UniversalViewer
Update 'Accessibility Statement for the Universal Viewer'
The accessibility statement at https://github.com/UniversalViewer/universalviewer/wiki/Accessibility-Statement-for-the-Universal-Viewer was last updated in 2020, so presumably needs a significant update after the Accessibility Sprint.
@LanieOkorodudu is this within your expertise? I'm not sure who was involved in the Accessibility sprint to provide the correct information
@LanieOkorodudu is this within your expertise? I'm not sure who was involved in the Accessibility sprint to provide the correct information
@mialondon , I was involved in testing the improved accessibility features of the UV last year, though I wouldn’t call myself an expert on it. I've listed the accessibility enhancements from the last sprint, and if you’d like me to, I can open a PR to update the accessibility statement for the UV. I’ll start it as a draft so others can review and share their feedback.
I suspect this really requires a cooperative effort among different types of people: some who have deep familiarity with the UV product, and some who have deep understanding of accessibility standards. And since UV has so many modules, different people are likely to have different areas of expertise (I can speak intelligently about some modules, like OSD, PDF, and MediaElement, but know practically nothing about others like AV or Aleph).
Over at the VuFind project, @crhallberg recently filled out a VPAT for us. That template might be a useful tool for UV as well, but I think it would take a group effort to answer all the questions.
I suspect this really requires a cooperative effort among different types of people: some who have deep familiarity with the UV product, and some who have deep understanding of accessibility standards. And since UV has so many modules, different people are likely to have different areas of expertise (I can speak intelligently about some modules, like OSD, PDF, and MediaElement, but know practically nothing about others like AV or Aleph).
Over at the VuFind project, @crhallberg recently filled out a VPAT for us. That template might be a useful tool for UV as well, but I think it would take a group effort to answer all the questions.
@demiankatz , I completely agree with you, this definitely feels like something that would benefit from a collaborative effort, especially with so many different modules involved and the range of expertise needed. Someone like @crhallberg who has a strong understanding in this area, might be better suited to guide the process.
@LanieOkorodudu do you know if the BL has accessibility testers, perhaps on the web team? They used to have an extensive accessibility statement before the ransomware attack, but it might have been created by an agency.
Or @LlGC-szw do you know if NLW are looking into an updated accessibility statement?
@LanieOkorodudu do you know if the BL has accessibility testers, perhaps on the web team? They used to have an extensive accessibility statement before the ransomware attack, but it might have been created by an agency.
@mialondon, unfortunately I don't know anyone, but I could ask the other team.
That'd be awesome! I've realised that having that statement of compliance would help greatly with uptake, as so many organisations have to meet some level of accessibility standards.
Was it CogApp who reported the accessibility issues? Did they review the results at all? (Again, apologies for these questions poking around in the dark!)
Yes, it was @scoutb-cogapp who reported the most recent large batch of issues; not sure what action has been taken subsequent to our sprint, though; perhaps Scout can offer an update or suggestions. :-)
i'm afraid i haven't had a look since the sprint. maybe i could make some time to do a re-review. do we have a link with a hosted instance that i could use for this purpose?
@scoutb-cogapp, you can always find the latest development build at https://universalviewer.dev . We are also currently working thorugh the release candidate process for our next release, and you can test the latest RC through the "Visit Preview" link in the Vercel-generated comment on https://github.com/UniversalViewer/universalviewer/pull/1353. I imagine there will be a slightly improved RC3 coming in the next couple of weeks, but from an accessibility perspective, I don't expect dramatic differences beyond a minor fix or two.
I can take an initial stab at a VPAT. I used the OpenACR Editor that helps align to US standards, but I would need an international partner to make sure these standards are compatible. We can talk about this at the next Steering Group.
It'd be great if we could make some progress on this before any newcomers check out the site after the Digital Humanities 2025 conference (starting July 15). Any improvements on the 2020 text would make a contribution! At the moment even the fact that it hasn't been updated in 2025 underrepresents the amount of work that has gone on since then.
I've added a note to the top of the page but not attempted to address the points below, for lack of time and expertise!