Accessibility Statement for Keele University Students' Union

Keele University Students' Union is committed to digital accessibility for all users. Learn how we support inclusive access, meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards, and address accessibility issues on our website.

Accessibility Statement

Our Commitment

Keele University Students' Union is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for all users, including people with disabilities. We are actively working to improve the user experience and apply the relevant accessibility standards.

We aim to conform to Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, which require websites to be:

  • Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
  • Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable.
  • Understandable – Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.
  • Robust – Content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide range of user agents, including assistive technologies.

What We're Doing to Support Accessibility

  • Follow internal policies that take accessibility into account.
  • Provide ongoing accessibility training for staff.
  • Use formal accessibility quality assurance methods in our development process.

We test our website during development and regularly monitor it post-launch to maintain accessibility standards.

Technologies We Use

We rely on the following technologies to support accessibility: HTML5, WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications), CSS, and JavaScript. Where possible, we apply progressive enhancement and provide fallback content to maintain accessibility.

Using This Website

Our website is designed to be accessible. For example, you should be able to:

  • Zoom in up to 400% without losing content or functionality.
  • Navigate most of the website using only a keyboard.
  • Use "skip to main content" links via the Tab key.
  • Use screen readers to access most of the content.
  • Understand content written in plain and clear language.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

What to Do If You Can't Access Part of the Website

If you need content in an alternative format (such as large print, audio, braille, or accessible PDF), or encounter an accessibility issue not listed here, please contact us:

We aim to respond within five working days.

Known Accessibility Issues

We are aware that some parts of the website are not fully accessible:

  • Some elements may cut off text when line spacing is increased or decreased dynamically.
  • Older PDFs are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • Some videos do not have captions or transcripts.
  • Some form controls (checkboxes, radio buttons, combo boxes) are difficult to use with screen readers or voice command tools.
  • Third-party tools like Google Maps, YouTube embeds, and Facebook Live Chat may not be fully accessible.
  • Some images may lack descriptive alt text.
  • Some interface elements may not meet required contrast ratios.
  • Images of text may still be used in some places.

Technical Accessibility Information

Keele University Students' Union is partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA. The following items are not currently compliant:

  1. Text may be cut off with dynamic line spacing (1.4.12 – Text Spacing).
  2. Missing alt text on some images (1.1.1 – Non-text Content).
  3. Inconsistent keyboard navigation order in some templates (2.4.3 – Focus Order).
  4. Some form elements lack programmatically determinable names or roles (4.1.2 – Name, Role, Value).
  5. Possible use of images of text (1.4.5).
  6. Insufficient contrast in some UI elements (1.4.11 – Non-text Contrast).
  1. Some pre-recorded media may lack text alternatives, captions, audio descriptions, or sign language interpretation. This affects WCAG success criteria 1.1.1 through 1.2.8.
  2. Google Maps integrations are difficult or impossible to use with a keyboard or screen reader.
  3. YouTube embeds may contain non-descriptive image links.
  4. Facebook Live Chat has known accessibility issues.
  1. Older PDFs and Word documents may not be fully accessible to screen readers (4.1.2).
  2. Some older videos lack edited captions and transcripts (1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.5). We are working to update these. All new videos will include captions and transcripts.

What We're Doing to Improve Accessibility

We have a rolling programme to update our content and improve accessibility:

  • We conduct regular monitoring and updates as part of our daily web maintenance.
  • All CMS editors have access to our website style guide, which includes accessibility guidelines and is regularly reviewed.

Exceptions

Our site includes links to external websites and embedded content. While we strive for maximum accessibility, we cannot guarantee the accessibility of third-party tools or services.

Last updated: April 2025