Accessibility Statement for Birmingham Newman University
Last Updated: October 1st 2024
This accessibility statement applies to www.newman.ac.uk and www2.newman.ac.uk/blog.
This website is run by Birmingham Newman University. 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
- 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:
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
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: web@newman.ac.uk
- call 0121 476 1181 (ask for the Web Developer)
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 days.
If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us. View our contact details page for directions.
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: web@newman.ac.uk or phone 0121 476 1181 and ask for the Web Developer.
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).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Birmingham Newman 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:
- non-compliances – this means the content in question is in scope of the regulations, but there’s an accessibility problem with it
- an exemption – this means the inaccessible content is out of scope of the regulations, or it’d be a disproportionate burden for you to make it accessible
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Some of our PDFs and Word documents published since 2018, and older documents that are essential to providing our services, do not meet the required accessibility standards. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterions 1.3.1 (info and relationships), 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence), 1.4.3 (contrast minimum), 2.4.2 (page titled) and 3.1.1 (error identification).
We are working to resolve this in a priority-ranked order and through user training.
Some of our pages use the same link text for different destinations. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose).
We plan to resolve this by end of October 2025.
Third-party content
The site also contains a range of third-party content and functionality. This may direct you to a related service, or partner we work with. We are reviewing all such functionality and intend to work with suppliers to make that fully accessible or look for alternative solutions.
The ‘Discover Uni’ widget which appears on all course pages (we are obligated to publish these as part of our registration with the Office for Students) is not accessible due to insufficient contrast ratio and animation that cannot be paused. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterions 2.2.2 (pause, stop, hide) and 1.4.3 (contrast, minimum).
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents published before 23 September 2018 do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.
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.
We will make sure that these, and any new documents we publish, will meet accessibility standards.
Live video
Our live video streams don’t have captions. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions – live).
We don’t plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We will add captions to any live stream recordings that we subsequently publish online.
Online maps
We will try and ensure online maps are as accessible as possible, but online maps are currently exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are in the process of developing an accessibility roadmap. Once complete this will be published here. We will:
- Continue to deliver training and support for all members of staff who publish/edit digital content.
- Explore setting up a community to support colleagues leading in the accessibility area.
- Continue to provide tools to all content editors which help them to identify and fix any accessibility issues.
- Implement a central reporting mechanism to flag any areas of concern and direct resources to address identified issues.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 2nd August 2022. It was last reviewed on 21st August 2024.
All web pages on this website are tested every month. The tests are carried out by SiteMorse.