Accessibility Statement

CABI is committed to ensuring our content and platforms are easily accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability or the technology they are using. By adopting best practices and striving to adhere to current guidelines and recommendations we are continuously working towards improving accessibility. Wherever possible, CABI strives to conform to Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, EN 201 549 Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe – v2.1.2 (2018-08) and level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). 

Scope of this accessibility statement

This statement applies to the CABI Digital Library website (this site), and provides an overview of the accessibility of CABI publishing content on this platform. It is our policy to make reasonable adjustments in order that all web-based information, services, and learning resources on our websites are accessible to all our users.

For content on this website, we aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1), level AA. We have been implementing various measures to support this goal, for example:

  • minimisation of moving carousels and animations
  • content presentation that conforms to best practice and our digital standards
  • a focus on contrast levels where text appears over hero images
  • making PDF content available as EPUB and HTML
  • ensuring videos for our books include captions/transcripts

Please be aware that due to the large number of pages and content in this website, there may be some instances that do not fully conform to the WCAG AA standard yet. To address this, we have set out a roadmap for accessibility. If you have any questions about accessibility on this website, you can contact our Accessibility Officer (accessibility@cabi.org).

Accessibility features

The majority of this website is fully accessible, and we run regular audits to identify any new problems.

Recommended browser

Google Chrome.

Keyboard navigation

The tab key can be used to navigate through links within the site menu and the main text of each page. Once a link has been highlighted, use the enter key to activate the link.

Logical tab order & page layout

We have built pages so that it is easier to tab through the links – the content area is reached immediately after the header, making it easier to move around within a site.

Navigation

There are many different ways to navigate the site, e.g. via the search box that’s present on all pages, the main menu and the various browse options.

Changing the text size

Most browsers will allow you to change the font size. Guidance on making text size larger can be found on the AbilityNet website. This provides help with seeing the screen, using keyboard and mouse, hearing sounds and reading and spelling. Alternatively, see the ‘help’ section in your browser for more details on customisation.

Skip to main content link

We have positioned the skip to main content link at the top of the page so that you can quickly navigate to the most important sections of the page.

Alternative content

For visitors using screen reader or speech browser software, we have provided sensible alternative text for images where this alternative text will aid your understanding of the web page.

Headers

Our pages use structured headers to aid legibility. The first header on the page is the main content header followed by any appropriate sub-headers.

Forms

Forms have their labels explicitly associated with their controls, aiding users of certain screen readers and speech browsers.

Images

Most images/figures on our site have alternative text. However, the quality of the alternative text varies. Images/figures in older eBooks (pre-2020) and datasheets (pre-2022) may not have alternative text.

Text to speech

You can use text to speech tools to read out website content (e.g. ClaroRead for Chrome browser). Text to speech tools are built into some browsers (e.g. Microsoft Edge) and are available as a plug-in for many others. Your phone, tablet or laptop accessibility settings are also likely to provide text to speech functionality.

Magnification & reflow

Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200% without loss of content or functionality.

Readability

Information on CABI Digital Library is presented with consideration for readability. Foreground is separated from background with the use of appropriate colour and contrast.

Consistency

All pages are set up in a consistent way, and repeated components are presented in the same order every time they appear.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Some of our content in PDF format (especially pre-2020) has not been designed for accessibility. This includes, for example, older archive content reproduced from original printed sources. Colour contrast might be an issue for titles published pre-2020, where coloured text was used for headings and for figure and table numbers in captions.
  • Some images do not include alt tags but most include an adjacent description.

Available formats

Most eBooks on CABI Digital Library are available in both PDF and EPUB (EPUB3 from 2020 onwards, EPUB2 before that) format and are not protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM). Journal content is available in PDF only. To open PDF files, you can use the platform’s eReader. To open a PDF that was downloaded from our platform, you need a PDF viewer such as Adobe Reader. Adobe provides advice on the inbuilt accessibility features here:  Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features.

Content published from 2022 onwards is also available in full text HTML.

CABI Digital Library currently offers most eBooks in EPUB, HTML and PDF formats. CABI is committed to ensuring that our content is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. We endeavour to provide alternative digital copies of our content to those unable to access our print or eBook versions. We have automatic feeds to RNIB Bookshare (UK) and AccessText Network (US and Canada), but if needed we will also fulfil accessibility requests directly, via a request to permissions@cabi.org.

Copy and Printing

The absence of Digital Rights Management software on our platform means assistive technology users should experience no barriers caused by print or copy restrictions. Normal copyright conditions still apply and can be found in our  Terms and Conditions.

Browser and mobile device support

CABI Digital Library is optimized for modern browsers including Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome. Content should be available in older browsers, but newer features may not be fully supported and you may experience unexpected behaviour. CABI Digital Library is responsive, it re-organizes itself depending on the screen size and orientation of the device being used to view it. We test the experience on various devices including most popular IOS, Android and MS Windows phones and tablets.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

We now publish most of our new titles in accessible eBook format. In case a title is unavailable in a suitable format you can request this via our Accessibility Officer (accessibility@cabi.org). We will consider your request and aim to get back to you in 1-5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact our Accessibility Officer at accessibility@cabi.org. 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is a technical document which evaluates how accessible a platform is according to recognised accessibility guidelines.

How we test this website

We regularly test our website against the current guidelines and recommendations and prioritise any actions that derived from testing on our development roadmap. 

What we are doing to improve accessibility

The majority of our website is already accessible for most users. We are continuously working on improving the experience for all our users and are developing a roadmap for further improvements, which includes the following:

  • An Aspire audit of our accessibility information, once all our publishing content has migrated to CABI Digital Library in 2023
  • Align our accessibility roadmap with our commitment to the SDG Publishers Compact (and the UN Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Ensure all our new content is accessible by design, by making new content directly available via EPUB and HTML
  • Continue to increase awareness of accessibility within our organisation

Engagement with accessibility services

CABI has engaged with RNIB Bookshare (UK) and AccessText Network (US and Canada) to make all eBooks available in accessible format. Please contact these organisations directly for any accessibility requests if you are based in the UK, US or Canada.

For requests from outside the UK, US or Canada, please content our Accessibility Officer (accessibility@cabi.org).

Statement date

This statement was prepared on 2 May 2022. It was last updated on 30 June 2023.