Accessible Archives

***Below is a summary of UARC's accessibility evaluation. For the full report, click the pdf link in the menu on the right.*** 

MSU Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting (MSU UARC) conducted a high-level accessibility evaluation of Accessible Archives to evaluate its conformance with WCAG 2.0 AA Criteria. This evaluation did not include all functionality or content of the site or all WCAG 2.0 AA Success Criteria.

During this evaluation, a number of issues were found that will make the site and its content impossible to use for many individuals with disabilities, and difficult to use for many others.

Critically, no means to pause, stop, or hide the rotators on the Home and Collection pages is provided. Rotators that cannot be stopped create significant issues for individuals with cognitive and visual impairments, as well as for screen reader users.

Keyboard users, including screen reader users and users with dexterity impairments, will be unable to access a variety of site functionality and content. Some critical interactive elements cannot be reached or opened via keyboard. Many interactive elements that can be reached lack a sufficiently visible focus indicator, making it difficult or impossible for many keyboard-only users to effectively use them, as they cannot determine when they have reached the correct element. Focus order is also incorrect in places, further increasing the difficulty of using the site with a keyboard.

Individuals with visual impairments, including those that rely on screen readers, will have additional problems. Some content is read out incorrectly and structural information is not appropriately conveyed to users, making it difficult or impossible to understand content and organization in places. All form inputs are not appropriately labeled, making those inputs difficult or impossible to use for those that rely on screen readers. Custom elements do not correctly announce themselves to screen readers, making them difficult or impossible to understand and use. Some images lack appropriate alternative text, significantly impacting users with visual impairments.

Other issues were found that will make it difficult for users with a variety of disabilities to effectively use the system, including insufficient color contrast, use of color alone to convey information and purpose, inconsistent navigation and identification, no means to bypass repeated navigation on pages, and inappropriate page titles.

To improve access for users with disabilities, UARC recommends a full WCAG 2.0 AA evaluation and that the problems discovered be remediated.