Accessibility statement for North East Scotland College

This website is run by North East Scotland College. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible this website is

Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

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, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille):

We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

If you cannot view the map in our ‘Contact us’ page or elsewhere on this website, call 0300 330 5550 or email us at enquiry@nescol.ac.uk for directions.

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, call 0300 330 5550 or email us at enquiry@nescol.ac.uk

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 at Aberdeen City Campus and Fraserburgh Campus for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our Student Advice Centre at Aberdeen City Campus has an audio induction loop, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Call 0300 330 5550 or email us at enquiry@nescol.ac.uk for more information.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The North East Scotland College is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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:

Issues with tables

Some tables in content do not have table row headers when needed. This fails WCAG 2.1A 1.3.1 success criterion (Info and Relationships).

Issues with images

Some images do not have good alternative text or alternative text is missing, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Issues with PDFs

Some PDFs do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value)

Issues with forms

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on November 4, 2019. The test was carried out by Blue2 Digital using a wide range of automated and manual testing techniques and tools:

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Our new design system includes a library of components that have been designed and built with accessibility as a core focus. This system will be used across all new pages allowing editors to create the best possible experience for everyone.

As part of the roll-out of a new website content management system, old inaccessible content will be completed replaced or archived permanently by September 2020.

Content editors are being trained to ensure new content is accessible.

We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.

This statement was prepared on October 19, 2019. It was last updated on November 4, 2019.