Measures to support accessibility
Dumbarton Oaks takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of our website:
- Include accessibility throughout our internal policies.
- Provide continual accessibility training for our staff.
- Assign clear accessibility goals and responsibilities.
- Employ formal accessibility quality assurance methods.
Conformance status
As a Harvard University research institute, Dumbarton Oaks is committed to conforming to the Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy. As outlined in this policy, "the Standards" are defined as the Worldwide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1, Level AA Conformance (WCAG 2.1 Level AA). The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Dumbarton Oaks is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. We aim to make any new digital content created, produced, and posted on the Dumbarton Oaks site conform to the Standards, to the extent technically feasible. Where conformance with the Standards is not technically feasible, Dumbarton Oaks is considering how to make the content available in an alternative format to individuals with a disability.
Feedback
We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Dumbarton Oaks. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on the Dumbarton Oaks website.
- E-mail:Requests@doaks.org
- Harvard University's form for reporting web accessibility concerns. To access this form, please see the Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy.
Technical specifications
Accessibility of Dumbarton Oaks relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:
- HTML
- WAI-ARIA
- CSS
- JavaScript
These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.
Limitations and alternatives
Despite our best efforts to ensure the accessibility of the Dumbarton Oaks website, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations and plans for remediation. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.
Known limitations for Dumbarton Oaks:
- Site-wide: Uploaded images may not have text alternatives because the high volume of images used on our site, including archival items, do not evenly apply text alternatives. We are conducting an audit of all existing images and content and applying text alternatives to new content.
- Archival and object catalog records: Are not fully accessible for users of keyboard navigation and assistive technology because the complex nature of the information led to complex method of presentation. We are planning a reassessment of our long-term presentation and management of collections-based resources.
- Filtering and faceted searches: Numerous issues that may impact accessibility. We are actively working on changes and improvements. However, due to the size and complexity of our website, we are cautiously implementing recommendations in order to prevent catastrophic failures.
Assessment approach
Dumbarton Oaks assessed the accessibility of our website by the following approaches:
- Self-evaluation
- External evaluation
Formal complaints
While we are constantly working on improving known accessibility-related issues, we welcome specific feedback. Should you have concerns, please contact us via email or submit your issue through a form managed by Harvard University's Digital Accessibility Services. To access this form, please see the Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy.
Date
This statement was created on March 29, 2023 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool.