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APTEM Accessibility Statement

APTEM is Partially Accessible

The University of Cumbria take accessibility very seriously and want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. We are actively working to make the website more accessible to all people and compliant with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) WAI’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.

The APTEM Platform is developed to meet the WCAG AA standards to view details about APTEMS accessibility visit the APTEM Accessibility Page

View our accessibility tools page to find accessibility tools and plugins to help improve your online experience.

You should be able to:

  • understand the website text
  • change colours and contrast levels
  • zoom up to 400% using font enlarge and browser enlarge, without loosing text
  • zoom up to 300% without text spilling off the screen
  • reflow when the window is resized
  • navigate all the content using just a keyboard
  • All images have alternative text
  • be able to understand hyperlink destinations from the text description
  • navigate to all headings on the page using assistive technology
  • use text to speech tools to access content

How accessible is APTEM?

  • you cannot skip to the main content
  • Tab Focus is not clear 
  • support Pdf documents may not be fully accessible
  • some areas are difficult to navigate using the keyboard

Non-compliance with accessibility regulations

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

Self-help options

Alternative Formats

The University subscribes to an alternative formats service Sensus Access. This service will transfer most files into a chosen format e.g. an inaccessible PDF can be transferred to an accessible PDF, or a Word document can be transferred to sound. This service can be used directly by Students using their University email address. Alternative Formats

Assistive Technologies

You can access specialist assistive software on PCs and laptops throughout the university and also download free web-based tools to enable you to fully interact with content. To find out more visit the assistive software page or download the AT Bar for free. 

University of Cumbria Support

If you are unable to access content or interact with the interface and would like an alternative accessible format, please contact us to discuss the most suitable options, please contact:

We will review your request and communicate with you in 7 days.

Reporting Accessibility Problems with this Website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. You can help us by reporting any barriers you encounter and contribute to our Accessibility Improvement plan. however, if you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact itservicedesk@cumbria.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 web-based system’s accessibility levels

The University of Cumbria 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

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

  • There is no Skip Main Content option available when using the keyboard to improve the user experience. This means that more tab strokes are needed to navigate the page, which impacts on the user experience This contravenes WCAG2.1 -  2.4.1 and is a 3rd party issue. We are, however, communicating with the System Owners regarding this function and have added it to the Accessibility Action Plan, which is monitored and updated annually.
  • Tab Focus is difficult to see at times, making you think there is no tabbing available. This makes it difficult for the user to know where the tab focus is on the screen. The Tab Focus Indicator works with the page and mitigates the issue in the short term. This affects none mouse users and contravenes WCAG2.1 - 2.4.7. This issue has been added to the Accessibility Improvement Action Plan is on the APTEM Road map for improvement. We will monitor the progress and update the statement annually or when the system changes.

2. Disproportionate Burden 

The changes needed to achieve AA WCAG Guidelines and meet the Web Accessibility Regulations will be achieved through a planned accessibility improvement action plan to be reviewed and updated a minimum of 12 monthly.

3. Content that’s not within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations

Some of our older PDF templates don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2. This has been added to the APTEM roadmap for external improvement. This statement is updated to reflect any changes annually.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish after 23rd September 2019 will meet accessibility standards.

How we tested this Website

We tested the most visited pages both manually and with the use of accessibility testing software such as Wave, a web accessibility evaluation tool WAVE and Accessibility Insights.

We also viewed the APTEM Accessibility Page

This system was last tested on 15th August 2020 by University of Cumbria.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are continuously working to improve the accessibility levels of system name. A Basic Accessibility Check is carried out each year followed by a more detailed accessibility check, both assessments highlight the areas needing improvement. The identified issues are added to the system improvement action plan with a timescale for improvement or 3rd party communications on improvement.

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