Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for University College Birmingham

Last updated: October 2024

This accessibility statement applies to www.ucb.ac.uk.

How you should be able to use this website

This website is run by University College Birmingham. 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 browser or device settings
  • Zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • Navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve 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.

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

  • Time-based media such as videos do not supply text alternatives
  • Audio-only media is not used on the site.
  • Video-only media does not provide an alternative.
  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
  • No alternative is provided for time-based media
  • There are no audio descriptions for prerecorded videos
  • There is no sign language interpretation provided for prerecorded videos
  • Apart from standard markup no additional aria landmarks or microdata are used to identify regions of the page
  • There may be some areas of the site that don’t meet the Contrast (Enhanced) AAA standard
  • There is no mechanism for a user to select background or foreground colours on the site itself (although they can do so by updating their device or browser settings)
  • It is not always possible to view the current location within a set of web pages
  • Some icons are smaller than the icon size required by the AAA standard for target size

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact:

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact:

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

If you cannot view the map on our contact us page, call or email us for directions.

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

University College Birmingham 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) [2.1 or 2.2] AA standard.

(b) This website is partially compliant with the [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard], due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

  • Some media items such as videos and some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
  • We are currently looking at tools that we can integrate with our website that will support accessibility requirements, like alt tags.  When we publish new content, we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

Navigation and accessing information

  • The “Skip to Content” option only works when using a keyboard.
  • It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from vertical to horizontal without making it more difficult to view the content.
  • Prerecorded videos do not have audio descriptions.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is due for renewal, likely to be in 2025/26. 

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

The accessibility regulations do not require us to make PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 accessible, provided they are not essential to providing our services. While these older documents may not be fully accessible, we are committed to ensuring that all new documents are created with accessibility in mind.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are committed to ensuring the site is fully accessible and are working with our supplier to ensure that we achieve continuous improvement in this area.

We are currently focused on improving accessibility issues raised by an audit of the site by the EHRC and have recently updated how the site can be navigated with a keyboard and ensuring that the site is fully responsive when a user zooms in to very high magnification levels.

Now this has been completed, we are looking at integrating an accessibility tool into our website so that we are aware of any accessibility issues on an ongoing basis and are able to rectify these efficiently.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared and reviewed on 17/10/2024.

This website was last tested in May 2024 against the WCAG [2.1 or 2.2] AA standard.

The test was carried out by EHRC. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by our website team. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

Support for Students with Special Educational Needs

University College Birmingham’s CASE (Centre for Academic Skills and English) team offer a wide range of support and advice to students with special educational needs and also to parents, staff and external agencies supporting students. The support available includes:

  • Advice regarding assistive technology. THE CASE team will be happy to direct students towards software such as Natural Reader (text to speech) and Talk Typer (speech recognition in a browser). We can also provide access to Sonocent Note-taker (which provides a text to speech function).
  • Strengths and Weaknesses assessment: While not an official diagnosis, our assessments may result in you being provided with or signposted towards relevant assisted technologies including, but not limited to, those mentioned above.

In addition, the UCB Library provides material in a variety of formats including print, eBooks, online journals and videos.

Most of the online library resources, which make up the largest part of the library collection, provide users with a variety of options for accessibility including changing screen colour, magnification of text and compatibility with screen readers.

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, please contact Stephen Dudley.

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

If you cannot view the maps on our ‘contact us’ page, call us on 0121 604 1000 or complete our enquiry form here 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, please contact Stephanie Gregan

Please note that we are working hard to address all aspects of accessibility with our new website launch in 2020.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Our reception desks, and lecture theatres in McIntyre House and Moss House, have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

For more details, please contact us:

Accessibility statement for Canvas at University College Birmingham

Developed and hosted by Instructure, Canvas is a virtual learning environment for the delivery of teaching and learning resources and online assessment. Further information on Instructure can be found at https://www.instructure.com/about.

Within UCB, the Canvas system is managed by the Digital Innovation for Creativity in Education (DICE) department who develop the use of learning technologies to support and enhance the teaching and learning experience for staff and students. Everyone at UCB should be able to access and use the Canvas system to obtain the information and services they require. This is achieved via:

  • Navigation of content using a keyboard
  • Navigation of content using speech recognition software
  • Listening to content using a screen reader
  • Changing colours, contrast levels and fonts using the web browser settings

Further information on how well the Canvas system meets accessibility standards can be found here. Any teaching and learning resources created and uploaded to the UCB Canvas system is done so by the university academic staff and training on how best to create accessible content for Canvas is provided by the DICE team. Canvas also provides an “accessibility checking” feature within every course site that staff can use to identify and address any issues with content created directly within the Canvas system.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of Canvas and will address any queries you may have. Support, advice and guidance is available via the following channels.

Any technical or accessibility-related queries should be directed to Richard Dudley (Head of Digital Learning) via r.dudley@ucb.ac.uk. The DICE team also welcome any feedback that staff and students may have.

Staff and students can also contact Instructure directly with any queries via the “Chat With Canvas Support” service. This is available via the “Support” menu of the Canvas system.

Any content related queries should be directed to the appropriate course or programme leader.

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