The web address for Helda is https://helda.helsinki.fi
Helda is the open digital repository of the University of Helsinki. It contains data produced at the University of Helsinki and in Helda’s client organisations. Data from several sources are continuously stored in Helda.
Helda was established on 1st of January 2010.
Following significant changes, Helda was updated on 1st of March 2020.
In addition to containing material produced at the University of Helsinki, Helda offers repository services to various client organisations.
Helda’s client organisations include the Hanken School of Economics, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), the Finnish Food Authority, the Finnish Society of Forest Science, the Finnish Environment Institute, the Ministry of the Environment, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Library of the Labour Movement and the National Land Survey of Finland.
Accessibility legislation does not apply to content stored in the repository prior to 23 September 2018 because the content is not updated nor is it needed for a case pending with public authorities. The collections of most client organisations include such content.
The repository contains self-archived content, that is, content published in the service by users or other third parties. Such content is not produced, funded or supervised by the service provider.
The organisations using Helda are responsible for the accessibility of the publications in the repository and have themselves assessed the accessibility of their content.
Helsinki University Library has assessed the accessibility of the University of Helsinki’s publications.
Helsinki University Library is responsible for the accessibility of the user interface. Helsinki University Library has assessed the accessibility of the user interface.
This statement was created on the 14th of September 2020, and it has been updated on the 14th of February 2022.
The website is not yet fully compliant with all the requirements.
Accessibility deficiencies have been identified regarding files stored in Helda. These have been itemised according to client organisation as follows:
Helda contains files published after 23 September 2018. Almost all of them are PDF files.
The accessibility requirements do not apply to contents from third parties. Research articles published elsewhere are not part of the materials produced by the University of Helsinki.
The following deficiencies have been noted in some of the files uploaded after 23rd September 2018:
· Styles that would accurately describe the document structure have not been applied in all publications. Therefore, screen readers might not scan the document correctly.
· Table formatting has been used in some publications in a way, which screen readers do not necessarily convert.
· In some publications, the images and tables do not have an alt text, and/or the contents of the image or table are not described in the text.
· In some publications, the language of the publication is not defined in the file.
· In some publications, there might be problems in detecting colour contrasts.
· In some publications, such as doctoral dissertations or Master’s theses, there might be attachments from third parties, such as research articles published elsewhere by publishers.
· There are a small number of digitized documents, in which text recognition has not been applied
If the material you need to access does not meet the accessibility requirements, please contact us at helda-admin@helsinki.fi.
Kela’s research publications and rehabilitation development publications are not fully accessible. The colour contrasts and table structures of some publications do not meet the accessibility requirements, and some graphs lack text alternatives. These shortcomings were scheduled to be addressed in 2020 in publications that had appeared on or after 23 September 2018.
Kela’s statistical publications are not fully accessible. Accessible and/or alternative publication formats will be made available in stages in the coming years.
To request data in an accessible format, please contact julkaisut@kela.fi.
The accessibility deficiencies listed below have been identified in the Helda user interface. Our aim is to fix them without delay.
Inaccessible content and related deficiencies: The logo images at the top and bottom of the Helda user interface have no text alternative. The logo images are also links. The home symbol used in Helda’s breadcrumb navigation has no text description.
Unfulfilled accessibility requirements: 1.1.1 Non-text Content
Inaccessible content and related deficiencies: The frontpage of Helda has images with no text description.
Unfulfilled accessibility requirements: 1.1.1 Non-text Content
Inaccessible content and related deficiencies: Publications are accompanied by links to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as well as a link for creating reference data in RIS format. The text descriptions of these links are deficient.
Unfulfilled accessibility requirements: 1.1.1 Non-text Content
Inaccessible content and related deficiencies: The Helda user interface has shortcomings related to the contrast ratio between text and background colour in the following areas:
Unfulfilled accessibility requirements: 1.4.1 Use of Colour
Inaccessible content and related deficiencies: Helda pages are missing language specifications. This makes it difficult to use a screen reader.
Unfulfilled accessibility requirements: 3.1.1 Language of Page
Inaccessible content and related deficiencies: Labels are missing from search boxes on the front page of Helda and on the front page of the client organisations’ collections.
Unfulfilled accessibility requirements: 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions
Via an online form https://helda.helsinki.fi/feedback
Via email helda-admin@helsinki.fi
If you notice accessibility issues on the website, please first give feedback to the Helda administrator via the above channels. It may take up to 14 days to receive an answer. If you are dissatisfied with the answer or do not receive an answer within two weeks, you may file a complaint with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland. The agency website has detailed instructions (in Finnish and Swedish only) on how to file a complaint and how the issue will be handled.
Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland Accessibility supervision unit www.saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi saavutettavuus(at)avi.fi phone +358 29501 6000 (switchboard)
The accessibility of Helda will be improved as rapidly as possible. The aim is to address the most serious problems related to the accessibility of the user interface by the end of 2022.
In addition, University of Helsinki students will be supported and instructed in creating accessible thesis files to ensure that the theses published in Helda are accessible.
Helsinki University Library supports the use of Helda. The library’s customer service provides advice on the use of Helda. For contact details, please see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-university-library/contact-library/customer…. If necessary, Helda’s administrator can also give advice on using Helda. The administrator’s email address is helda-admin@helsinki.fi