Images

Some images use non-descriptive alt text where they should be marked as decorative, and some use non-descriptive alt text where they should have more meaningful alt text. This means that people using a screen reader may hear text that is not necessary or not meaningful. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A). 

Video 

Videos are present which use auto-generated captions which do not accurately represent the spoken content. This fails WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded) (Level A). 

Videos are present without a transcript available for users who require alternative formats. This fails WCAG 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Pre-recorded) (Level A), 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-recorded) (Level A), and 1.2.5 Audio Description (Pre-recorded) (Level AA). 

There are some YouTube videos on pages that implement custom playback controls. The implementation introduces several barriers for users, such as controls not being in the keyboard focus order, not having a visible focus indicator when they do receive keyboard focus, having insufficient colour contrast, and unclear or missing accessible names for links. This fails WCAG 2.4.3 Focus order (Level A), WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA), WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A), WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A), WCAG 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level A), and WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A).

Structure 

Headings across the website are not always set at the right level. This means that screen reader users may not be able to determine the layout of the page and quickly navigate to different sections. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A).

The website’s live chat (Futr AI) is placed in the source code after the Back to Top button. This means that people may think they have reached the end of the page and miss the live chat button. This fails WCAG 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A) and 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A).

There are unnecessary or invalid ARIA attributes used across the website and in specific components, such as the accordion component and the tabs component. This may cause unexpected issues and a poor experience for assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). 

Keyboard and navigation

The focus indicator for the tabs component on course pages is not clearly visible. This means that keyboard users may not understand their location on pages when they reach these elements. This fails WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA) in combination with 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (AA).

The website navigation menu, when open, obscures focused page content when a user is browsing via keyboard. This means that keyboard users may not see what has keyboard focus on the page. This fails WCAG 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (Level AA).
 

Links and buttons 

The ‘skip to main content’ link on some pages does not link to a valid location on the page. This means that people navigating via keyboard only are unable to skip repeated elements, such as the navigation. This fails WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A)

There are links across the website that are not always descriptive of their intended purpose or destination. This means that people may be unable to skip links that they are not interested in. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A).

The live chat (Futr AI) button does not have a sufficiently descriptive name that describes the purpose of the button. This means that people may not understand the purpose or function of the button. This fails WCAG 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA).

There are links across the website that have the same meaningful name but go to different destinations. This means that people may be unable to determine the destination of a link without leaving the link to explore its context. This fails WCAG 3.2.4 Consistent Identification (Level AA).

There are also links that contain other links. Nesting interactive elements is invalid markup and, despite the use of attributes to attempt to mitigate any issues, there is no guarantee that these links will work as expected for all users. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

PDFs 

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with course specifications and information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. We are currently working on fixing these essential documents or replacing them with accessible HTML web pages. In June 2025, we also introduced a facility to print or download a large text version of our course pages.

We know that incorrect tags have been used in some PDF documents. This means that people may not be able to navigate effectively through the PDF document, particularly if they are screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A).

We know that PDFs may not have a document title. This means that people may encounter the document file path as the title, which may cause confusion or difficulty, particularly if they are screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A).

Image pods (Slick Slider) component

The square buttons showing the user’s location fail colour contrast requirements across different interaction states. This means that people may not be able to perceive these elements. This fails WCAG 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA).
When text spacing is applied, the image pod link may obscure the text content in the same image pod. This means that people may not be able to adapt the text styling in a way that suits their needs. This fails WCAG 1.4.12 Text Spacing (Level AA).

The square buttons showing the user’s location are not accessible by keyboard. This means that keyboard users are not able to use the buttons to skip to their desired location. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard Only (Level A).

The links in each image pod each have a unique aria-label that combines the image pod title and visible link label to create the link’s accessible name. This means that sometimes links do not have sufficiently meaningful names, and people may be unable to determine the purpose of a link without leaving the link to explore its context. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A).

The square buttons showing the user’s location have insufficient target size and spacing around them. This means that people who have difficulty with fine motor movement may find it difficult to accurately activate a button to move to a different location. This fails WCAG 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (Level AA).

There are unnecessary or invalid ARIA attributes used within the image pod component. This may cause unexpected issues and a poor experience for assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

Office for Students (OfS) DiscoverUni widget

The DiscoverUni widget is an Office for Students (OfS) mandated component that higher education institutions in the UK must display on course pages. We know there are accessibility issues with this widget. A new version of the widget is planned for 2025, which will introduce some improvements that may address the issues outlined. We will implement the new version of the widget on our course pages once it is launched.

The DiscoverUni widget automatically updates and cannot be paused, stopped or hidden. There are also issues with the focus indicator, lack of structural semantics, and colour contrast, which further affect the usability of this widget. This means that people may be confused or disoriented while navigating the widget, as well as cause issues for screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A), WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), WCAG 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A), and WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA).

A tooltip is displayed when the call to action receives mouse hover. This is not dismissible by the keyboard or hoverable. This means that people may not be able to dismiss this without disrupting their page experience. This fails WCAG 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA).

Please refer to the DiscoverUni widget accessibility case study (opens in new window) for more information.

Futr Chatbot

We are aware of several issues with the chatbot impacting the user experience, including content and dynamic updates that are not available to assistive technologies, controls that cannot be operated via keyboard, and meaningful icons that have missing or inappropriate text alternatives. This fails WCAG 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A), WCAG 4.1.3 Status Updates (Level AA), WCAG Keyboard and WCAG 1.4.11 Non-Text Contrast (Level AA). We are actively collaborating with the vendor to improve the accessibility of the chatbot. We will publish a separate statement concerning the issues identified in the near future.

We are working through this list of issues according to priority. All issues will be included in the Digital Team’s business-as-usual work for improvement as soon as possible. We are also collaborating with our third-party suppliers to improve the accessibility of their products where appropriate.

The issues are prioritised as follows:

• High priority: fix issues in site-wide components and templates (e.g., header)
• Medium priority: fix issues in any reusable components (e.g., accordion component)
• Low priority: fix issues in individual page elements (content that is unique to a page)
   

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.