some parts of some of these Sites are not fully accessible:

  • Some Aria references are broken
  • Text and links do not have sufficient contrast against background
  • Browser zoom functionality is disabled
  • Adjacent links go to the same URL
  • Headings are skipped
  • Multiple form labels are associated with the same input field
  • Some form labels are orphaned
  • Video content published before 23 September 2020 is not required to be audio transcribed or subtitled.
  • Office documents published before 23 September 2018 are exempt from the Regulations

Compliance status

The following websites are fully compliant with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018:

  • A History of Magic
  • A History of Writing
  • Alexander the Great
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Animal Tales
  • Art & Anarchy in British Comics
  • British Accents & Dialects
  • Covid Stories
  • Discovering Music: 19th Century
  • Discovering Music: Early 20th Century
  • Georgian Britain
  • LGBTQ Histories
  • Maps
  • My Digital Rights
  • Playtimes
  • Russian Revolution
  • Sisterhood & After
  • South Asians in Britain
  • Spare Rib
  • The American Revolution
  • The Language of Birds
  • The Middle Ages
  • Victorian Britain
  • Voices of British Theatre Design
  • Voices of Partition
  • Votes for Women
  • West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song
  • West India Regiments
  • Windrush Stories
  • Women's Histories

The following websites are partially compliant with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, because their pages may skip Headings, meaning that users of assistive technologies may not receive the content in logical order. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels):

  • Anglo-Saxons
  • British Library Treasures
  • Coast
  • Discovering Children's Books
  • Discovering Literature: 20th Century
  • Discovering Literature: Restoration & 18th Century
  • Discovering Literature: Romantics & Historians
  • Discovering Literature: Shakespeare & Renaissance
  • Discovering Sacred Texts
  • Early Indian Books
  • Greek Manuscripts
  • History of Recorded Sound
  • If Homes Had Ears
  • Magna Carta
  • Medieval England & France, 700-1200
  • Picturing Places
  • Sensory Activities
  • Speaking Out
  • The Polonsky Foundation Catalogue of Digitised Hebrew Manuscripts
  • The Voyages of Captain James Cook
  • Voices of Art
  • Women's Rights
  • World War I

The Discover & Learn hub page is partially compliant with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 due to the non-conformances listed below:

Non-accessible content

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

Content not within the scope of the accessibility regulations (all sites)

  • Office file formats published before 23rd September 2018 are exempt from the Regulations under Reg 3(2)(a). This content might fail any of the WCAG 2.1 AA Success Criteria.
  • Pre-recorded time-based media published before 23rd September 2020 is exempt from the Regulations under Reg 3(2)(b). This content might fail any of the WCAG 2.1 AA Success Criteria related to the provision of a transcript, subtitles, or audio description.

 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations (Discover & Learn only)

  • Some Aria references are broken, meaning that users of assistive technologies may not be able to navigate the content or adapt it to their needs. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships). 

  • 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). 

  • 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).  

  • 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).
  • Some pages have orphaned form labels, meaning that users of assistive technologies may not be presented with content in a logical order, or may be led to expect content that is not present. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).

We plan to resolve these issues by replacing the site in its entirety before December 2026.

How we tested these websites

These websites were last tested on 11 August 2021. A full review of the sites was carried out by the British Library using Wave and Google Measure.