This service is offered as part of the wider Brent council website. There’s a separate accessibility statement for the main Brent council website and associated web platforms and applications.
This page only contains information about the Brent library catalogue, which is run by Brent libraries through a third party supplier.
Using this service
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
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We’re also making the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability:
- make your mouse easier to use
- use your keyboard instead of a mouse
- talk to your device
- make your device talk to you
- make text larger
- change your colours
- magnify the screen
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- there isn’t an option to skip repeated links
- the colour contrast between some links and their backgrounds are not sufficient enough
- some images are missing alternative text
- elements are not highlighted when receiving keyboard focus
- form fields are missing labels or not grouped in field sets
- the website isn’t fully responsive.
What to do if you can't access parts of this website
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@brent.gov.uk
To help us deal with your enquiry, please include as much information as possible, including:
- the web address of the pages you're having difficulties with
- how you are accessing the site, for example on your phone, on a laptop, on a tablet
- If on a laptop or tablet, which browser you are using, for example Edge, Firefox, Chrome or Safari
- the nature of your disability, if any
- a description of the problem.
We will consider your request and get back to you within 20 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, let us know by emailing libraries@brent.gov.uk
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
To contact us, please call 020 8937 3400 or email: libraries@brent.gov.uk
Technical information about this websites accessibility
Brent Libraries is committed to making this 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 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
Language
The language of this website has not been set and cannot be identified, which means those using assistive technology may not be able to read the page in the appropriate language. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (language of page).
Text and links
The site doesn’t use any headings which means assistive technology users may not be able to determine the structure or navigation for a page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 2.4.6 (Headings and labels).
Some links are only identified by colour. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.1 (use of colour).
Some text uses formatting tags to emphasise it rather than using semantic tags or drawing from the CSS. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 2.4.6 (Headings and labels).
Some presentational elements, such as tables, use HTML to format them rather than using the CSS. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
Colour contrast
On the website footer, there is not enough contrast between the blue text and the purple background it is displayed on. There are other links on the Log in and Join the library pages where the contrast is also too low. The red colour used for the asterisk on forms and the number of search results returned doesn’t meet the minimum ratio. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast – minimum).
Interactive tools and transactions
The radio buttons and checkbox options in the search filters are not grouped in field sets with descriptive legends to indicate their purpose. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships), 2.4.6 (headings and labels) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).
The join a library form has several accessibility issues:
- a number of dropdown fields do not include labels which means the user may not know what the field is for
- Some form elements are not unique
- 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 town field has no label and the visual label ‘town’ is an orphaned label and not associated to any fields
- The date of birth field doesn’t allow for manual data input
These issues fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content), 1.3.1 (info and relationships), 2.4.6 (headings and labels), 3.3.2 (labels or instructions) and 4.1.2 (name, role, value).
The Log in and Forgot my pin forms are missing the aria-atomic attribute. This means that assistive technologies cannot read error messages when an invalid submission has been made. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification).
Navigation and accessing information
There is no option to skip repeated links or jump to the main content area. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).
Some form fields such as Library card number and PIN are missing a label. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).
There are no page regions or ARIA landmarks, which mean significant regions or areas of text on the page cannot be identified. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks) and 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
The search limit and search field dropdown boxes and the search limit results boxes have been coded as individual forms, even though they are associated with the search button, This means 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).
On the search results page the ‘include’ and ‘exclude’ buttons are not unique elements and are identified with the same name. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (parsing).
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).
The pagination on the search page is repeated but the same link text goes to different destinations. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link purpose in context).
Technology
When using the tab key to jump between elements, a number of components are not highlighted on focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).
Content does not reflow on mobile devices or when zoomed in at a high percentage, which means a user has to scroll both horizontally and vertically. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (reflow).
Disproportionate burden
Not applicable.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Not applicable
How we tested this service
This website was last tested on 24 November 2020 by Brent Council using:
- Manual checking
- Siteimprove
- WAVE
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
This service is run thorough our third party supplier Sirsi Dynix on behalf of a pan-London consortium.
Where we can, we will work with them to resolve any identified issues to make the system more usable for all users.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 25 November 2020. It was last reviewed on 24 November 2020.