Accessibility
Accessibility Statement for Grŵp Llandrillo Menai
This accessibility statement applies to the Grŵp Llandrillo Menai website (www.gllm.ac.uk).
This website is run by Grŵp Llandrillo Menai. 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.
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, for example:
- Most PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
- The third party online course application systems we use are not compliant with a number of WCAG criteria.
- Throughout our website, several images do not have alternative text (alt text), or, have alt text which is not descriptive of the image.
Feedback and contact information
If you require this website's information in a different format, such as an accessible PDF, large print, easy-read, audio recording, or Braille, please contact us or call us on 01492 542 338.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 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 email dewi.parry@gllm.ac.uk or call us on 01492 542 338. and ask to speak with the Marketing team.
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 unhappy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We have several campuses, sites and locations within the local communities of North Wales.
Technical Information about this website’s accessibility
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai 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
The “name” name field on all of our website contact forms has no specified autocomplete value. This makes it difficult for users of assistive technology and users with cognitive impairments to fill out forms. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion WCAG 1.3.5 Identify input purpose’. This is a bug in a plugin we use for our web forms. It should be patched by the developers in a future update/release.
Some iframes have non-descriptive labels. Clear and descriptive headings and labels help users understand content more easily. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and labels’.
We will ensure all iframes have correct descriptive labels by 2024.
We are aware that submenu options are not viewable with keyboard focus when the page is viewed at 200% zoom or greater, making it hard to access them. This doesn’t meet 'WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus visible'. We aim to have fixed this issue by 2024.
Issues with PDFs and other documents
Many of our PDFs:
- Have graphics with no alternative text. Non-text content like images, charts and icons must have a text alternative to give the same information or meaning to users who cannot see the content, such as screen reader users. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content’.
- Are not tagged, meaning that users of assistive technology are likely to face difficulties reading things such as headings, lists and tables. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and relationships’.
- Have graphics that rely on colour to identify sections. Colour should not be the only way to display meaning to a user. Where colour is used to identify an element, there must be another method. This helps users who cannot perceive colours well, or who may have changed colour settings to suit their needs, to get the same information in a different way. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 Use of colour’.
- Have text in a graphic with low contrast. Poor colour contrast between text and its background makes it harder for all users to see content. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum)’.
- Have an image of text. Images of text should not be used unless they can be changed by users to meet their needs, for example increasing font size. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 Images of text’.
- Have no primary language set. Assistive technologies and browsers are more accurate when the language of content is specified. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 Language of page’.
Any new PDFs or documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Issues with images, video and audio
- Throughout our website, several images do not have alternative text (alt text), or, have alt text which is not descriptive of the image. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content’. We aim to ensure that all descriptive images, charts and icons have descriptive alternative text by 2024.
- As of 09/05/2023:
- Users cannot add new non-decorative images into our Content Management System (CMS) without alternative text.
- Decorative images will default to null alt attribute, rather than the image title, which marks them as decorative to screen readers like NVDA and are therefore ignored.
Issues related to 3rd party products/systems
Online course application systems
The third party online course application systems we use are not compliant with a number of WCAG criteria. We are aware of the following non-compliance issues:
- A number of form fields have no specified autocomplete values. This makes filling in forms difficult for users of assistive technology and users with cognitive impairments. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 Identify input purpose’.
- Across the course application website, there are a variety of contrast issues with text, headings, buttons, options and forms (e.g. login and error notices). Poor colour contrast between text and its background makes it harder for all users to see content. These all fail ‘WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum)’.
- A number of pages are hard to read at 400% zoom. This makes it difficult for visually impaired users who may need to enlarge text on a webpage and read it in a single column without scrolling in more than one direction. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 Reflow’.
- Form tooltip errors disappear on hover/keyboard focus. Content that appears/disappears when an element gets keyboard focus or on mouse pointer hover can confuse users as they may not have intended to trigger an action or may not notice that new content has appeared/disappeared. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.13 Content on hover or focus’.
- Hamburger menu options and account menu options receive focus in incorrect order when using a keyboard. Users should be able to navigate a page in an order that makes sense. Navigating in a logical reading order reduces confusion and maintains relationships between content and components. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus order’.
- Buttons e.g. ‘Choose files’, have no visible focus. All interactive elements, such as links or buttons, must have a visible indicator when focussed using a keyboard. This helps users to identify which parts of a web page or app they can interact with, and shows their place as they navigate. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus visible’.
- Throughout multilingual Online Application pages, changes in language are not marked in HTML. The pages' default languages are set as English. Assistive technologies and browsers are more accurate when the language of content is specified. Where parts of content are written in a different language, the change in language needs to be marked in the code. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.2 Language of parts'.
- On the Online Application form, steps in the process are not identified consistently (visually) across pages. Screen reader users rely on functions being consistently labelled to make it easier to use a website and predict how to use each page. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.4 Consistent identification’.
- HTML table cells have missing parent elements e.g. Qualifications table and Supporting Information table. Using markup languages correctly ensures that content and functionality works reliably across all supported browsers, devices and assistive technologies. Assistive technologies such as screen readers rely on correct semantic use of elements to accurately interpret information for users. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 Parsing’ and ‘WCAG 1.3.1 Info & Relationships’.
- A number of option fields and drop down boxes have no accessible name. This means that assistive technologies aren’t able to identify the name and function of components, set states, properties and values, and notify users of changes to these. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, role, value’.
We are in conversations with the third party suppliers to investigate alternative options for our online application systems.
LiveChat
We use LiveChat on our website to engage with and answer queries from our users. We are aware that the chat button has accessible text in English on the Welsh homepage. Clear and descriptive headings and labels help users understand content more easily. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and labels’ on the Welsh version of our website. This is a limitation of the LiveChat software as it does not support Welsh natively. Having contacted the company, LiveChat will not be supporting Welsh as a language in the future, therefore a fix is not possible. We are, therefore, in the process of testing other chat software which will fully support Welsh, and hope to have this in place by the end of 2024.
ReachDeck
We use ReachDeck on our website to improve the accessibility, readability and reach of our online content. We are aware that ReachDeck controls cannot be cancelled on mobile devices (tested on an iPhone). In addition, the Settings (cogwheel) button is activated on the “down” event when it should be activated on the “up” event. To stop users accidentally triggering the wrong action, no action should be completed at the moment of clicking or tapping “down” on an element such as a button. Instead, actions should be completed on the “up” event, when contact is released, and there should be a way to cancel the action. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.2 Pointer cancellation’. We are in conversations with the third party supplier about a possible fix.
Videos
On some pages keyboard focus is lost when tabbing through video content. This doesn’t meet ‘WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible’. This is beyond our control as the content is embedded from YouTube/Vimeo.
On some pages there are iframes containing elements which are using ARIA attributes which are not allowed. This doesn’t meet WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. This is beyond our control as the content is embedded from YouTube.
Disproportionate burden
At this time, we have made no claims of disproportionate burden.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
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 other forms published as Word documents. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages by 2024.
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.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai is doing the following to improve accessibility:
- Training content producers and CMS editors to ensure that accessibility is at the forefront of what we do
Going forwards, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai aims to do the following to improve accessibility:
- Training web and development teams in how to perform accessibility training/testing
- We will ensure that accessibility becomes part of procurement process requirements for third party providers
- Training departments and teams in how to ensure all web content is accessible
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 22/06/2023. This statement was last updated on 05/07/2023. This website was last tested on 05/05/2023. A representative sample of pages of the website were tested along with a sample of the documents from each website area. The test was carried out internally.
Regular tests are carried out by the Web Team on a selection of the most visited pages - representative of different content and page types on our website.
We used the following browser plugins for our automated testing: axe DevTools, WAVE and WebAIM Contrast Checker.