Accessibility Statement

Which website does this statement cover?

This accessibility statement applies to the Gateshead College website, www.gateshead.ac.uk 

This website is run by Gateshead College with the support of Causal Effect. 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)

We’ve 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

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• There is no pause button available in the carousel at the top of the homepage, although the video can be paused by hitting the screen or using the keyboard.
• At 400% zoom and in mobile view, the Live Chat box and Cookie Consent button at the bottom of the webpage do not reflow correctly to fit the webpage. This does work at up to 300% zoom.
• There are some images of text across the site where users can’t adjust how the visual content is displayed. However, the action buttons are accessible using a keyboard.
• Some buttons don't have descriptive accessible name so that screen reader users can understand the destination, purpose, function, or action of the button.
• There are some slider elements that can’t be navigated using a keyboard and cannot be paused at 200% zoom.
• Some tick boxes and buttons aren't accessible using a keyboard.
• The colour contrast on some buttons isn't clear enough.
• The next and previous arrows of some slider elements are not accessible using the keyboard.
• Some filter box and search filter buttons don't have keyboard focus.

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 accessibility@gateshead.ac.uk

-    Call 0191 490 0300

We will consider your request and get back to you in 20 working 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: 

Helen Richardson at accessibility@gateshead.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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Gateshead College 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

The website is partially compliant with the requirements of the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.

The partial compliance is due to:

-    Non-compliances – this means the content in question is in scope of the regulations, but there’s an accessibility problem with it.

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 - non compliance with regulations

The following fail WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard:

Homepage - The next and previous arrows in the slider under Our Campuses are not accessible using the keyboard.

Homepage/Contact Us/Accessibility Statement/Events/News pages- At 200% zoom, content within the hamburger menu is not accessible using the keyboard.

Contact us page - The tick boxes for 'I agree' and 'I give consent' cannot be selected using the keyboard.

Contact us page - The enquire now button at the bottom of the form is not accessible using the keyboard.

The following fail WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible:

Homepage - The keyboard focus becomes lost under the Our Campuses slider.

Homepage/Contact us/Events pages- There is no keyboard focus within the hamburger menu.

News page - There is no keyboard focus on the search button under Search News.

News page - There is no keyboard focus on the Show more button.

News page - There is no keyboard focus on the Take a look button.

Events page - The filter box and search filter buttons do not have keyboard focus.

Homepage/Contact us/Accessibility Statement/Events/News pages - at 200% zoom and more there is no keyboard focus on the hamburger menu.

The following fail WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow:

Homepage/Contact us/Events/Accessibility Statement/News pages - at 400% zoom and in mobile view, the chat box and cookie button at the bottom of the page do not reflow correctly to fit the webpage.

The following fail WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text:

Homepage/News pages - there are multiple images of text.

The following fail WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide

Homepage - There is no pause button available in the carousel at the top of the webpage.

Homepage - At 200% zoom there is no pause button for the Our Events and Our Campuses slider.

The following fail WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: 

Homepage/Contact us/News/Events/Accessibility Statement pages - ARIA hidden element must not be focusable or contain focusable elements (Axe)

Events page - cookie settings button doesn't have discernible text.

We plan to fix all these issues by the end of June 2023.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

-   Working with a Digital Consultant with extensive experience of building accessible websites to build our new website.

-    Once the new site is live, we’ll run quarterly Lighthouse reports to check for any fixes required.

-    We will review this accessibility statement every year.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 25 January 2023. It was last reviewed on 25 January 2023.  It will be reviewed again on 25 January 2024. 

This website was last tested on 12/01/2023. The test was carried out by Allies Group.

We chose a sample of 11 pages that are essential to providing our services. These pages were tested using the WAVE Evaluation Tool and the Google Lighthouse Accessibility Audit as well as being manually checked.

Google Lighthouse Accessibility Audit Reports can be found here.