Digital accessibility
We are actively working to make our web services accessible to all users.
Accessibility statement for University of the West of England
This accessibility statement applies to the University of the West of England website.
This website is run by the University of the West of England. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Page links don't have a visible indication of their focus state
- Images are missing text descriptions
- Lists aren't marked up as HTML lists
- Focus indicators have insufficient colour contrast
- Interactive controls or components don't have an accessible role, state or name
- Interactive controls can’t be used with the keyboard.
Third party content
Some content is 3rd-party and not under our control:
- YouTube videos
- Unistats widget
- CookiePro cookie banner.
PDF content
PDFs are not fully accessible across the website, some of these are needed to use a key service, examples include:
- Arc Placement Profile Guide.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
- email: webeditors@uwe.ac.uk
- call: +44 (0)117 965 6261
- submit a feedback form.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 days.
If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, please call or email us for directions.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:
- email: webeditors@uwe.ac.uk
- submit a feedback form.
Enforcement procedure
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Find out how to contact us.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The University of West England is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Compliance status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
| WCAG Criterion | Issue |
|---|---|
| 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (A) | The skip link provided at the top of the page doesn't focus its target element. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | Multiple navigation regions are nested and unlabelled. |
| 1.4.10 Reflow (AA) | The skip link is obscured and cut off at small viewport sizes |
| 1.2.1 Audio-only & Video-only (A) | The video-only content uses an iFrame title and aria-label which doesn’t sufficiently describe the video content. |
| 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A) | Visually hidden YouTube links within the video iFrame are available to people using a screen reader. |
| 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA) | The video pause button aria-label value is “button” which doesn’t sufficiently describe its topic or purpose. |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA) | There's insufficient contrast between the Browse by subject area combobox dropdown text and background colour in the hover and focus states. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The Browse by subject area search combobox and dropdown menu is missing the appropriate property and state information. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) | The additional card description content can be accessed with a mouse (hover) in desktop viewports but not with a keyboard (focus). |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (AA) | The SVG Play/Pause button image isn’t hidden from screen readers. |
| 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (AA) | The pagination control custom focus indicators have insufficient colour contrast against the background colour. |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA) | There's insufficient contrast between the carousel slide text and background colour when navigating using a screen reader virtual cursor. |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A) | The carousel slide Read more links don't have sufficient information or context to easily determine what the link will do, or where it will go. |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (AA) | The target size of the carousel navigation links doesn’t meet the minimum size requirement. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The carousel pagination navigation is missing the appropriate role and name information. |
| 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A) | The Search input uses placeholders as labels. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The primary navigation links use the aria-haspopup attribute. |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order (A) | The non-interactive sub-menu container is included in the page tabindex. |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (AA) | The remove filter icon on the Your selected filters buttons doesn't have a text description. |
| 1.4.10 Reflow (AA) | The breadcrumb navigation is missing at small viewport sizes. |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (AA) | The decorative card image contain text descriptions which duplicates the heading content. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The tab controls (which show/hide the filter) dropdown panels are missing appropriate tab role. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) | The tab controls (which show/hide the filter) are defined as buttons but, can’t be used with the keyboard spacebar. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | The date group of radio buttons are displayed as a group but aren't structured or labelled appropriately in the HTML. |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (AA) | The list CSS ::marker pseudo-elements are announced by screen readers. |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order (A) | When the date picker is opened, focus isn't moved to the dialog. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The date input fields’ accessible name in incorrect and misleading. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The date picker has no accessible role or name. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | The page region for the carousel navigation and content isn’t marked up in the HTML. |
| 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A) | Visually hidden slide content in the carousel is available to people using a screen reader. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The Add and Share expand controls don't have an accessible role. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The expanded and collapsed state of the Add and Share controls isn’t conveyed to screen readers. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The Event location map and Uniquest form iFrames don’t have a title. |
| 4.1.2 Name Role Value (A) | The Accordion headings, which control the visibility (expanded/collapsed) of the accordion content don't have an accessible role. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | Page text is styled as citations but not marked up in the HTML as cite elements. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | Groups of radio buttons aren't structured or labelled appropriately in the HTML. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | Form errors, which provide information about the kind of input required, aren't explicitly associated with form fields. |
| 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (AA) | The input purpose of the name and email input fields isn't identified or the autocomplete value is incorrect. |
| 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (AA) | The tab buttons’ custom focus indicators have insufficient colour contrast against the background and associated components. |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A) | The YouTube video channel link doesn’t have sufficient information or context to easily determine what the link will do, or where it will go. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) | The YouTube video channel link can be used with a mouse but not with a keyboard. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) | The 360˚ tour can be used with a mouse but not with a keyboard. |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (AA) | The 360˚ canvas image doesn't have a text description. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | The location map marker list text is styled a numbered list but not marked up in the HTML as a list element. |
| 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA) | Page links don't have a visible indication of their focus state. |
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (AA) | Focused elements are obscured or hidden by the sticky navigation and footer. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | Quotation text is styled as a quote but not marked up in the HTML as a blockquote element. |
| 2.2.2 Pause Stop Hide (A) | The Unistats widget contains animation that starts automatically, lasts more than 5 seconds and is presented parallel to other content but doesn’t have a mechanism for being paused, stopped or hidden. |
| 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (AA) | Pointer hover or keyboard focus triggers additional content on the Unistats widget which isn't dismissible, hoverable or persistent. |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA) | There's insufficient contrast between the See course data tooltip text and background colour. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) | The image thumbnail slide controls can be used with a mouse but not with a keyboard. |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A) | The social media links don't have sufficient information or context to easily determine what the link will do, or where it will go. |
| 2.4.2 Page Titled (A) | The PDF document doesn't have a page title. |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (AA) | Images are missing text descriptions. |
Disproportionate burden
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contracts are up for renewal.
Third-party systems
Some digital services delivered by the University currently use third-party provided technologies. There may be cases where these systems cannot deliver the same level of accessibility compliance that the website offers and the University is not able to influence the code on those platforms. We are working to strengthen our expectation of suppliers during procurement or renegotiation of contracts to enhance compliance in these systems. Third-party systems used include:
- Job vacancies
- Microsoft 365
- MYUWE student portal
- welcome.uwe applicant portal
- iTrent vacancies platform
- InfoHub student platform
- Wordpress blog platform
- Gecko Engage online forms
- Gecko events management
- Qualtrics survey forms
- mycpd.uwe applicant portal
- store.uwe online store.
Digital publications
The University’s key prospectuses are delivered in a digital format using the Foleon platform. These were last audited in March 2021 by Nomensa, who performed an evaluation against all level A and AA success criteria of the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Moderate and minor accessibility issues were identified across the digital prospectuses. These impacted the link focus indicator, the main menu and the understanding of page structures. We are currently working with Foleon to resolve these issues.
Mobile apps
The University provides a number of mobile apps which it has developed via Google Play and Apple App Store to support student experiences. We are committed to making our mobile app experiences as accessible as possible although some mobile app services delivered by the University currently use third-party provided technologies. There may be cases where these apps cannot deliver the same level of accessibility compliance that the website offers and the University is not able to influence the code on those products.
Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 15 December 2023. It was last reviewed on 11 January 2024.
This website was last tested on 14 December 2023. The test was carried out by Nomensa Ltd.
The testing used a combination of accessibility evaluation tools, visual inspection of code and testing with assistive technology to evaluate a representative subset of 41 test samples across 15 pages.
The testing assessed the following pages:
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Digital learning accessibility statement
This statement applies to content published on our Digital Learning Environment (DLE) systems at UWE Bristol.