Accessibility

How we checked, on 1 October 2026

An automated checker, axe-core 4.10.2, run in a real browser against the WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 rules at levels A and AA, on twelve live pages:

• smartscholars.in — the front page, About, Contact, Community (a new topic), Reviews
• Journal Audit — the front page and the account form
• GetIndexed — the front page and the sign-in page
• DOI Doctor — the front page
• Scholar Shield — the front page
• the DOI Registry — the front page

We also measured the colour contrast of the text on the front page, and searched the styles of every site for anything that hides where the keyboard is; nothing does.

What we found, and fixed

• The boxes of the sign-in, account and contact forms were not tied to their labels, so a screen reader announced a box without saying what it was for. Every form on every site now ties each label to its box.
• The rows of cards that scroll sideways, on the GetIndexed and DOI Doctor front pages, could not be reached from the keyboard. They can now, and the arrow keys scroll them.
• One line of text on the front page was a little paler than the 4.5 to 1 contrast the guidelines ask for. It is darker against its ground now.

The checker found nothing else on the twelve pages. Where it could not decide a colour contrast itself — text on a shaded ground — we measured it, and found the one line above.

What is not yet right, or not yet known

• An automated checker finds only part of what can go wrong. The sites have not yet been tested by a person who uses a screen reader every day.
• Some downloadable PDFs are not yet tagged for screen readers. Ask, and we will send the same content in a form that works for you.
• The main pages are offered in Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Portuguese and Spanish as well as English; the policies and many of the tools are in English only.

How the sites are built for it

• Every page works on a phone, a tablet and a computer, without scrolling sideways.
• Every page names its language, and the Arabic pages read right to left.
• The world map on some pages has the list of its countries written beside it.
• The little movement there is — a number counting up, a card lighting up as you reach it — stays still if your device asks for less motion; a spinner turns only while work is running.