Accessibility statement

Research that anyone may read should be research that anyone can read. Open access is not much use if the page itself shuts people out.

GSMS Publications is published by the Green and Sustainable Materials Society. We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA across this website and the full text of every article we publish. Accessibility is treated as part of building a page, not as a later audit: the layout, navigation and article template were each checked as they were built.

This statement is written to be useful rather than reassuring. It says what we have actually implemented, names the gaps we know about, and tells you how to get content another way while we close them.

The assessment covers the pages of this website and the HTML full text of articles. It does not cover material supplied by authors that we republish unchanged, such as the content of figures and supplementary files, nor the third-party widgets named in section 4. It also does not cover the separate submission portal and production system used by authors, reviewers and editors, which have not yet been assessed.

• Keyboard operation Menus, dropdowns, modals, the figure lightbox and the search box are all reachable and operable with a keyboard alone. Dialogs and dropdowns close with the Escape key, and the figure lightbox also steps between figures with the arrow keys.
• Visible focus Every focusable element shows a focus outline when reached by keyboard, and the outline is suppressed only for pointer clicks, never for keyboard users.
• Skip link A “Skip to main content” link is the first thing in the tab order on every page, so screen reader and keyboard users can bypass the two navigation bars.
• Semantic structure Pages use landmark regions (banner, navigation, main, contentinfo) and a single ordered heading hierarchy. Section navigation on long pages is a real list of links, not a scripted widget.
• Meaningful alt text Journal logos, author photographs and graphical abstracts carry descriptive alternative text. Purely decorative artwork is marked empty so assistive technology skips it rather than reading a filename.
• Text and contrast Body text, headings and interface text meet the WCAG AA contrast ratio against their background. Article text is set in a serif face at 18 px with generous line height, and the whole page scales with browser zoom and user font settings.
• Reflow to small screens The layout reflows to a single column on narrow screens without loss of content or function. Every page is checked at 400 px wide with no horizontal page scrolling; wide tables scroll inside their own container rather than pushing the page sideways.
• Reduced motion When the browser requests reduced motion, smooth scrolling is turned off and the article reading-progress indicator is hidden altogether.
• Language and titles Each page declares its language in the page markup and carries a unique, descriptive title, so screen readers announce the right pronunciation and the right page.
• Links that make sense alone Link text describes its destination rather than relying on surrounding text, and icon-only buttons carry an accessible name.

Beyond the website, every article is deposited with Crossref and exposed through an open metadata endpoint, so readers who prefer their own reading software, a repository copy or a screen-reader-friendly workflow can obtain the article without using this site at all.

These are the gaps we are aware of. If you hit one, write to us and we will supply the content in a form you can use, usually within a few days rather than waiting for the underlying fix.

• Article PDFs PDFs are generated from the typeset article and are not fully tagged for screen readers. The HTML full text of every article is the accessible version, and it carries the same content. If you need a tagged PDF or another format, ask us and we will produce one.
• Figures and graphical abstracts Figures have captions and alternative text, but complex charts do not yet have long descriptions of the underlying data. Where the data matters and the figure alone is not enough, contact us and we will supply the values.
• Mathematics Equations are rendered as MathML, which assistive technology reads well in most modern browsers but inconsistently in older ones. We have not tested every screen reader and browser combination.
• Wide tables Some comparison tables are wider than a phone screen and scroll horizontally inside their container. They remain fully readable, but reaching the far columns takes extra interaction on a small screen.
• Focus after closing a dialog Dialogs and dropdowns can be dismissed with the Escape key, but keyboard focus is not always returned to the control that opened them, so the tab order can restart at the top of the page. A fix is queued.
• Third-party components The Crossmark status widget and the Dimensions citation badge on article pages are supplied by Crossref and Digital Science. Their accessibility is outside our control, and neither is required to read an article.
• Single colour scheme The site is published in one light colour scheme and does not offer a dark theme. It respects browser zoom, forced-colours mode and user stylesheets, but readers who rely on a dark theme must set one in their browser or operating system.

This statement rests on an internal review carried out by the team that builds the site, most recently on 14 September 2026. We do not currently commission an external audit, and we say so rather than implying one.

We have not yet tested systematically with every major screen reader, and we do not claim results we have not measured. Reports from people using assistive technology are the most valuable input we receive, which is why section 6 exists.

If something on this site stops you reading our research, that is a defect, and we want the report.

If our response does not resolve matters, you may escalate to the publisher using the complaints route in Contact us. Accessibility feedback is never treated as a complaint against you, and reporting a barrier has no effect on any manuscript you have with us.

This statement was last reviewed on 14 September 2026. It is reviewed whenever the site changes materially.