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MyCumbria Accessibility Statement

The My.Cumbria Website is Partially Accessible when compared against the Web/ App Accessibility Regulations 2018

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.

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

 You should be able to:

  • navigate all Menu headings using just a keyboard
  • navigation is consistent
  • Tab focus is clear in all browsers
  • Line height and spacing can be modified using browser extensions
  • navigate to all headings on the page using assistive technology
  • hyperlink destinations are clear from the text description
  • colours and contrast levels can be changed using High Contrast Browser Extension
  • Zoom to 300% by enlarging the font size or Web Browser
  • text to speech tools can interact with any highlighted text

How accessible your website is

  • you cannot skip to the main content
  • when zooming to 400% some text is cut off
  • there are some extra blank tabs between menu items
  • most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Some older multimedia clips may not have captions or transcripts
  • Not all the default colours and contrasts pass the guidelines
  • some form elements have missing labels
  • some pages have missing alt text
  • some duplicate IDs

 

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 support to acquire an alternative format, please contact us at:

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

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

1. Non-compliance with accessibility regulations

  • Colour Contrast falls below the required levels of contrast, affects the Orange text on a white background and white text on orange

These are University colours and are the definition just falls below required levels. This contravenes this WCAG2.1 – 1.4.1, 1.4.3, 1.4.11. We are communicating with Marketing and Web department to ensure the new pallet and colour combinations are accessible. An Accessibility Action plan has been created to monitor this improvement – to be reviewed annually

  • Skip to Main Content is not available on any of the My.Cumbria pages. This means that headers and menus have to be tabbed through on each page.
  • When using the Tab key there are some blank Tab stops between menu options. This means that there are extra tab presses and no action or feedback given on each selection.

The increased time and impacts the user experience. This does not meet the WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.1 regulations. We are reviewing how to add this function to the site and will monitor progress via the improvement action plan - to be reviewed annually

  • Home Page – Study Menu, My Course Menu, Student Life Menu, A-Z

The issue does not prevent access but it does impact on the user experience and also alternative formats as there is a tab with no label or function. This contravenes the WCAG2.1 – 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.4.3 regulations. An action plan has been created to monitor improvements - to be reviewed annually

  • Some form elements have missing labels this makes it difficult for assistive technologies to integrate fully with a page and will also affect alternative format outputs

The Search For Box appears on every page meaning the label error is reoccurring. This contravenes WCAG2.1 – 1.3.1, 3.2.4, 4.1.2. The error has been added to the Accessibility Action Plan - to be reviewed annually

2. Disproportionate Burden

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

  • Expandable boxes have duplicate IDs throughout the site this makes it difficult for screen readers to identify the different elements and enable informed interaction. The content is still available to the user, however, some alternative formats may struggle to extract the information. Expandable boxes are present on the majority of information pages making this a considerable project covering approximately … pages. This issue contravenes WCAG2.1 – 1.3.1, 3.2.4, 4.1.2

  • Many of our older PDFs and Word documents 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. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish after 23rd September 2019 will meet accessibility standards.

  • Alternative Formats - Pre-recorded multimedia have captions available using MS Stream, Youtube or Live captions if needed (GChrome), however, checking the accuracy of auto-captions has become a disproportionate burden. The number of hours of multimedia created each day across the University equals hundreds of hours. The inability to guarantee accurate captioning contravenes WCAG2.1 – 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.5. This does not mean that captions are not checked, as MS Stream enables caption editing, however, we cannot guarantee accuracy across all multimedia. If you require captioning, reasonable adjustments can be made. Please contact your tutor or the IT helpdesk who will connect you with the appropriate person.

The issue has, however, been added to the Accessibility Action Plan and will be corrected however will not be prioritised in the next 12 months due to the time and resources needed to correct the issues across the site  - to be reviewed annually. We will, however, be changing practice from this point forward ensuring the project does not increase in size

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

  • Oder PDFs may not be fully accessible reducing the levels of accessibility, this is beyond the scope of the regulations however we are working to reduce or correct downloadable documents. New PDFs or Word documents published after 23rd September 2018 will meet accessibility standards.
  • Some older e-resources may utilise drag and drop functionality which is available to mouse users only making the activity inaccessible to non-mouse users and contravene the WCAG2.1 – 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.4.3 regulations. As the resources are updated and new e-resources added the skills team are to avoid using inaccessible Drag and Drop or ensure a Skip activity button is available. This issue will be added to the action plan for longer-term correction. 
  • Some older e-resources may not include alternative text making some aspects of the resource inaccessible to screen reader users. Training and basic accessibility checks are ensuring new resources being added include Alt Text meeting the WCAG2.1 – 1.1.1 guidelines. The older resources will be included in the improvement action plan, but not a priority for this academic year.   
  • Some older Multimedia or 3rd party Multimedia may not include Captions or a Transcript. Making some content inaccessible to sight-impaired users. Sept 2020 University generated media clips now have auto-captions to meet the WCAG1 – 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.5 regulations   
  • When you zoom to 400% some longer words are lost off the page, this is only on the Home page and is in a table. The text affected is:
    • Accommodation
    • Administration

This means that some longer words are cut short and could impact on understanding. The is outside the scope of the regulations, however, the issue will be added to the Improvement Action plan and reviewed annually

Although these issues fall outside the Accessibility regulations we will continue to improve the accessibility levels of all our digital content and include the concerns in our action plan for longer-term improvement.

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.

This system was tested by:

  • Jisc Snapshot June 2019
  • Internal Detailed Check Aug 2020 by University of Cumbria.
  • Internal Action Plan review Aug 2021 by University of Cumbria.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are continuously working to improve the accessibility levels of My.Cumbria. A Basic Accessibility Check is carried out each year followed by a more detailed accessibility check, both assessments highlight the areas needing improvement. Identified issues are added to the system improvement action plan with a timescale for improvement and communicated with the 3rd party provider.

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