Release: Second Accessibility Update to HathiTrust Website and Digital Library

Release Name: August 2024 Accessibility update to HathiTrust website and digital library

Product/Service: HathiTrust digital library services 

Release Date: July 29-August 16, 2024

Who does this impact? If you use screen reader programs, use high zoom levels, or navigate primarily with your keyboard, you may notice improvements as you use the digital library services. 

Impact: 

• We had previously included a YouTube video embed on our home page to highlight trainings and webinars. This embed had multiple accessibility issues, and we chose to remove the embed altogether rather than attempt to customize the embed. You can still find training materials in our Help Center. 
• Our book reading interface uses a number of tooltips that describe various controls and buttons as you interact with a book. To meet WCAG success criterion 1.4.13 that hoverable content must be dismissible, hoverable, and persistent, we have made it easier to interact with these tooltips. You can now select the text within a tooltip and dismiss it using the ESC key on your keyboard, and the tooltips remain visible until mouse hover or keyboard focus is moved. More information is also included in the tooltips, such as the degree to which you are rotating a page or zooming in.  
• A few focus indicator issues lingering since our last release notes  have been resolved.
• In the Advanced Search screen and our cookie consent banner, we have reconfigured those screens to ensure content can be accessed at higher zoom levels. 

Image description: An orange tooltip announces “Rotate scan #1, 90°” when the rotate page icon is selected in this open copy of The Conchological Illustrations.

You can learn more about this project at “Our 2024 Digital Accessibility Audit: Findings and Fixes.” If you encounter any bugs or problems, please contact our User Support Team at support@hathitrust.org.