Accessibility statement for Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums Divisional Website

Accessibility statement for Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums Divisional Website (www.glam.ox.ac.uk)

The University of Oxford is committed to providing an accessible web presence that gives members of the public and members of the University community full access to University information, courses and activities offered publicly through the web. Our  Equality Policy outlines our commitment to a culture which ‘maintains a working, learning and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all its staff and students are respected’.

This accessibility statement applies to Oxford University’s Gardens, Libraries and Museums Divisional website – www.glam.ox.ac.uk.

This website is run by the GLAM Divisional Office, University of Oxford. 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

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.

This website runs on Oxford Mosaic, the University of Oxford’s web platform. Information regarding the accessibility features common to platform sites can be found in the Oxford Mosaic Accessibility Statement.

How accessible this website is

We are aware that some parts of this website are not fully accessible. These include:

  • Not all images have a meaningful text alternative
  • Some images include text as part of the image
  • Not all page titles are unique or clearly indicate the page’s topic or purpose
  • Some link text isn’t meaningful out of context
  • Some links to external sites open in a new browser window and some open in the same browser window
  • Some audio content is not accompanied by audio description or text alternative
  • Some video content does not have fully synchronised captions
  • Some video content that contains visual information is not accompanied by audio description or text alternative
  • Some menus, links, buttons, and other controls cannot be operated using the keyboard alone
  • Some elements and text have low contrast levels
  • Some pages use shape, size, colour, or location to communicate instructions or information
  • Older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Some tables do not have a table header row
  • Not all forms have labels indicating the purpose of the field that they relate to
  • Not all headings are hierarchical
  • Not all pages have a "Skip to main content" link provided
  • Carousels do not have obvious controls for users to stop the auto-rotate

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, please contact the GLAM Divisional Office Communications Team:

Email: communications@glam.ox.ac.uk

Post:
Communications Team
GLAM Divisional Office
Museum of Natural History
Parks Road
OXFORD
OX1 3PW

We will 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:

Communications Team
GLAM Divisional Office
Museum of Natural History
Parks Road
OXFORD
OX1 3PW

Email: communications@glam.ox.ac.uk

Other accessibility resources

If you’d like more information about accessibility and resources for students, staff and visitors in Oxford more generally, please visit our Equality and Diversity pages. 

If you’re looking for information on building accessibility, please try the Access Guide or the University’s interactive map.

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

The Gardens, Libraries and Museums Divisional Office, University of Oxford 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-compliance and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

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

Issues with video, audio and images

Videos without a transcript

Not all video content has a transcript, making the content inaccessible to users who cannot see. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1.

All video with audio content will have a transcript by September 2021.

Videos without captions

Not all video content has captions that are synchronised to the audio content of the video, making them inaccessible to people who cannot hear. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2.

All video with audio content will have captions by September 2021.

Videos without audio descriptions

Not all video content has audio descriptions of important visual information that doesn’t have audio, making this inaccessible to people who can’t see. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.5.

All video content with important visual information will have audio description by September 2021.

Text alternatives for image content

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

By September 2021, all images will have a meaningful text alternative. Purely decorative images will have blank alt text and infographics and charts will have a link to a full description of the content. All new images that are being added to the site now are compliant.

Issue with navigation, structure, links and keyboard operability

Page Titles

Not all page titles are unique and indicate the page’s topic or purpose, which can result in people with cognitive disabilities being unable to quickly orientate themselves within the site and identify the purpose of the page without interpreting its entire contents. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2.

All page titles will be reviewed and fixed by March 2021.

Tables

Some tables do not have a table header row, making them less accessible to people using assistive technology. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these navigation issues over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Form labels

Not all forms have labels indicating the purpose of the field that they relate to, which can result in people with reading difficulties having problems understanding the purpose of the content and users of screen readers being unable to easily navigate the form.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these navigation issues over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Skipping to main content

Not all pages have a "Skip to main content" link provided, making them less accessible for people who do not use a mouse.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these navigation issues over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Carousels

Carousels do not have obvious controls for users to stop the auto-rotate, which can cause people with cognitive disability that affect focus and concentration to be distracted making the site less accessible. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these keyboard operability issues over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Heading Hierarchy

Not all headings are hierarchical, making the site more difficult for users of assistive technology such as screen readers to access. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1.

Headings have on occasion been used to highlight information rather than for headings, making the site more difficult for users of assistive technology to use. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 and 2.4.6.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these structural issues over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Link Text

Some links do not use text that is meaningful out of context, which can result in users of screen readers not being able to understand the link without reading the surrounding text and users of speech recognition software being less able to target links accurately using voice commands. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4.

All links will be reviewed and fixed by May 2021.

Inconsistent Link Behaviour

Some links to external sites open in a new browser window and some open in the same browser window making the site behaviour unpredictable, which can result in the site being less accessible for people with some cognitive disabilities and people who use screen readers. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2.

All links to external websites will be reviewed and will open in the same browser window by September 2021.

Keyboard Operability

Some menus, links, buttons, and other controls cannot be operated using the keyboard alone, which can cause problems for people who are blind, have low vision and/or hand tremors. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1.

Some elements have issues when navigated to by keyboard, meaning that people who use a keyboard can get stuck on that part of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.2.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these keyboard operability issues over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Issues with contrast, use of colour and visual characteristics

Contrast issues

Some elements and text have low contrast levels (eg. font colour and ellipsis), which can result in text being difficult to read, especially for people with low vision, poor eyesight or colour blindness. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.3.

We are working with our developers to implement a fix for this issue over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Visual characteristics

Some pages use visual characteristics (shape, size, colour or location) to communicate instructions, which means that users who are unable to see or recognise information communicated using sensory characteristics are unable to perceive that information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.3.

All pages with be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Issues with language and content

The Site Map page does not identify its language in the code, which can result in screen readers being unable to correctly read the text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1.

We are working with our developers to implement a fix for this issue over the coming months. These issues should be reviewed and fixed by September 2021.

Issues with documents, including Word Files, PowerPoints, PDFs

Many of the documents (Word and PDF) on this site do not meet accessibility standards, which could result in them not being fully accessible to users of screen readers.

Documents that are essential to the service we provide will be either converted to HTML pages or replaced with accessible versions by September 2021. Any new documents published will meet accessibility standards.

Issues with Content Management System (CMS)

The CMS code is being checked to ensure that it meets the robust accessibility criteria 4.1.1, 4.1.2 & 4.1.3.

We are working with our developers to ensure this has been met by September 2021.

Disproportionate burden

We do not consider any of the accessibility issues to be a disproportionate burden and aim to make the site fully compliant by September 2021.

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

Third-party content

Our site includes third party content and functionality. This may direct you to a related service, link to another site or supporting documentation. We are not responsible for the accessibility of third-party content or to other sites we link to.

This includes:

  • YouTube videos
  • Google maps

We will provide an accessible alternative to any third-party content that isn’t compliant.

Third party platforms

We often create content which is hosted on third party platforms. This includes:

  • content we create for social media

  • video which we host on YouTube

We are responsible for ensuring the content we supply meets accessibility requirements; however, we are not responsible for the accessibility of the platform itself.

Documents (Word & PDF)

This site has a small number of Word and PDF documents which were published before September 2018. These aren’t essential to the service we provide and won’t be replaced. If you experience any difficulties accessing these documents, please email communications@glam.ox.ac.uk. Any new documents published will meet accessibility standards.

Video and audio content

This site has pre-recorded audio and video content that was published before 23 September 2020, which is exempt from the accessibility regulations.

Archived content

This site contains archived content, which is exempt from the accessibility regulations. The archived content is all internal announcements and external news stories published prior to 23 September 2018, but which have not since been updated.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We want to provide the best possible experience for all our website visitors. To achieve this we will:

  • Fix known issues
  • Check all new features in the Mosaic Content Management System (CMS), which is used to create this website, for accessibility before they are made available
  • Check all new content on the GLAM Divisional site for accessibility before it is published
  • Train all content editors on accessibility
  • Carry out periodic accessibility checks

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 22 September 2020.

This website was last tested in September 2020. The test was carried out by the GLAM Divisional Office Communications Team using a carefully chosen sample of pages and content types. The CMS has been audited for accessibility by the suppliers and the GLAM Divisional Office Communications Team.

The pages were checked manually using a combination of the following methods:

  • Checked against WCAG 2.1 guidelines, with a focus on the items in the Gov.uk’s WCAG 2.1 Primer Checklist
  • Viewed without style sheets 
  • Viewed on a small screen 
  • Checked using the WebAim’s Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE).