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Accessibility Statement

Date Published: 10th September 2024
Revisions: None
Version subject to official Governing Body approval

Introduction

This accessibility statement applies to the website hosted under the www.aquinas.ac.uk domain name but not websites within subdomains or other websites associated with Aquinas College. At Aquinas College we want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 400% 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)
  • make use of text captions on all video content

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

How accessible this website is

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

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Some other PDF files may not be fully accessible.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF or large print you can contact us from the details listed here:
Email: enquires@aquinas.ac.uk
Call: 0161 483 3237

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: enquires@aquinas.ac.uk

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Aquinas College 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 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

  • Some PDF files may not be fully compliant.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Older PDF files dating from before 2019 have not been checked for accessibility however most of these documents have now been replaced with more recent versions.
  • Some PDF files do not have sufficient colour contrast which means they do not comply with the following: –
    1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum): The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1
    People with low vision often have difficulty reading text that does not contrast with its background. This can be exacerbated if the person has a colour vision deficiency that lowers the contrast even further. Providing a minimum luminance contrast ratio between the text and its background can make the text more readable even if the person does not see the full range of colours. It also works for the rare individuals who see no colour.

    Our statistics show that most of our PDF files have not had a single download over the past month. Many of our PDF files are digital copies of publications that were intended to be distributed in print form. For this reason, the information contained in many of these publications such as the prospectus is already available on the website in an accessible format.

    We will ensure future publications comply with all of the W3C AA standards or have accessibility alternatives.

Disproportionate burden

We are not making any disproportionate burden claims.

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

The website offers many PDF (portable document format) files and Microsoft Word files which users can download. Some of these documents provide essential information about the services we provide. Some of the older files that do not do not provide essential information about our services won’t be made accessible.

When PDF files were primarily designed to be printed documents (for example the prospectus) we will provide both the original PDF and a fully accessible version.

We will not attempt to make the AQ Magazine PDF document accessible as this is a student produced publication which is primarily distributed in print format. It doesn’t offer essential information about our services.
The Be More graphic on the front page may not always meet the required contrast ratios depending on the screen resolution. This part of the website is purely decorative and none-functional, so we do not consider it to be in the scope of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are currently in the process of training staff to ensure that all new content meets the accessibility guidelines. We also plan to tackle some of the issues that cause the website not to meet all the WCAG guidelines.

We will ensure that when it is not possible to create an accessible PDF file, (for example a PDF file of the printed prospectus) we will create an alternative accessible version which does meet the full WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

The website was completely redeveloped in 2024 and designed to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 10th September 2024.

The test was carried out by Aquinas College in Spring 2024. Further tests will be carried to ensure the website still meets the WCAG 2.2 standards. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools and manual testing by our website team to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

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).