Accessibility statement for Octopus.ac

This statement applies to content published on https://www.octopus.ac

This website has been developed by Jisc. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
• Zoom in up to 400% without problems.
• Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software.
• Use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).

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:

• The publication page's navigation tool does not provide context on how different publications are related to each-other.
• Skip links are not functional on most pages.
• Informational links typically do not have markups to explain their purpose when focusing them with a screen reader.

Feedback and contact information

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 contact help@jisc.ac.uk.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille please contact help@jisc.ac.uk.

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.

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).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Jisc 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 and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)

Certain icons on the draft edit page do not have a label or other text-based alternative.

1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA), 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A), 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

The information structure of certain elements such as affiliations or linked publications are not effectively conveyed to screen readers.

Changes in the structure of the affiliations table based upon user input are not marked up to announce the change.

Many fields on the draft edit page are not marked up with a label, although placeholder text is present to explain their purpose in most cases.

Certain fields are not marked up with their semantic purpose.

Several lists on publication pages do not convey details about the list's structure.

The "Main Text" and "References" fields on the draft edit page do not convey their purpose to screen readers. Some modals, such as the “Red flag publication” modal do not announce their name to screen readers.

1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A)

The completion of sections on the draft edit page is only indicated via icon colour & shape.

2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A)

Skip links to access main content do not function correctly, and additional skip links should be added to avoid unnecessary navigation to reach interactive elements of the publication page.

2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)

Many links on informational pages and on the draft edit page do not provide sufficient information about their purpose, requiring the user to gather context from the surrounding page.

1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA)

Fields to enter organisation name do not have their semantic purpose correctly recorded.

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)

Red asterisks used to denote mandatory fields are presented on the "Flag a concern" model as small text without sufficient contrast (3.78:1).

DOI text publications listed on the account page on light mode is small and has insufficient contrast (3.79:1).

Publication type text on the account page has insufficient contrast on dark mode (3.05:1).

3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA)

Publication text is not marked up as being in the language it was written in.

3.2.4 Consistent Identification (Level AA)

Publication title is described differently by assistive technology on the "publish" page compared with the draft edit page.

3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA)

Error banners that advise a correction, such as the one that appears when a user enters an invalid URL for a funder, or an invalid email for a co-author are displayed to the user advising of the issue but are not announced to screen readers.

4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA)

Error banners do not have a role=alert markup. This includes both programmatic errors, such as 403, "Publication is already locked", and so on, as well as user input errors, such as an invalid URL for a funder, or an invalid email for a co-author.

Disproportionate Burden

User uploaded content

Whilst authors are provided with tools that allow them to create accessible publications, we do not have any direct oversight of the content they upload, nor power to modify it. User uploaded content on any publication page (at a URL beginning with https://www.octopus.ac/publications/) may not conform with accessibility guidelines.

Possible examples of non-accessible content include images without explanatory alt-text (1.1.1 Non-text content), relationships and information conveyed by shape, position and other characteristics that cannot be conveyed to assistive technology (1.3.1 Info and relationships), and links that do not provide context about their purpose (2.4.4 Link Purpose).

It is not within our power to compel users to upload accessible content, and we do not have any form of manual intervention in the publishing process. As such, we believe that the time, resources, and complexity of auditing each draft before publication to suggest modifications represents a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will endeavour to provide features and guidance to authors to encourage them to upload accessible publications.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Whenever new features are released, they go through our internal quality assurance checks and must meet WCAG 2.1 A & AA guidelines. We're also committed to working on the issues above and aim to have all known issues resolved by mid-2025.

Improvements are being made both as a part of routine development, and as dedicated exercises. Accessibility is considered as a priority for all features developed for the platform.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 3 Nov 2023. It was last reviewed on 25 Jun 2024.

This website was last tested on 25 Jun 2024.

The test was carried out by Jisc staff, using semi-automated testing tools such as Site Improve, Chrome Lighthouse and WAVE Evaluation tool. Manual accessibility testing was conducted on Chrome & Edge using NVDA screen reader, and TPGI's colour contrast analyser on Windows 11.