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Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

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

Issue with structure, navigation, links and keyboard operability

Structure:

  • Not all headings are hierarchical, making the site more difficult for users of assistive technology such as screen readers to access. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these structural issues over the coming months.

Navigation:

  • Not all pages on the website have consistent navigation, for example, the navigation switches from the left-hand to the right-hand side on some pages. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.3.
  • Not all forms have labels indicating the purpose of the field that they relate to, which can result in people with reading difficulties having problems understanding the purpose of the content and users of screen readers being unable to easily navigate the form.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these navigation issues over the coming months.

Links:

  • Some site behaviour is unpredictable, for example, further information about publications opens in a pop-up window without warning, which can result in the site being less accessible for people with some cognitive disabilities and people who use screen readers. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for this issue over the coming months.

Keyboard operability:

  • Some menus, links, buttons, and other controls cannot be operated using the keyboard alone, which can cause problems for people who are blind, have low vision and/or hand tremors. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1.
  • Carousels do not have obvious controls for users to stop the auto-play, which can cause people with cognitive disability that affect focus and concentration to be distracted making the site less accessible. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these keyboard operability issues over the coming months.

Issues with contrast, use of colour and visual characteristics

  • Some elements have low contrast levels (e.g. image copyright), which can result in text being difficult to read, especially for people with low vision, poor eyesight or colour blindness. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.3.

We are working with our developers to implement a fix for this issue over the coming months.

Issues with language and content

  • The line height, spacing between paragraphs and letter and word spacing cannot be changed without loss of content or functionality. This means that people with low vision, dyslexia or cognitive disabilities may struggle to read the text, or lose content or functionality. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.12.
  • When using mobile or tablet devices, it may not be possible to dismiss or interact with some extra content (i.e. pop-up images) without moving focus or it disappearing. This may cause problems for disabled or sight impaired users as pop-up content may be accidentally triggered or pop-up content may not stay on the screen. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.13.

We are working with our developers to implement fixes for these issues over the coming months.

Issues with Content Management System (CMS)

  • The CMS code is being checked to ensure that it meets the robust accessibility criteria 4.1.1, 4.1.2 & 4.1.3.

This will be done as part of an accessibility upgrade of the Haiku Content Management System.

Disproportionate burden

We do not consider any of the accessibility issues to be a disproportionate burden and aim to make the site fully compliant.

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

Third-party content

Our site includes third party content and functionality. This may direct you to a related service, link to another site or supporting documentation. We are not responsible for the accessibility of third-party content or to other sites we link to.

This includes:

  • YouTube and Vimeo videos
  • Google maps

We will provide an accessible alternative to any third-party content that isn’t compliant.

Third party platforms

We often create content which is hosted on third party platforms. This includes:

  • content we create for social media
  • video which we host on YouTube, SoundCloud or Vimeo
  • data we supply to national databases

We are responsible for ensuring the content we supply meets accessibility requirements; however, we are not responsible for the accessibility of the platform itself.

Documents (Word & PDF)

This site has a number of Word and PDF documents which were published before September 2018. These aren’t essential to the service we provide and won’t be replaced. If you experience any difficulties accessing these documents, please email webteam@ndm.ox.ac.uk.

Video and audio content

All pre-recorded audio and video content on this site was published before 23 September 2020, which is exempt from the accessibility regulations, although we have provided alternative formats where possible.

Archived content

This site contains archived content, which is exempt from the accessibility regulations. The archived content is all internal announcements and external news stories published prior to 23 September 2018, but which have not since been updated.