Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement

This Accessibility Statement applies to the website www.costarnetwork.co.uk

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This means you should be able to:

• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser functionality
• Zoom in up to 200% 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
• Interact with most of the website using a screen reader (including recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

If you have a disability, AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use.

How accessible this website is

Our most recent website review was undertaken by people with lived experience of disability. This demonstrated that our design and navigation work well overall. We are aware that some areas of the website do not yet fully meet accessibility requirements. We are actively working to resolve these issues and aim to address the majority within 6 months. This is a dynamic document and identified issues will be removed as they are resolved.

One known example currently in progress:

• Resolving areas of the site where colour contrast is insufficient (WCAG 2.1 AA 1.4.3 and 1.4.11)

Reporting accessibility problems

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page, or you think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at: costar@rhul.ac.uk

Relevant Policy and Procedure

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 are developed through the W3C process in cooperation with individuals and organisations around the world, with the goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organisations, and governments internationally.

The WCAG documents explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Web "content" generally refers to the information in a web page or web application, including:

• Natural information such as text, images, and sounds.
• Code or markup that defines structure, presentation, etc.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Compliance status

This website aims to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard. At the time of this statement, the website is partially compliant due to the non-conformances listed below, which we are actively working to resolve.

Note: The statement references issues spanning WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2. We recommend confirming with your developer or auditor which version you are formally targeting, and updating this section accordingly before publishing.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is currently non-accessible. Where the website is powered by a content management system, some content may change frequently, which can introduce new accessibility issues between reviews.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• Some images on the site lack alternative (alt) text (WCAG 2.0 A 1.1.1 — Non-Text Content).
• Some links use non-descriptive or "naked" URLs, and some links share the same name but point to different destinations, or otherwise fail to describe their purpose (WCAG 2.0 A 2.4.4 — Link Purpose in Context).
• The Mailchimp form does not comply with programmatic field purpose (WCAG 2.1 AA 1.3.5) or fieldset legends (WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1).
• Some video and audio content does not have captions (WCAG 2.0 A 1.2.2 — Captions).

Preparation of this Accessibility Statement

This statement was prepared on 30th March 2026. It was last reviewed on 30th March 2026.

This website was last tested in late March 2026. The test was carried out by Goss Consultancy Ltd (GCL) and included input from people with lived experience of disability.

Using current international WCAG standards, a range of website pages were tested. These followed scoping discussions with the Library On project team to develop a series of user journeys and tasks. These were assessed by a GCL digital accessibility specialist with lived experience of disability, using the following criteria:

• Aesthetic
• Function
• Accessibility
• Navigation

A parallel assessment was undertaken by individuals with a neurodiverse profile, an Assistive Technology user with a visual impairment, and a specialist Assistive Technology provider. Journeys were completed using screen readers, text-to-speech software, and a range of browsers including Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge, running on Windows 11. Firefox on a OnePlus Android device was also used, to reflect the range of hardware and software that website visitors are likely to use.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

Using recommendations provided by Goss Consultancy Ltd (GCL), informed by a representative pan-disability group with lived experience of disability — including neurodiversity, visual impairment, and long-term health conditions — we are working to improve the accessibility of this website in the order of priority identified by that group.

A copy of recent accessibility reports can be requested by contacting: costar@rhul.ac.uk