Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement

UEL is committed to achieving high levels of accessibility through its web pages.

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UEL is committed to achieving high levels of accessibility through its web pages.

University of East London

This accessibility statement applies to the University of East London (UEL) website. This website is run by UEL. 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 200% without the text spilling off the screen;
  • view the browser in a one column format (1280px browser width and zoom in to 400%);
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard;
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software; and
  • 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.

Accessibility

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • There are images which do not have appropriate alternative text for screen reader users.
  • There is video content which does not have an accessible alternative such as a transcript or audio description. Some video content has captions which are not accurate.
  • The heading structure on some pages is not logical or hierarchical.
  • Some pages have text which is emphasised that is lacking semantic mark up to allow screen reader users to recognise the emphasis.
  • There is content which is displayed as a table that does not have appropriate semantic mark up for screen reader users.
  • There are grouped form controls which do not have a shared or common label.
  • There are elements in the PDF documents which have been tagged incorrectly.
  • Search filters may be difficult for some users to interact with.
  • There is content which moves for more than five seconds which does not have an accessible pause feature.
  • Skip to content links may not function as expected.
  • Some PDF documents do not have an appropriate title.
  • The focus order of some pages is not logical.
  • There are links which are not descriptive and screen reader users may identify links which are empty on some pages
  • There are some elements which do not announce their role to screen reader users.
  • Custom elements have been used which may not be accessible to all users.
  • Aria has been used incorrectly on some components; invalid roles have been specified.
  • There are visible tabs which do not have the appropriate semantic mark up to allow screen reader users to interact with the tabs in the expected manner.
  • There are non-text elements which fail to meet the minimum required colour contrast ratio.
  • There are buttons which have ambiguous text.
  • There are status messages which are not announced to screen reader users.
  • There are links which are not descriptive when read out of context with screen reading software.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDFs, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please email: digitalcontent@uel.ac.uk.

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.

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: digitalcontent@uel.ac.uk.

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 East London 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

Currently, the website does not meet most requirements of the WCAG 2.1 AA standard and is not yet compliant.

The non-compliances are listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Images

Non-descriptive alt text has been used on some images so people using a screen reader hear text that is not necessary. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A). We plan to use null alts for all decorative images by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Video

Videos are present without a transcript available for users who require alternative formats. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Pre-recorded) (Level A) and 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-recorded) (Level A). We plan to include transcripts by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of transcripts meets accessibility standards.

Videos are present which use auto generated captions which do not accurately represent the spoken content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded) (Level A). We plan to include transcripts by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of captions meets accessibility standards.

Media content

There is content which moves for more than five seconds that does not have an accessible pause feature. This may cause difficulty for users with cognitive impairments and screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A). We plan to include a pause button on moving content by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of moving content meets accessibility standards.

Forms

There are groups of form controls which do not have a shared or common label. This means that screen reader users may find the forms ambiguous when viewed out of context. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), and WCGA success criterion 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A). We plan to make sure all grouped from elements have a shared or common label by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of labels meets accessibility standards.

There are links styled as checkboxes. This may be confusing for multiple assistive technology user groups. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A), and WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). We plan to make sure all elements have the correct roles by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of roles meets accessibility standards.

Some elements use Aria incorrectly, which may cause issues for users of assistive technology. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). We plan to make sure all elements have the correct use of Aria by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of Aria meets accessibility standards.

Some buttons have text which is not fully descriptive of the purpose of the button, this may cause difficulty for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). We plan to make button text descriptive by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of button text meets accessibility standards.

Structure

Headings have been used for text which does not introduce content. This means that people using a screen reader may not be able to determine the layout of the page and quickly navigate to different sections. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA).

We plan to include headings to all sections of all pages by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of headings meets accessibility standards.

Emphasised text and tables have been used without the appropriate semantic mark up. This means that people using a screen reader will not recognise the emphasis. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). We plan to use semantic mark to for emphasised text and tables by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of semantic markup meets accessibility standards.

Lists have not been marked up correctly. This means that relationships between content will not be clear to people using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A). We plan to ensure that all lists are marked up correctly by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of lists meets accessibility standards.

There are tabs present which do not use the appropriate semantic HTML to allow screen reader users to interact with the content in a meaningful way. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 Name Role, Value (Level A). We plan to add the appropriate sematic HTML by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of tabs meets accessibility standards.

Incorrect tags have been used in some PDF documents. This may make navigation through the PDF confusing for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A).

We plan to use correct tags in our PDF documents by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure that our PDF documents are tagged correctly to meet the accessibility standards.

PDFs may not have a document title. This means that the document file path will be used as the title which may cause difficulty for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A).

We plan to add titles to PDFs by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure that our PDF documents include a title to meet the accessibility standards.

Updating content

Content is added to the page after a search has been performed but does not inform people that use a screen reader. This means that people that use a screen reader are unaware that the search has been successful, and results are displayed. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA).

We plan to ensure that all content that is dynamically added to the page informs people that use screen readers as soon as the search results appear by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure updating content meets accessibility standards.

Colour

The colour contrast between foreground and background colours did not meet the expected ratios.

This means that some content may be difficult for users with low vision and colour deficiencies to read. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) and 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced) (Level AAA).

We plan to ensure that all colour contrast ratios are amended by September 2023 to meet the contrast ratios required for AA at a minimum. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of colour contrast ratios meets the accessibility standards.

The contrast of non-text content did not meet the expected ratio of 1.3:1 where borders on form fields were used. This means that it may be difficult for people with low vision and/or colour deficiencies to know where to input information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA).

We plan to make all non-text content clearly visible by September 2021 or 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of colour contrast of non-text content meets the accessibility standards.

Navigation

There are some skip links that should let people skip between different areas of the page. These are not functioning as they should which means that people that use a keyboard to navigate are unable to skip to the relevant area. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A).

We plan to ensure that all pages will have functioning in-page skip links by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure that bypassing blocks of content meets the accessibility standards.

The focus order of interactive elements is not logical. This means that people who use a keyboard to navigate may find it difficult to understand or operate the web page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A).

We plan to ensure that all pages will display a logical focus order by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure that the focus order of interactive elements is logical to meet the accessibility standards.

Links

Links are not always descriptive of their intended purpose or destination. This means that people with motion impairment are unable to skip links that they are not interested in, people with cognitive limitations may be disoriented and people with visual disabilities are unable to determine the purpose of a link without leaving the link to explore its context. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose – in context (Level A) and 2.4.9 Link Purpose - Link Only - (Level AAA).

We plan to ensure that all links are descriptive of their purpose and destination both in and out of the context of the page content by September 2023. When we publish new content, we will make sure that links are descriptive and meet the accessibility standards.

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. By September 2023, 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. For example, we do not plan to fix [example of non-essential document]. 

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap [to be published] shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

We plan to make the recommended fixes to the WCAG 2.1 level A and WCAG 2.1 level AA issues listed above and retested by September 2023.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 17 October 2022.

It was last tested on 9 July 2021 with a retest carried out on 5 October 2022. The test was carried out by The Digital Accessibility Centre and covered the following journeys, which are representative of the main templates used on the website.

You can download and read the full accessibility test report below

How we test this website

Digital Accessibility Centre  audit process involves:

  • Automated testing 
  • Expert Review 

User testing (disabled end to end experience) by disabled testers, some using assistive technologies such as:

  • JAWS screen reader
  • NVDA screen reader
  • VoiceOver on iOS (Mobile)
  • TalkBack on Android (Mobile)
  • Dragon voice activation software
  • ZoomText magnification
  • Keyboard only
  • Users with disabilities who do not require assistive software such as those with dyslexia, colour blindness, anxiety/panic disorder