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Accessibility

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is committed to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in everything we do. These core values are fundamental to the way we operate our organization and support our constituents. We continually review accessibility compliance and development practices to strengthen that commitment and ensure that our content is available to the entire research community. The ACM Digital Library currently endeavors to conform to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)   Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0  and to section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act.

Should you experience any difficulty in accessing the ACM Digital Library, please contact us using the "feedback" widget on any ACM Digital Library page or by email: [email protected].

If you are an institutional administrator who would like a copy of our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), please contact your account manager.


Navigation

Keyboard Navigation

  • Tab key
    • Use the Tab key to navigate through interactive elements such as links, buttons, form fields, etc. When an item is tabbed to, a visual indicator is displayed on the element that currently has the focus.
    • Use Shift + Tab to navigate backward.

  • Space bar
    • Use Space Bar to select/unselect a checkbox element, expand a dropdown list, or activate a form button.
    • When no item is selected you can scroll down using the Space Bar. Scroll up by pressing Shift + Space Bar

  • Arrow keys
    Arrow keys are useful when you want to scroll the page up and down, expand/collapse a submenu item on the menu bar, select the appropriate option in a radio buttons group, and expand and navigate up and down to any drop down list, like the search autocomplete options.

Page Structure

  • Headings hierarchy is correctly used to organize content.
  • Web pages have titles that clearly describe its topic or purpose.
  • All labels and fields are clearly defined.
  • The purpose of each link can be determined from the text alone or the link text.

Text Resizing

    The site text can be resized to help readability for individual users. To resize the text follow these instructions:

      PC / all browsers:
    • To increase the text size: hold down the CTRL key and press +
    • To decrease the text size: Hold down the CTRL key and press -

      Mac / all browsers:
    • To increase the text size: Hold down the Command key and press +
    • To decrease the text size: Hold down the Command key and press -

Specifics for visually impaired users

Color contrast

All text on the platform meets the minimum recommended contrast ratios against the background. This is 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. If you have trouble reading the text on the site you can change the text size as per the instructions given previously. Alternatively, you may find it helpful to use a browser extension to specify your own color combinations, such as Change Colors for Chrome browser.

Text alternatives for visual content

Navigational images and icons, as well as many images in the content itself, contain useful alternative text. When alt text and long descriptions are available in the content, these are rendered in the interface.

Screen reader compatibility

The ACM Digital Library is designed to follow a logical reading order and semantic structure.

Text to speech

All content on the ACM Digital Library can be copied and pasted into a text-to-speech tool.


Access from any device

The ACM Digital Library responsive layout is designed to render on a variety of devices and screen sizes from the minimum display size to the maximum, to ensure usability and ensure the best user experience possible.


Ensuring accessibility

To ensure that accessibility standards are maintained, we are auditing the site thoroughly on an annual basis.