Website Accessibility

About Website Accessibility

The Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility, both in our branches and online. The library's website is reviewed regularly and accessibility is an important part of our development process. We strive to exceed the user standards set-out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 as required by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Some of the things we do are:

Page Structures

Our pages are laid out using semantic structures such as headings, lists, labelled forms, etc., to make them easier to navigate. Tables are only used to represent tabular data not layout. The website also has a Skip Navigation link on all pages to make it easier for users to get to the unique content of a page.

Text and Readability

Text is presented as machine readable text, so it can be resized, reformatted and easily migrated to different environments so that it is easier to understand. We also present text in high contrast ratios that usually greatly exceed the requirements of WCAG 2.0.

Non-decorative images are always presented with a filled-in alt attribute, so that they can be interpreted by screen readers.

We also do our best to write plainly for people with reading or cognitive disabilities.

Technology

The technology that we use on the website is designed to be accessible through keyboard usage. When that is not feasible, we do our best to provide content alternatives. Technology that uses client side scripting is avoided and we always try to develop in such a way that the content is available if the user has disabled scripting.