ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT
This statement applies to content published at https://lancashireenergyhq.blackpool.ac.uk/.
This website is run by Blackpool and The Fylde College. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.
The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:
- zoom in up to 300% without problems
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- use most of the website using a screen reader (such as Talkify)
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.
HOW ACCESSIBLE THIS WEBSITE IS
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- some live video streams do not have captions
- some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
- there’s a limit to how far you can magnify maps
- some tables do not have row headers
- some pages have poor colour contrast
- some heading elements are not consistent
- some images do not have good alternative text
- some buttons are not correctly identified
WHAT TO DO IF YOU CANNOT ACCESS PARTS OF THIS WEBSITE
If you need information in a different format contact us by email (communications@blackpool.ac.uk) and tell us:
- the web address (URL) of the content
- your name and email address
- the format you need, for example, audio CD, braille, BSL or large print, accessible PDF
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, contact us (communications [at] blackpool [dot] ac [dot] 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’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) at https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WEBSITE’S ACCESSIBILITY
Blackpool and The Fylde College is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/).
VISITING US IN PERSON
For full details about our campuses and the accessibility please visit the B&FC pages on the AccessAble website.
NON-ACCESSIBLE CONTENT
The content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:
- where it fails the success criteria
- planned dates for when issues will be fixed
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). This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).
- It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.4 (orientation).
- It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).
INTERACTIVE TOOLS AND TRANSACTIONS
- Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.
- Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).
We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. 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 up for renewal, likely to be in [rough timing].
PDFS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
- Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
- Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
- 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.
HOW WE TESTED THIS WEBSITE
This website was last tested on 1 September 2019. The test was carried out by Dot Squares (https://www.dotsquares.com/).
We conducted a preliminary evaluation of different web pages from the target website to identify obvious accessibility barriers and develop an overall understanding of the accessibility of the website, following the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) methodology.
We tested:
- this website - https://lancashireenergyhq.blackpool.ac.uk/
WHAT WE’RE DOING TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY
Guidance will be created to help content authors understand the requirements for captions and audio description for all new videos. This is related to WCAG 2.1A success criteria 1.2.2 (Captions (Prerecorded)) and 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded).
This statement was prepared on 8 September 2020.
