Belleville Area District Library Website Accessibility Statement

Our Commitment to Accessibility The Belleville Area District Library (BADL) is committed to providing a fully accessible digital experience for all patrons of all abilities, including those who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers, screen enlargement software, and alternative keyboard input devices. Just as we strive to make our physical building welcoming to everyone, we are dedicated to ensuring our website serves the entire community without barriers.

Ongoing Efforts to Ensure Accessibility We follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as our guiding principle for digital accessibility. These are internationally agreed-upon standards that ensure web content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

Website accessibility is an ongoing process. As we add new pages and functionality, all designs, code, and content entry practices are checked against these standards. Our web team continually tests content and features using industry-standard tools, including the WordPress Accessibility Checker plugin, color contrast analyzers, ARIA validation, and manual keyboard-only navigation testing.

Accessibility Features On Our Website We have recently rebuilt our website from the ground up with native accessibility as a core priority. Key features include:

  • Screen-Reader Optimized Code: We utilize ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) labels to ensure buttons, icons, and navigation elements are clearly announced to screen readers.
  • Native Device Compatibility: Rather than relying on third-party accessibility overlays, our website is engineered to work seamlessly with your device’s built-in assistive settings, including system-wide high contrast modes and text scaling.
  • Clear Visuals: We strictly enforce alternative text (alt text) for all images and prohibit embedding text inside images, ensuring no information is hidden from visually impaired patrons.
  • Keyboard Navigation: Our menus and dropdowns are fully navigable using only a keyboard.
  • Accessible Content Structures: We have replaced legacy sliders and complex layouts with clean, modular text posts and logical heading hierarchies.
  • Language Access: We provide digital translation tools to assist patrons with varying language needs.

Where We Are Improving In our continuous efforts to bring our website up to standard, we are actively targeting the following areas:

  • Legacy Documents: We are actively auditing older PDF documents (such as legacy Library Board packets) and transitioning them into accessible, web-native formats.
  • Third-Party Platforms: While we strive to make our site completely accessible, we use third-party vendors for our catalog, event calendars, and digital resources (such as Libby and Hoopla). We are continually working to optimize the handoffs to these platforms, such as adding clear screen-reader warnings when links open in a new tab, but we cannot fully guarantee the accessibility of external sites.

Accessibility Support Contact We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback. If you are using assistive technologies and are having difficulty accessing any part of our website, please let us know so we can provide you with the information you need and work to resolve the issue.

  • Email: info@belleville.lib.mi.us
  • Phone: (734) 699-3291
  • In-Person: Ask for assistance at any of our reference or circulation desks.