Our Commitment to Accessibility

ACCESSIBILITY IS AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION AS WE DEVELOP DSPACE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR USERS. WE ARE WORKING ON IMPROVEMENTS TO ALL AREAS OF THE PLATFORM IN HOPES OF MAKING DSPACE USABLE AND ACCESSIBLE FOR EVERYONE.

VIEW OUR CONFORMANCE REPORT

Accessibility Statement

DSpace is an international, open-source digital repository application that aspires to be as inclusive as possible for all users, including people with disabilities. As a community of users and developers who build and maintain this application, we are dedicated to creating an accessible and interoperable user interface. We are guided by the recommendations of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and we continually strive to meet and exceed these standards.

How We Test For Accessibility

Development on DSpace is active and ongoing and we use several methods to ensure accessibility for both existing and new development. We use design principles and coding standards informed by accessibility concerns. We use automated accessibility scanning tools such as Axe by Deque across the user interface before implementing changes to the DSpace code. We ask institutions who use DSpace to share their own accessibility testing results with us. If your institution has accessibility testing results to share, please contact [email protected].

In 2021, we conducted an accessibility audit of the DSpace application with Deque to get specific feedback on our accessibility conformance. From 2023-24, the DSpace Development Fund campaign focused on Accessibility Audits and Remediation. In 2023, The University of Edinburgh conducted an Accessibility Review of DSpace 7.6. In 2024, Cornell University performed a Web Accessibility Assessment Review of DSpace. Their feedback has guided our design and coding standards mentioned above.

Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT)

Some organizations require a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for software applications in use or being considered. VPATs are documents that describe how well a product meets accessibility standards.

In February 2025, Lyrasis assisted with the development of the first DSpace VPAT. This VPAT is based on the 7.6.2 and 8.0 release of DSpace.

In November 2025, DSpace Program Staff reviewed this VPAT against the most recent releases (7.6.5, 8.2, and 9.1) and published an updated version.

We are committed to continuing our efforts to provide iterative updates to this VPAT with relevant releases of DSpace.

DSpace Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT) – February 2025

DSpace Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT) – November 2025