15th August 2024 Terry Charlton

Accessibility Statement

Newcastle University is committed to providing websites that are accessible to all users. Content on the Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS) Case Studies Database are designed to be easy to find, read, understand, and interact with. LTDS also has responsibility for several other websites and platforms, and each has their own Accessibility Statement.

We aim to achieve the recommended government standard for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and follow general principles of usability, which should help all visitors to our websites. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 200% 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

To make text size or colour changes and navigating with keyboard please visit https://www.w3.org/WAI/meta/customize/. AbilityNet also has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Third-party content

Our websites may contain links to third-party content. Newcastle University and LTDS are not responsible for the accessibility of this content. However, we are committed to working with partners to ensure material they are responsible for meets accessibility standards where possible and that they have their own accessibility statements.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any accessibility problems not listed on this page, or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, you can report that to us. Similarly, if you need information on this website in a different format (e.g. accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, braille) please let us know and we will aim to respond to your request within 5 working days. You can speak to us directly by emailing LTDS.

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).

How accessible is this website?

In accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility regulations 2018, LTDS is committed to making all of its websites accessible. Further information can be found on this website Central Digital and Data Office Digital Accessibility guidance.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below:

  • Some text may not have sufficient contrast (WCAG 2.0 AA 1.4.3)
  • Some image links lack alternative text (WCAG 2.0 A 1.1.1)
  • Some adjacent links may point to the same destination (WCAG 2.0 A 2.4.4)
  • A small number of repeated link text point to different destinations (WCAG 2.0 A 2.2.4)
  • Some form controls lack sufficient contrast (WCAG 2.1 AA 1.4.11)
  • Some form components are too close together (WCAG 2.2 AA 2.5.8)
  • Some links may link to an anchor on the page that does not exist (WCAG 2.0 A 2.4.1)
  • Header links feature an image and text link to the same destination (WCAG 2.0 A 1.1.1)
  • A few dialogues (i.e. pop-up windows) lack dialog labels (WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1)
  • Some table headers are missing (WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1)
  • Some of our related links may not be written semantically as a list (WCAG A 1.3.1)
  • Some information is only available in formats such as PDF or Microsoft Word. Not all PDFs have been designed for accessibility.

What we’re doing to improve

  • Many of the issues identified above are related to the WordPress template in use. We are seeking to migrate to a new platform (Hubspot) to correct these issues.
  • Our digital content editors are guided by Hemingway readability, other web content standards with the aim to make the website text as simple as possible to understand.
  • We use a website optimisation tool Silktide to monitor and scan a representative sample of our website conducted on a weekly basis.
  • We manually check and test a representative sample of the website using an accessibility checklist and use tools such as WebAIM for colour contrast checks.
  • We work closely with our web and wellbeing teams to ensure we are using the best accessibility tools for users of our website and to improve our knowledge of accessibility requirements.
  • We include accessibility as a fundamental part of all website developments and future web page updates. This includes moving to new web content templates, and developing and testing new functionality to meet web accessibility standards.

We are making content creators and subject matter experts aware of accessibility issues. This will increase knowledge of accessibility across the organisation with the aim of improving accessible content from initiation through to publishing.

Disproportionate burden

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 24 November 2022. It was last reviewed on 15 August 2024.