Introduction
This accessibility statement applies to www.cumbria.ac.uk The University of Cumbria Website is Partially Compliant
The University of Cumbria take accessibility very seriously and want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. We are actively working to make the website more accessible to all people and compliant with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) WAI’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.
The University subscribes to the User Way accessibility Widget to improve and support the user experience. UserWay's Accessibility Technology is a toolbar that improves and supports the user digital experience. To view more information about UserWay visit https://userway.org/.
You Should Be Able To:
- skip to Main Content
- understand the website text
- change contrast levels
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- listen to the website content using a screen reader
- pause or stop media
You can use the accessibility Widget toolbar USER WAY to:
- Emphasize Tab focus navigation
- Screen reader
- Increase the contrast, change colours
- Highlight Links
- Increase text size
- Increase text Spacing
- Pause Animations
- Use Dyslexia Friendly Font
- Enlarge Cursor
- Use a reading Guide
- Page structure
View our Accessibility Tools page to find accessibility tools and plugins to help improve your online experience.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How Accessible is the Website
We know some parts of this website aren't fully accessible:
- most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
- some videos do not have captions
- some links do not have discernible text
- many images do not have alternative text
- you cannot view or interact with all areas of the site using the keyboard only
- some elements do not have sufficient colour contrast
- some form elements have missing labels
- some pages do not have a clear focus
- in some instances, zooming at or above 200% results in text spilling off the screen.
Back On Our Map - South Cumbria Species Restoration
Webpages pertaining to the Back On Our Map (BOOM) South Cumbria Species Restoration Project have been developed to meet, at minimum, the W3C Accessibility Standard AA.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, word document, audio recording, or braille, then please contact us:
Email: accessibility@cumbria.ac.uk
Call: 01228 888888
We will apply a ticket code, review your request, and get back to you in 7 days.
Reporting Accessibility Problems with this Website
We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website, however, if you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact: accessibility@cumbria.ac.uk or call 01228 888888 to speak to someone directly.
If you continue to experience Digital Accessibility issues after exploring the options above, please visit the Formal Complaints Process page.
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
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our reception has audio induction loops installed and mobile loops are available on request, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Technical Information About This Website's Accessibility
The University of Cumbria 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:
1. Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Some links are not meaningful or generic. These are mainly on the Frontpage and are responsive updates of upcoming events:
- View All
- Learn More
- Read More
This makes the navigation for screen reader users difficult and the opportunity to create alternative formats more difficult. This contravenes WCAG2.1 - 2.4.4. We are correcting this issue as new content is added and also adding improved descriptive labels. This has been added to the Accessibility Road Map and will be displayed on the statement when resolved. The Statement is updated annually.
You cannot view all areas of the site using the keyboard. Some selections on the course and form pages cannot be made using the keyboard only.
- The Chat Box window cannot be closed using keyboard tab focus. The Chat Box window can be closed using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+W.
- At 200% some of the Chat Box text may be lost. The Chat Box window can be expanded using the standard keyboard shortcuts (F11 function key on Windows and CMD+Ctrl+F on Apple) which resolves this issue.
This means that keyboard-only users cannot fully engage with all content on the site. This contravenes WCAG2.1 – 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.4.3. The Chat tool error is being explored by the 3rd Party provider Cirrus Response Ltd. The fix is currently at the scoping stage and we are awaiting a remediation timescale. In the short term please contact us via email: accessibility@cumbria.ac.uk or telephone.
2. Disproportionate Burden
This section covers issues that we cannot fix right now. We’ve assessed the cost of fixing these issues but believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the law.
The University’s Disproportionate Burden Assessment includes all the items which cannot be fixed as identified in this Accessibility Statement. The University has invested in a full accessibility assessment of the website and is now exploring the best approach to remediate the website issues. As a result of the initial system assessment, it has become clear that the University need to upgrade the current website to enable regular accessibility testing and implement changes across the whole site to achieve AA WCAG 2.1.
The process for identifying the appropriate solution and correcting the accessibility issues are detailed in the Accessibility RoadMap spanning an 18 month period Jan 2025.
3. Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents - Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t 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 course information. By September 2024, we plan to either fix these or have a fully accessible alternative.
New PDFs or Word documents we publish after 23rd September 2019 meet accessibility standards.
Live video - 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 as there are extensions available to support, and MS Stream provides this automatically. Also, live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Preparation of the Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared 10/09/2018 . It was last reviewed on 04/06/2024.
This website was last tested on 04/06/2024. The test was carried out by Little Forest.
The University use Little Forest technology to review every available page to conduct a full Website Accessibility Assessment to inform the University Accessibility Status and develop a Road Map for improvement.
How we tested this website
We tested the pages both manually and with the use of accessibility software. This enabled us to test over 5000 pages. A Road Map is in place to guide our path to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) WAI’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.
What We're Doing to Improve Accessibility
Although we are continuously working to improve the accessibility of the current website, the University of Cumbria is currently in the process of redesigning the website in phases and updating old assets ina manner that will meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standards. This means that many of the issues fall into disproportionate burden whilst the website is being updated.
This Statement and action plan was reviewed on 04/06/2024 by the University of Cumbria, the updated road map identifies areas needing further development.
To view other University of Cumbria Accessibility Statements for a range of systems visit the Accessibility Statements Page.