Website accessibility

Accessibility statement for Kingston University London

This accessibility statement applies to https://www.kingston.ac.uk/.

This website is run by Kingston University London. 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
  • zoom in up to 300% 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)

We've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

A number of services provide advice on making a device easier to use if you have a disability including AbilityNet - https://abilitynet.org.uk/.

How accessible this website is

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

  • Some content may not be easy for screen readers to process correctly
  • Some older images are not consistently labelled with descriptive alt text
  • Some older videos do not have audio description
  • Older documents may not be compliant with accessibility standards
  • Older downloadable pdf documents may not be accessible with screen readers

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 webteam@kingston.ac.uk

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 7 working days.

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 us:

Email webteam@kingston.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').

Please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) if you're not happy with how we respond to your complaint.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Kingston university 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 partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

We are developing a new University website with planned completion by July 2024. The new website will be fully compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard and will resolve these issues.

  • Screen readers – Some content will not be easy for screen readers to process correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). When we publish new content we'll make sure that this meets accessibility standards. Some of our main image menus do not have adequate discernible names which may make it more difficult for people using a screen reader. This fails WCAG: 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose) and WCAG: 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value). This issue will be resolved with the new website.
  • Descriptive alt text – Some older images are not consistently labelled with descriptive alt text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). When we publish new images we'll make sure these all meet accessibility standards. Feature/Banner images on our old style webpages do not have descriptive alt text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
    This issue will be resolved with the new website.
  • Audio description – Some older videos do not have audio description. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-recorded). When we publish new content we'll make sure all our videos meet accessibility standards.
  • Documents – Older documents may not be compliant with accessibility standards. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). When we publish new documents we'll make sure these all meet accessibility standards, or create these documents as HTML pages.
  • Pdfs – Older documents may not be compliant with accessibility standards. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). When we publish new documents we'll make sure these all meet accessibility standards or create these documents as HTML pages.
  • Minimum contrast – Colour contrast may not be sufficient on some webpages which could make these pages difficult to read for some users with visual impairments. This fails WCAG: 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (minimum contrast). This issue will be resolved with the new website.
  • Keyboard – Our accordion menus are not accessible using a keyboard so people using a screen reader may find navigating some pages on our website difficult. This fails WCAG: 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard). This issue will be resolved with the new website.
    When webpages are viewed at 200%, 400% and in mobile view, the hamburger menu is not accessible using the keyboard. This fails WCAG: 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard). There is an alternative accessible menu at the bottom of the page. This issue will be resolved with the new website.

Disproportionate burden

We are not at this time making a disproportionate burden claim for any of our website content.

Navigation and accessing information

There's no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content' option).

Interactive tools and transactions

  • Some of our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned' to look like our website.
  • Some third-party software integrations such as Twitter for Websites contains elements with incorrect ARIA attributes which can interfere with the accessibility of the web page.

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

  • PDFs and other 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. For example, we do not plan to fix documents published before 23 September 2018 where an updated accessible version has also been published.
  • Live video – We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.We do not plan to add captions to video content that has been published before 23 September 2018 but we will ensure that all new video content that is published on the website includes captions.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Kingston University commissioned TPXimpact to undertake a comprehensive audit of the www.kingston.ac.uk website in December 2021. The audit included a technical review of our bespoke content management system, as well as user experience and website accessibility. The report concluded that a full redesign and rebuild of our website was strongly recommend on a new content management system.

As a result of the TPXimpact audit, Kingston University secured approval and funding for an initial Discovery and Strategy project. This work has now been completed which will help us identify and establish the foundations for a new University website expected within 24 months, with the requirement to be fully compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard.

Throughout the development of the new website we will continue to prioritise and redevelop sections of the University's website to improve accessibility and usability and we use Axe DevTools and Silktide to regularly test the website for any accessibility issues against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 5 April 2022. It was last reviewed on 10 February 2023.

This website was last tested on 6 March 2023. The test was carried out by Silktide. We completed a scan of all pages on the website.