Accessibility scope and aspirations

This accessibility statement applies to www.westherts.ac.uk, the primary website for West Herts College. We aspire to make this website as usable as possible for all. For example, users can:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • Zoom in, without 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 use the third-party software Recite Me, a cloud-based assistive technology toolbar that makes our website digitally inclusive by allowing visitors to customise content so that they can consume it in ways that work best for them. 

This includes:

  • Screen reader and translation 
  • Styling and customisation (font types, colours, sizes)
  • Reading aids (ruler, screen mask, magnifier, margins, and a dictionary)

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

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

  • Some downloadable content are not fully compatible with accessibility software
  • Not all video content contains captions, however we use YouTube for videos with speech which allows for auto-caption generation. 
  • On subject landing pages, many subjects feature a draggable rotator of images and videos. These videos are included via YouTube iFrames and these iFrames set their own ID. The slideshow software duplicates slides to allow seamless looping of the rotator, and due to the YouTube iFrame including its own ID, this is duplicated by the rotator software and creates 2 HTML iFrames with the same ID. This cannot be resolved as it is how the rotation software works, and the slide duplication is required for its functionality. However, duplicate IDs are a technical issue and should not impact day to day usage of the website or offending pages by users with accessibility requirements.

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:

  • email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • call 01923 812345

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

If you cannot view the map on our ‘campuses’ page, please call or email us for directions.

Information

If you need information on this website in a different format please contact us. We’ll consider your request and do our best to get back to you within five working days.

01923 812345

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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

West Herts 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 fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

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

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 or be accessible in an alternative format.

Audio and video

Some recorded live webinars do not have captions as they were not created at the time of recording. Live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

When videos are hosted on YouTube then automatic captions are available and we aim to improve these where possible. If you encounter a video without captions and need assistance accessing the content, then please get in contact and we will provide a transcript.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We will be conducting bi-annual external audits against all pages on this website, we will act upon findings to ensure pages and content are accessible. The next audit is scheduled for the summer of 2023.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 30 September 2019. The statement was last reviewed on 8 February 2023.

The website was last tested on 20 January 2023. The test was carried out by Qlue using both Axe and WebAIM tools to automatically identify common WCAG failures, Axe is one of the UK Government’s approved testing tools. 

We decided to have Qlue test 25 pages across 13 different page archetypes. This allows us to reasonably assume most of the website is compliant, as the majority of pages fall under these standard page layouts. A summary of Qlue's findings on our website accessibility has been published here.

The website will be audited in full by an external auditor against the latest accessibility regulations and will continue to be tested externally bi-annually.

Reporting Accessibility problems

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find problems not listed on this page please contact us, FAO Head of Marketing and/or Head of Student Support.

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