This accessibility statement applies to the website: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/
This website is run by Bournemouth 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
- zoom in up to 300% 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
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:
- Not all form input fields have a correctly associated form label.
- Some page content is not identified with appropriate ARIA landmarks.
- Alternative text attributes are not always present or meaningful.
- Not all time-based media content has an accessible alternative.
- A correctly formed heading structure is not present to facilitate navigation across the site.
- Some components are unable to be interacted with, using keyboard navigation.
- HTML validation errors are present, which may introduce issues for users navigating with assistive technologies.
- Some page titles are not descriptive or unique.
- A visible tab focus indicator is not always consistent in its presentation.
- Some textual content does not meet the minimum recommended contrast ratios and may be difficult to read.
- Some content is cut-off when custom text spacing is applied.
- Additional content that is displayed, as well as changes in states, are not always announced by screen readers.
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: [email protected]
- Call: 01202 961 916
- Write to us: Creative Services, Marketing & Communications, Studland House, 12 Christchurch Road
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
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: [email protected]
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
Accessibility information for Bournemouth University’s buildings and facilities can be found on the Access Able website.
Visit our Contact Us page for our contact details.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Bournemouth 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 the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Accessible names are not provided for informative images, including complex images such as graphs, and images within PDF and Word documents. This can result in content not being presented to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
We plan to resolve this by: March 2023
Decorative images on the site do not have a null alternative attribute. This may result in file names or unnecessary accessible names being announced to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Some form input fields lack an associated text label or descriptive title. Incorrectly associated labels do not provide functionality or information about the form control to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
HTML object elements lack an accessible name. This can result in users of assistive technologies being unable to identify the purpose of the object. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Pre-recorded videos without a soundtrack lack either a text or audio description. This results in users with visual impairments being unable to access the video content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1 (Pre-Recorded Audio-Only and Video-Only).
We plan to resolve this by: July 2023
Synchronised captions are not present for pre-recorded videos. Users with hearing impairments will be unable to access the auditory information within the videos. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (Captions (Pre-Recorded)).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Audio descriptions or media alternatives, such as a descriptive text transcript or audio description track, are not present for pre-recorded video content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative (Pre-Recorded)).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Regions of the pages are not identified with appropriate landmark regions. This may be confusing to assistive technology users who navigate using landmarks. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Related form elements, such as checkboxes and text input fields, are not grouped together using the fieldset/legend. Users will not be provided with additional context when navigating to these form elements with a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Semantic markup has not been used to group list items appropriately. Therefore, screen reader users may not be aware that they are navigating list items. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Headings that contain no content are present. This can make it difficult for keyboard and screen reader users to navigate the page by heading elements, as no information will be presented. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Table headers are not marked up as such, and layout tables are present. Tables may be difficult to navigate for screen reader users when header cells are not identified, and layout tables can introduce reading and navigation order issues. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Content within PDF documents is not tagged. Assistive technology users may not be able to access all content within the PDF documents. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to resolve this by: March 2023
Form inputs that relate directly to the user have not been identified with the autocomplete attribute to allow form auto filling. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Links within paragraphs of text are not differentiated in any other way than using colour. Users that do not see a full range of colours may struggle to identify links within paragraphs. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Some text is present on the website, as well as within PDF’s, that does not have a sufficient contrast ratio against the page background. Users with low vision may have difficulty reading text that does not contrast with its background. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)).
We plan to resolve this by: March 2023
Rendering issues are present when zooming text only to 200% using browser zoom controls. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Zooming the page to 400% with a browser width of 1280px results in the navigation menu disappearing. This prevents users from being able to navigate to other pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Some non-textual content lacks contrast with the page background. This includes the visual boundaries of input fields, social media links, and graphics within the footer. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Content is cut-off or renders off-screen when custom Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) text spacing is applied. This results in some links becoming inaccessible to users who require increased space between lines, words, and letters. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.12 (Text Spacing).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Content that appears on hover is unable to be dismissed without moving the pointer cursor or keyboard focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.13 (Content on Hover or Focus).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Several user interface components are unable to be interacted with when using a keyboard to navigate the site. This includes but is not limited to links within map components, ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ links within carousels, and dropdowns within navigation menus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Controls to navigate around 3D rooms are unable to be interacted with whilst navigating with mobile screen readers such as TalkBack and VoiceOver. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
We plan to resolve this by: January 2023
Access keys which may interfere with assistive technology shortcut keys are present. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Content that moves automatically is present, with no mechanism available to be able to pause, stop, or hide the moving content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Flashing content is present within the Student Blog pages, where the hover state of the ‘Vlog’ tiles flashes. This could be jarring for some users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.3.1 (Three Flashes or Below Threshold).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
A ‘Skip to Main Content’ link is present but does not have a target. Screen reader and keyboard users will be unable to skip the repeated navigational content at the top of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
A correctly formed heading structure is not present to facilitate navigation across the site, with skipped heading levels present. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Iframes are present that lack an appropriate title. Without an appropriate title, users will not be able to determine if the content within the iframe is of importance to them. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Some page titles are not unique or reflective of the page content, and some PDF documents are lacking a title altogether. Users may have difficulty identifying the page or document contents by its title. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).
We plan to resolve this by: March 2023
When tabbing the page content, keyboard users are focused to visually hidden elements, and an illogical focus order is present throughout the site. Keyboard users may become confused or disoriented when tabbing takes focus someplace unexpected. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus Order).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Empty links that contain no text or contain images without an alternative text are present. The function or purpose of these links will not be presented to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Multiple ‘More Information’, ‘Read More’, and ‘News’ links do not announce additional information relating to their location via screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Headings that contain no content are present. This can make it difficult for keyboard and screen reader users to navigate the page by heading elements, as no information will be presented. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Not all elements when focused on using a keyboard have a visible focus indicator. This may make it difficult to tell that some elements currently have focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Not all interactable elements have the same accessible name as the visual name. This could result in some difficulty when using speech recognition software. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.3 (Label in Name).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
The lang attribute on the Orthopaedic Research Institute microsite is defined as “en-US” which may result in a screen reader announcing content using American pronunciation. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).
We plan to resolve this by: August 2022
Some PDF documents do not have a defined language. This may result in some content being announced incorrectly by screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).
We plan to resolve this by: March 2023
When interacting with form fields present across forms, as well as the ‘Get address’ button, the focus is unexpectedly reset to the top of the page after interaction. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (On Input).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Navigation is not consistent on the Postgraduate Study for Students from Vietnam page, where the header and footer differ from the rest of the website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.3 (Consistent Navigation).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Error messages on the Student blog pages are displayed within a new page and returning to the form does not display the error on the form fields. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (Error Identification).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Error messages for forms do not provide information about the nature of the invalid entry and how to fix it, with only basic error messages present. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (Error Identification).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Form fields for the CRM forms do not provide specific formatting for phone, postcode, and email fields within the associated label or title attribute. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Some pages contain HTML validation errors, which may introduce issues for users who navigate using assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
When navigating using VoiceOver screen reader, the social media buttons within the footer announce the destination twice when focused on. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
When navigating the mobile menu using a mobile screen reader, the expand and close buttons are announced as ‘Hyphen’ and ‘Minus’, and do not provide context when focused on. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Some PDF documents were found to lack XMP meta data, which may result in some screen reader users missing information such as the PDF title. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
We plan to resolve this by: March 2023
When navigating the secondary navigation using screen readers, decorative divider lines are announced when focused on. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Aria is not always used correctly, which may cause unexpected interactions with assistive technology software. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
When navigating through forms using iOS VoiceOver, the required asterisks are announced twice when focused. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Changes in state such as displaying error messages on the page, as well as the updating of accordions opening and closing, are not announced to users of screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (Status Messages).
We plan to resolve this by: December 2022
Disproportionate burden
We’re currently assessing the cost of fixing the issues identified with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. If we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulation, we will make updates to this statement in Autumn 2022.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
PDFs and other documents
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. By March 2023, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix policies that are provided for archive purposes only.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards from March 2023.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We do provide captions for pre-recorded content served on the Bournemouth University YouTube channel and several social media channels provide and YouTube offer live automatic captioning. BU have switched-on captions to display across our YouTube channel by default.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 28 June 2022. It was last reviewed on 14 July 2022.
This website was last tested on 22 June 2022. The test was carried out by Zoonou.
We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test WCAG-EM.