Spines Publishing UK is committed to making our website and services accessible to everyone, including disabled people. We believe every author deserves equal access to the tools and resources that help them publish their book, and we take our duties under the Equality Act 2010 seriously.
Our Commitment
We want our website to be usable by the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We work continuously to improve the accessibility and usability of our website and follow recognised standards and guidelines.
Accessibility is an ongoing effort, not a one-off project. We review and test our website regularly and fix issues as we find them.
Standards We Follow
Our website aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible to disabled people.
We use the following principles to guide our work:
- Perceivable: we provide text alternatives for non-text content and present content in ways that can be perceived by everyone.
- Operable: interactive elements can be used with a keyboard, and we avoid content that could cause seizures.
- Understandable: we use clear language, predictable navigation and helpful form error messages.
- Robust: we use valid, semantic HTML and ARIA attributes so our content works with assistive technologies.
Accessibility Features
Our website currently includes:
- Keyboard navigation for links, buttons and form fields.
- Semantic HTML and ARIA labels for compatibility with screen readers such as NVDA, JAWS and VoiceOver.
- Colour contrast designed to meet WCAG AA contrast ratios for text and interactive elements.
- Support for browser text resizing up to 200%.
- Descriptive alternative text for meaningful images.
- Labelled form fields with clear error messages.
Known Limitations
While we aim for full WCAG 2.2 AA conformance, some areas may not yet fully meet this standard. Known limitations include:
- Some third-party embedded content, such as our live chat widget, may not fully meet WCAG 2.2 AA. We are working with our suppliers on improvements.
- Some animated sections may be distracting for some users. We are working on better support for reduced-motion preferences.
- Some complex tables in our guides are being improved for screen reader navigation.
We welcome feedback to help us prioritise improvements.
Feedback and Contact
If you find any accessibility barriers on our website, or need information in a different format, please contact us:
- Email: info@spinespublishing.co.uk
- Phone: +44 20 4515 8379 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm UK time)
- Contact form: https://spinespublishing.co.uk/contact/
We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within 3 working days, and we will make reasonable adjustments to help you use our services, for example by providing information in another format or handling your enquiry by phone.
Formal Complaints
If you are not happy with our response, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) at equalityadvisoryservice.com for advice in England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland at equalityni.org.
