All researchers, regardless of ability, need access to scholarly information. ProQuest is committed to providing all our users with a fully accessible experience for research, teaching and learning. 

At ProQuest, we make every effort to ensure that our platforms – including ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers – can be used by everyone. ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers is continually designed and developed to meet Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.

Accessibility features and gaps

Users of ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers should be able to:

• On a Results page, click a ‘Full text – PDF > Replica of Original – Complete’ link, to view a screen-reader accessible PDF version of the document.
• Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
• Track visual focus while using Tab / Shift+Tab to step forward and backward through interactive elements on the page.
• Go directly to main content areas on the page using skip links.
• Identify the purpose of individual site pages by their unique page titles.
• Listen to most of the website using a screen reader.
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software.
• Zoom in up to 400% using browser tools without text spilling off screen and needing to scroll horizontally.
• Exit / close modal popups using the keyboard, avoiding keyboard traps.

There may be some parts of this website that are not fully accessible:

• Isolated incidences of contrast between text or non-text elements and backgrounds failing minimum levels as specified in relevant WCAG criteria. 
• You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text.
• Text strings that look like headings or subheadings on some pages are not coded using heading tags.
• Heading tags sometimes skip levels. For example, both <H1> and <H3> tags are defined on the page, but there are no <H2> tags.
• Some product content is in a language other than the declared ‘English’ of the site. However, the underlying code does not identify these non-English words or phrases, which would cue a screen reader of the language change.  
• Visual focus is not always discernible when using Firefox.

If you have a disability and need to make your computer, tablet or other device easier to use, AbilityNet is a recommended resource. We also recommend browsing free add-ons offered for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

Technical Information about this site’s accessibility

• U.K. Parliamentary Papers is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with:
• Level A and Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1)
• Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act for features and functions.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance level and report 

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. 

Access the full Accessibility Compliance Report (VPAT 2.4 & WCAG) for U.K. Parliamentary Papers.

Accessibility of this platform

PDF Full text accessible to screen readers

While some U.K. Parliamentary Papers content is limited to citation information and an abstract if available, a good deal of the content provides full text. For an item that provides full text, you can:

• Click the document title on a Results page to display a document view where you can navigate through scanned page images of the original document. The text in these scanned page images is not accessible to a screen reader.
• Click the ‘Replica of Original – Complete’ link, available when you hover a ‘Full text – PDF’ link on a Results page to open a screen-reader accessible PDF of the original document.

Search button contrast

There are two known contrast issues which we expect to correct in a future release:

• Inadequate contrast of a dark-gray magnifying-glass icon on a dark-teal search button. This contrast issue is seen on Basic Search, Results, and Document View.
• White link text against a multi-hue / color background image . . .  making the link text difficult to read for some users. Currently an issue on all site pages.

Headings and subheadings

Coding page elements as headings and subheadings, using HTML heading tags that look like this: <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, etc. can help all users, but screen-reader users in particular, parse the structural hierarchy of a page. The Advanced Search page, for example, includes the following heading / subheading-like text elements that are not coded using heading tags:

• More Search Options
• Petitions
• Century / Collection
• Paper Type
• Document Features

We expect to correctly code these elements and others with heading tags in a future release.

Accessibility Testing

The accessibility of U.K. Parliamentary Papers is a continual effort at ProQuest. Accessibility standards are built into our design, and style guides and included as part of requirements in our software development and quality assurance pipeline.

U.K. Parliamentary Papers code is checked for accessibility using a range of automated and manual checks including but not limited to: 

• Color Contrast Analyzer provided by WebAIM
• Deque aXe accessibility testing tool
• High Contrast Chrome extension
• Keyboard-access manual testing and assessment
• WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation tool) provided by WebAIM
• JAWS with Windows
• VoiceOver with Mac

U.K. Parliamentary Papers is tested on the latest versions of Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Edge, and on devices including Mac and Windows computers, and Android and iOS devices.

What We’re Doing to Improve Accessibility

Making content accessible is an ongoing effort at ProQuest. We’re committed to working with the community to ensure we continue to meet our customers’ needs. A list of our ongoing efforts includes:

• The ProQuest Accessibility Council: a team of stakeholders working to increase accessibility resources and capabilities 
• Pursuing partnerships with colleges, universities and other institutions to assist us in reviewing and updating our accessibility standards 
• Supporting certifications for our employees
• Consulting with accessibility experts such as Deque 

Support and feedback

If you have difficulty accessing specific ProQuest content or features with adaptive technology after trying the workarounds suggested in this statement, you can contact us using the links provided below. Our support services will respond within three days and are available to accommodate the communication needs of end users with disabilities. We will work with you to identify the best option for remediation, subject to content licensing restrictions and technical capability. 

Online: ProQuest Technical Support

Phone:
United States & Canada (toll free):
+1 800 889 3358

Outside North America:
+800 4997 4111 or +1 734-707-2513

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This accessibility statement was prepared on September 20, 2020. It was last reviewed on September 21, 2020.

The website was last tested on September 16, 2020. The test was carried out internally at ProQuest.