Accessibility statement for North East Scotland College
This website is run by North East Scotland College. 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 using your browser.
- Change colours, contrast levels and fonts using the website’s ‘High contrast option’ tool.
- Remove animations using the websites ‘Remove animation’ tool.
- 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.
We have 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
Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- Some pages are not fully navigable using landmarks.
- Embedded videos don’t have captions and/or audio descriptions.
- Some images do not have good alternative text or alternative text is missing.
- Some information will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window.
- Some PDF documents might not be fully accessible to screen reader software.
- Some buttons and link are not correctly identified.
- Some of our online services are hosted by third-party suppliers and you may find navigating these services difficult depending on their level of web accessibility.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format (like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille):
- Email: enquiry@nescol.ac.uk
- Call: 0300 330 5550
- Visit us: North East Scotland College, Aberdeen City Campus, Gallowgate, Aberdeen AB25 1BN
We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.
If you cannot view the map in our ‘Contact us’ page or elsewhere on this website, call 0300 330 5550 or email us at enquiry@nescol.ac.uk for directions.
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, call 0300 330 5550 or email us at enquiry@nescol.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).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service at Aberdeen City Campus and Fraserburgh Campus for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our Student Advice Centre at Aberdeen City Campus has an audio induction loop, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Call 0300 330 5550 or email us at enquiry@nescol.ac.uk for more information.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The North East Scotland College is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
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:
Issues with tables
Some tables in content do not have table row headers when needed. This fails WCAG 2.1A 1.3.1 success criterion (Info and Relationships).
Issues with images
Some images do not have good alternative text or alternative text is missing, 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 images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
Issues with PDFs
Some PDFs do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value)
Issues with forms
Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).
How we tested this website
This website was last tested on November 4, 2019. The test was carried out by Blue2 Digital using a wide range of automated and manual testing techniques and tools:
- SiteImprove Accessibility checker – provides a quick overview of issues
- aXe – provides an in-depth insight into issues
- VoiceOver – a built-in screen reader on Mac OS and iOS
- Google Lighthouse – provides a quick overview of issues
We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Our new design system includes a library of components that have been designed and built with accessibility as a core focus. This system will be used across all new pages allowing editors to create the best possible experience for everyone.
As part of the roll-out of a new website content management system, old inaccessible content will be completed replaced or archived permanently by September 2020.
Content editors are being trained to ensure new content is accessible.
We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.
This statement was prepared on October 19, 2019. It was last updated on November 4, 2019.