Accessibility and Inclusive Publishing

Open Christian Press seeks to make its websites, publications and publishing processes usable by as many people as reasonably possible, including readers, authors and reviewers with disabilities or different technological circumstances. Accessibility is not merely a technical feature. It is part of responsible communication because scholarship cannot serve readers who are needlessly prevented from perceiving, navigating or understanding it.

Standard and approach

The Press works progressively toward the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.2, Level AA, across its corporate website and publication platforms. The four guiding principles are that content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Because OJS, OMP, Google Sites, PDF, EPUB and third-party services have different technical constraints, complete conformance may not be immediate. We nevertheless commit to identifying barriers, prioritising material problems and documenting improvements.

Website design

Website content should use:

·       Clear heading hierarchy

·       Sufficient colour contrast

·       Descriptive links and buttons

·       Keyboard-accessible navigation where supported

·       Meaningful alternative text for informative images

·       Captions or transcripts for substantive audiovisual material

·       Legible typography and adequate spacing

·       Layouts that remain understandable on mobile devices

Information should not be communicated through colour alone.

Accessible documents

Production teams should use real headings, logical reading order, descriptive document titles, tagged lists and tables, selectable text, bookmarks for long PDFs and alternative text for meaningful figures where the format permits. Scanned image-only PDFs should be avoided for the version of record unless no accessible source exists. EPUB is encouraged for books where resources permit because it can offer responsive text and user-controlled presentation.

Responsibilities of authors

Authors should provide editable source files, meaningful figure captions, clear table structures, descriptions of complex visual information and transcripts for essential audio or video. Decorative images should be identified as such.

Language and inclusion

Professional language should be precise and respectful. Authors should avoid unnecessary stereotypes, demeaning labels and claims that exceed their evidence. Inclusive language does not require the suppression of legitimate theological, ethical or scholarly disagreement. It requires that persons and positions be represented accurately and with intellectual fairness.

Requesting assistance

Readers who encounter a barrier may request an accessible alternative or report the problem through the Contact page. Please identify the publication, page or feature and describe the format or access need. We will make reasonable efforts to respond, subject to available files, rights, technical limitations and the complexity of remediation.  Report an Accessibility Barrier

Continuous improvement

Accessibility should be reviewed when templates, platform versions and production workflows change. Public claims should reflect tested performance rather than aspiration alone.