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Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for Library and Learning Services website

This accessibility statement applies to the Library website and associated functions i.e.online chat, appointment booking, workshop bookings, FAQs, forms and online quizzes and tutorials created using the LibWizard platform, at https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/.

This website is run by Staffordshire University Library and Learning Services. It has been created using the LibGuides platform which is provided by Springshare. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

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 

  • resize to a single column with no horizontal scrolling

  • 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) 

  • find content using multiple methods (e.g. navigation menu and search feature)

  • navigate most of the website using just one finger on a mobile device

  •  flip content horizontally and vertically on a mobile device

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. 

How accessible this website is 

We  have recently redeveloped many of our web pages, but know that some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
•    externally produced or older videos and animations may not have subtitles
•    there is no inbuilt option to change the colours, font or text sizes
•    there is no inbuilt option to modify the line height or spacing of text
•    we have not tested navigation by speech recognition
•    in a small number of instances text has insufficient contrast against the background colour

Based on our sampling so far, we are aware that some content across the site may have issues such as:

  • images missing alternative text
  • heading levels not correctly assigned
  • link text which needs rewording

Please contact us if you find a specific issue that means you cannot access a piece of 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: 

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days. 

You can also contact us by online chat from the library home page 
You can find out all the ways you can get in touch with us on the Library website Contact Us page.

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 us on studentconnect@staffs.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 

Staffordshire 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-accessible content 

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

There are a small number of instances where text does not have sufficient contrast against the background colour, making it more difficult to read. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)). We are currently investigating this issue further.

Some of the FAQs on the Library website do not have heading levels fully applied, so people using a screen reader cannot access headings within them via their software menu and use this to get to the content they need more quickly and easily. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships). This is due to technical constraints of the externally provided system used to host the FAQs. The supplier is investigating and we are awaiting a fix. Once this is in place we plan to apply heading levels correctly to all FAQs.

Based on sampling of pages within out site we are aware that some content across the site may have issues such as:

  • Images missing alternative text. This would fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content)
  • Heading levels not correctly assigned. This would fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
  • Link text which needs re-wording. This would fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context))

We continue to work on identifying and resolving these issues.

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

External content

We link to external pages which may not be accessible.

Social media tools

The Library website has embedded content from various free social media tools. We aim for all content we publish via these to be accessible, however the accessibility of the platforms and any content we repost from other accounts is outside of our control.

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. 

Live video 

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

What we’re doing to improve accessibility 

We periodically review the accessibility of our website using auditing tools such as WAVE web accessibility tool. We monitor any accessibility enhancements made by the suppliers of the software used on our site and where necessary amend our pages to take advantage of these.  We regularly check the accessibility statements of suppliers of our electronic resources and provide links to these.

We train and advise all Library and Learning Resources staff on best practice for creating accessible content. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020.

This website was last tested September 2020. The testing was carried out by Library and Learning Services staff.

We tested a sample of pages across the site which are representative of all the types of content we have on the site. The page sample included: 

  • Home page 

  • Landing pages 

  • Generic content pages 

  • Forms 

  • Search