Accessibility Statement

This Accessibility Statement is provided by Wrexham University (WU) and applies to our website platform in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to wrexham.ac.uk which is Wrexham University's main corporate website and is hosted internally.

Our goal is to ensure the website is fully accessible and usable for all users regardless of ability, and the WCAG 2.2 guidelines are followed.

Wrexham University aims to ensure that all the content uploaded to the website are fully accessible to all users, including disabled users.

The University is in the process of ensuring its pages comply with the AA standard of the W3C recommended version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The University acknowledges that this is an anticipatory and continuing work in progress and, in order to ensure no user is disadvantaged while this work is carried out, the University intends to respond to all requests for assistance with accessibility, by either altering the necessary content as soon as possible, or, if requested, by providing the information in an alternative format within a reasonable timeframe. 

The University will make reasonable adjustments to ensure specific individual needs that cannot be addressed by mainstreamed adjustments are met. Contact webeditor@wrexham.ac.uk for help with this.

You can change the default settings in your browser to help with accessibility issues. 

Using the website

There are a number of accessibility features on the website, that mean 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

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

Changing settings in your browser

Changing text size

Using your browser controls, you can make the text on this website larger or smaller.

Internet Explorer

• Click 'View' to open the View menu, or press 'Alt' and 'V'
• Select the 'Text Size' option or select by pressing 'X'
• Choose your preferred text size using your mouse or use the up and down arrow keys
• Click to select the text size or press 'Enter'
• The text size should change to reflect your choice

Google Chrome

To change the Text Size of web pages you are viewing:

• Click the 'Customise and Control' spanner symbol in the top right hand corner (Alt + E)
• Select the Zoom + and - buttons to alter the text size (Ctr + + or CTr + -)

Firefox

To change the Text Size of the web pages you are viewing:

• Open the 'View' menu with the mouse (or press Alt + V)
• Select Zoom and then use the Zoom in (Ctr + +) and Zoom out (Ctrl + -) controls to alter the text size

You can select the 'Zoom text size only' option to change just the size of the text, whilst not altering other elements on the page.

Safari

• Click 'View' to open the View menu
• Click on 'Make Text Bigger' or 'Make Text Smaller', or to use the keyboard shortcuts select ‘Apple’ and ‘+’ (plus) or ‘Apple’ and ‘-’ (minus)
• The text size on our site should change to reflect your choice

Accessibility toolbar

To improve your experience on our website, you can also use our accessibility toolbar (provided by Recite Me) to change how our website is displayed. This toolbar provides many options including:

• Changing text size and fonts
• Selecting alternative background and foreground colours
• Translation of text into more than 100 languages
• Text-to-speak functionality

To access the toolbar, click the 'Accessibility' link at the top of any page by the search bar tool. The toolbar will appear at the top of the page. Any changes you make will remain as you navigate through the website. Please note, this toolbar only applies to pages contained within wrexham.ac.uk

Changing colours

This website uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to specify its style. If you are having difficulty reading the text on our website, it is possible to change the colours of the text and background by adjusting the browser settings.

Accessibility features in Firefox

Accessibility features in Chrome

Accessibility features in Internet Explorer

Find out more about how to change text size and colours

In-built Assistive Technologies

To improve your experience on our website, you can also use our accessibility toolbar (provided by Recite Me) to change how our website is displayed. This toolbar provides many options including:

• Changing text size and fonts
• Selecting alternative background and foreground colours
• Translation of text into more than 100 languages.
• Text-to-speak functionality

To access the toolbar, click the 'Accessibility' link at the top of any page by the search bar tool. The toolbar will appear at the top of the page. Any changes you make will remain as you navigate through the website. Please note, this toolbar only applies to pages contained within wrexham.ac.uk

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format and have not been able to download this using the Blackboard Ally tool, then please email: webeditor@wrexham.ac.uk

We will forward your message to the appropriate member of staff and get back to you as soon as possible.

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: webeditor@wrexham.ac.uk

Your message will be forwarded to the relevant team who will get back to you as soon as possible.

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

Wrexham 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
Images without a description

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). Our aim is for all new content added after September 17, 2020 (the time of our most recent major revision to our website) to include 'alt' text for all images.

Links without meaningful purpose

Some of the links are not labelled clearly. This means that links do not make sense when taken out of context, and for some links it is not possible to know what the purpose of the link is. This fails WCAG: 2.4.4 (link purpose in context). We will correct link text over time as we review each page.

Video controls

Some videos on our website do not have the required caption controls or transcriptions available (WCAG: 1.2.2, 1.2.4). In accordance with the regulations, all new content created after September 2020 will be made more accessible.

Issues with content in documents e.g. PowerPoint, Word and PDF

Some PowerPoint, Word and PDF documents that are essential to learning, teaching and assessment may not meet accessibility standards, for example, they may not be marked up so they are accessible to a screen reader.

These issues will be addressed through a combination of provision of enhanced guidance, staff training and provision of accessible document templates (e.g. an accessible module handbook template in Word, an accessible PowerPoint slide template), use of Blackboard Ally to prompt improvement of accessibility.

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

This section covers issues that we do not need to fix right now. The law calls these exemptions.

Portable Document Formats (PDFs) and documents

Some of our PDFs that are not essential to providing our services were published before September 23, 2018. We are implementing strategies to ensure that any new PDFs or documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

If you have trouble accessing these documents, you could make use of the Recite Me tool to download an alternative format. Alternatively, we will address specific issues on request.

We will focus our efforts on ensuring that wrexham.ac.uk and new content, created in and uploaded to it, is as accessible as possible going forward.

Third-party content

Our site contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we make best endeavours to work with the third-party to improve its accessibility. This may include:

• Links to non-Wrexham University websites
• Content/functionality on our website
• Content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites.

Wrexham University has been able to make use of searchBOX, a centralised, independent directory of third-party accessibility information to help accessibility compliance across the sector. searchBOX catalogues the contact information and accessibility statements of third-party suppliers, enables the sharing of community-generated accessibility statements, and allows users to map their supplier ecosystem.

Users can access third-party accessibility statements using the free searchBOX Finder service.

Wrexham University will be encouraging all our partners and suppliers to support this effort by ensuring that their accessibility information is included in the searchBOX directory.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Wrexham University has an accessibility working group who meet regularly and work on how the University can meet its obligations in relation to the new accessibility regulations for all of the University's digital provision. We have provided training opportunities and resources for members of staff on how to improve the accessibility of digital content for learning, teaching and assessment. We have added a tool to the website called Recite Me and we run any PDFs before it is uploaded to our website through Blackboard Ally software to check whether it is compliant. We also use that software on a weekly basis to help us identify accessibility issues which we regularly work through resolving.

Change log

Issued fixed 15/08/2022: Header and navigation - we’ve identified an issue with our navigation menu noting some menu options receive keyboard focus twice. Some elements focus when not in view. Therefore, some elements may not always display effective focus indication (WCAG: 2.4.7).

Issues fixed 26/01/2024: We have moved live chat provider to address the following issue: After live chat is activated, tabbing takes you to the top of the page rather than the chat window. Also, the user is unable to adjust line height due to forced inline styles.  

Preparation of this accessibility statement

Part of the statement was prepared on 22nd September 2020. It was last reviewed and updated on January 01, 2024.

This website was last tested with assistive technologies on November 25, 2022, by members of staff at Wrexham University. We last made use of the institutional report available through Blackboard Ally on November 24, 2022.