Scope and ownership
This accessibility statement applies to the LibGuides website (https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/ ). The Business Systems Operations team, within Information Systems and Support is responsible for the digital accessibility of this website.
Using the website
This website is run by the University of Westminster. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, which means that you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate the website using just a keyboard
- navigate the website using speech recognition software
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (most well-known screen readers)
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
For more advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability, visit the AbilityNet website.
Accessibility of the website
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible and have listed the issues according to level of impact, from high to low:
Higher priority issues
- Some pages lack a heading structure, as heading semantics are not provided. Users cannot use the headings to understand the page structure and may struggle to navigate the page content.
- Focus is not visible on certain elements, making the navigation unclear for keyboard users.
- Some interactive elements are not operable using a keyboard, which might block users from navigating the website
- Forms without accessible names and associated labels might cause difficulty for screen reader users to understand the purpose of the input fields.
- Some interactive elements are not labelled correctly or do not have useful instructions. Users may not understand what the purpose of the element is.
- Resizing the text on some pages may cause the content to overlap. Users relying on browser text resize might have difficulties reading the content on the pages
- There are elements with insufficient colour contrast. These elements can be difficult to read, especially for those with low vision, poor eyesight, or colour blindness.
Lower priority issues
- Some elements that are visually styled as lists are not marked up as such. This may make them difficult to understand when using assistive technology.
- Some elements overlap when the user changes the text spacing in the browser. This may cause some users to miss important information.
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, please visit our digital accessibility contact us webpage for information on how to request this.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We have tested a sample of pages on the website. If you find an issue we have not yet identified, you can report it to us. We’ll pass this information to the website owner who will review the issue, make sure it is included in our plan to fix issues and add it into the accessibility statement when it is next updated.
Please visit our digital accessibility contact us webpage for information on how to report an accessibility problem.
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).
Ways to contact us
You can contact us by email or phone. If you prefer to visit us in person, get in touch and we’ll advise on which teams are available to meet with you.
Information on how to contact us is available on our digital accessibility contact us webpage.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The University of Westminster is committed to making its websites 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 2.1 - 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
- Heading levels are skipped (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- List of content not marked up as a list (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- Lists containing one list item (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- Accordions not marked up correctly (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- List of subjects not marked up as a list (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- Heading content is not marked up as a heading (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- Search results are not marked up as a list (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- List of subjects in search results not marked up as a list (WCAG 2.1 - 1.3.1)
- Search button does not have a visible focus (WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.7)
- Image and text receive separate focus when going to same location (WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.3)
- After pressing back to top button, focus does not go back to the top - it remains at the bottom of the page (WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.3)
- Not possible to close popups with the ESC key (WCAG 2.1 - 2.1.1)
- Accordion container receives focus, then the items inside it (WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.3)
- Sort dropdown is not keyboard operable (WCAG 2.1 - 2.1.1)
- Search inputs do not have a label (WCAG 2.1 - 3.3.2)
- Links opening in a new window do not notify users (WCAG 2.1 - 3.3.2)
- Social media links arent labelled (WCAG 2.1 - 3.3.2)
- Accordion buttons have confusing labels (WCAG 2.1 - 3.3.2)
- Pagination is inappropriately labelled (WCAG 2.1 - 3.3.2)
- Text resizes, but containers do not resize to accommodate larger text causing text to overflow (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.4)
- Text resizes, but popups do not resize to accommodate larger text causing the content to overflow the page height (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.4)
- More than 3 images have inappropriate alt text (WCAG 2.1 - 1.1.1)
- Logo has alt of 'Banner Image (WCAG 2.1 - 1.1.1)
- Image with content marked as decorative (WCAG 2.1 - 1.1.1)
- Live chat does not respond to text spacing (WCAG 2.1 - 1.1.12)
- Live chat covers part of the footer when zoomed in (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.10)
- Hover state of active menu item has insufficient contrast (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.3)
- Back to top button has insufficient contrast (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.3)
- Links and search input fail colour contrast (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.3)
- Search input fails non text contrast (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.3)
- Highlighted search term does not met colour contrast (WCAG 2.1 - 1.4.3)
Disproportionate burden
N/A
Content not within the scope of the accessibility regulation
PDFs and other documents
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.
We are working to review the PDFs and Word documents that are essential to providing our services. We’ll either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish after 23 September 2020 will meet accessibility standards.
Pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020
We do not plan to add captions to pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020 because these are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
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 4th September 2020. It was last reviewed on 20th August 2021.
This website was last tested on 28th April 2020. The test was carried out by AbilityNet, an external auditor who specialises in digital accessibility.
We took expert advice from AbilityNet to identify a sample of pages to test. AbilityNet selected a sample of webpages based on the potential challenges that non-accessible content would have on the core user journey of the site.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are working to address the issues identified in the ‘Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations’ section above. We will prioritise our efforts to address the issues with the highest impact on users. We are working to develop an accessibility roadmap to show how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.
The University contracts with external supplier Springshare to provide this website. Therefore, some of these issues are not within our control to address. We will raise these issues with the supplier and work with them to find solutions, where possible.
