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Accessibility statement for www.tees.ac.uk

This accessibility statement applies to the primary Teesside University website ( www.tees.ac.uk) 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. AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

We have invested in the ReciteMe toolbar which allows users to customise the appearance of our website to make it easier to read and navigate. The toolbar provides text to speech functionality, fully customisable styling features, reading aids and a translation tool with over 100 languages, including 35 text to speech voices and many other features.

How accessible is this website?

Teesside University aims to make our web pages meet the WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1) at level AA.

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

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams do not have captions
  • online chat widget (third party software)
  • some images require alternative text
  • colour contrast is not sufficient in some areas
  • some webpages may have non-consecutive headings
  • the purpose of some links may not be clear

Feedback and contact information

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: d.honeyman@tees.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).


Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Teesside University 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 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.


Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Images

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all required images by December 2023. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Some images are used as tracking pixels for marketing purposes and therefore won't have alt tags applied to them.

Carousels

Carousel on Undergraduate page for Choose Teesside, Open days and Events fails WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships Certain ARIA roles must contain particular children) and WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value ARIA input fields must have an accessible name).

Further investigation is required.

Ask us a question widget

There is no visible keyboard tab focus on the 'Ask us a question' widget when it is minimised. As this is an external/third party plug in we have no control over the accessibility of this.

Other issues

Further non-compliance content and issues will be identified using automated tools and added to this list.

Disproportionate burden

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

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.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards. Where new PDFs or Word documents fail to meet accessibility standards, please report this as an accessibility problem using the contact details above.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Maps

Our 3D map may not be accessible to all users, but alternative PDF and google maps are provided for directional purposes.

Third party-content

Our site uses third-party content which may not be fully accessible. This includes content we publish on social media channels such as Twitter or YouTube or the Chat widget. We are responsible for ensuring the accessibility of the content we produce, however, we have no control over the accessibility of these platforms.


What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Teesside University is currently sourcing an accessibility tool that will help us identify and adhere to the WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1) at level AA. This will enable the ability to regularly scan the webpages and identify any issues and fixes, informing a schedule of when these fixes will be complete. A roadmap of accessibility issues will be then published on these pages.

Training will be provided to increase awareness of accessibility to staff responsible for content or the development of the website.


Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 February 2023. It was last reviewed on 26 July 2023.

This website was last tested in 2022. The test was carried out by the web team in the Department of Student Recruitment & Marketing.

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