Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for ‘Digital Digest’ (WordPress)

This accessibility statement applies to the ‘Digital Digest Blog’ hosted by WordPress (https://wp.lancs.ac.uk/lu-digitaldigest/).

This website is run by Lancaster University. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 400% 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

We also try to make the content 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 skip to the main content straightaway when using a keyboard to navigate the website.
  • When zooming in the social media icons can obscure some text.
  • The social media icons do not have a description or alternative text.
  • There is one colour contrast concern with content provided by WordPress which is outside of our control.

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:

  • If you are an external user you can email Stephen Owens at s.owens@lancaster.ac.uk
  • If you are a student or a member of staff at Lancaster University you can contact us via the IT Help Centre.

We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

WordPress also have an accessibility team which aims to improve accessibility across WordPress sites. You can find more information via the WordPress accessibility handbook.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

  • We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please email Stephen Owens at s.owens@lancaster.ac.uk or if you are a student or a member of staff at Lancaster University you can contact us via the IT Help Centre.

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)

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Lancaster University is committed to making informaiton accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

WordPress is an open-source software, which means that some aspects of its accessibility are outside of our immediate control.

Text and Content

Navigation

When navigating through the website via a keyboard, the bypass block ‘Skip to Content’ option does not appear straight away. The user is required to tab through the title and third-party social media plug-in first.

This does not meet the WCAG success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks.

Headings

On the three pages within the blog that group categories together: ‘Category: Moodle Moments’, ‘Category: Pedagogy’ and ‘Category: Upcoming Events’, the theme from WordPress has not provided page titles.

HTML headings are therefore used inconsistently as part of the theme which is offered by WordPress.

This doesn’t meet WCAG success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels.

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

Third-party content

A third-party plug-in has been added which provides the ability to share posts and pages on social media. The three icons on the right-hand side are ‘sticky’ by default and sometimes obscure text. The three links to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are in tab format and do not have a label or alternative text.

The owners of this blog have no control over the development of this plugin but have decided to include it to offer optional interaction.

This does not meet WCAG success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) and 2.5.3 Label in Name.

The light grey text which offers the option to ‘Get a glimpse of the newsletter’ when a user sets up a subscription does not have suitable colour contrast. The subscription service is provided free of charge by WordPress and is outside of our control.

This does not meet WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

  • All of our content on this WordPress website is reviewed to check that it complies with accessibility guidance where possible.
  • We aim to review the offers provided by WordPress and third-party plug-ins to see if accessibility can be improved in future updates.
  • We intend to make sure that every person who contributes to the main content of this website has completed accessibility training from Lancaster University.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 13th July 2023. It was last reviewed on 13th July 2023.

This website was last tested on 13th July 2023. The test was carried out by Lancaster University.

We used this approach to test our WordPress blog:

  • We used the automated tools Siteimprove and Microsoft Accessibility Insights to assess the accessibility of the blog.
  • We conducted manual tests following guidance from Microsoft Accessibility Insights.