Blackpool Sixth Accessibility Statement

Blackpool Sixth Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the The Blackpool Sixth Form College website.

This website is run by The Blackpool Sixth Form College. 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 200% 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.
My Computer My Way has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a
disability, and the AT Hive can help you find assistive technologies that work for you.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of
any issues we currently know about in the Non-accessible content section of this
statement.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting
accessibility requirements, contact the Marketing Team at Blackpool Sixth at
marketing@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF,
large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
● email marketing@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk
● call 01253394911 and ask for the Marketing Team

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.

Read tips on contacting organisation about inaccessible websites.

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

Blackpool Sixth Form 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 has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Across the website there are some images including certifying logos other
icons, and blog images that do not have alternative text descriptions. This fails
WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A).

The YouTube video present on the home page has captions but does not
have other media alternatives such as a transcript. This fails WCAG 1.2.3
Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (A).
At certain magnifications, the Full menu button does not meet contrast
requirements. Additionally, some text on course pages within the Pathways
tool does not meet contrast requirements. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast
(Minimum) (AA).
Pages do not respond to browser or OS text size changes. This fails WCAG
1.4.4 Resize text (AA).
At higher magnifications, the course pages become almost impossible to
easily engage with because the main page content is only presented through
a small sliver in the middle of the page. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow (AA).
There are some elements across the website where either focus indication
does not meet contrast requirements, or icons against background colours do
not meet contrast requirements. This fails WCAG 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast
(AA).
Pages do not respond to user-side text spacing adjustments. This fails WCAG
1.4.12 Text Spacing (AA).
At higher magnifications, the full menu button is not accessible to keyboard
users. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A).
The add to your prospectus bar visually present at the bottom of the screen at
all times on course pages is not accessible to keyboard. This fails WCAG
2.1.1 Keyboard (A).
Accordions present on the course page are skipped over in the tab order and
not accessible to keyboard controls. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A).
While the autoplay video on the home page can be stopped, there are a
number of graphical elements which continue to move in the same area and
cannot be stopped. This fails WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (A).
There is no skip to content function on the website. This fails WCAG 2.4.1
Bypass Blocks (A).
The event listing carousel present on some pages can break, disrupting user
focus indication and moving through the items in an illogical order. This fails
WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order (A) and 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA).
For upcoming events and latest news tiles there are duplicate links for each
item which are not always described usefully with descriptive link text. This
fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A).
Some links in other content such as the Policies page or social media links on
the home page may not be as descriptive as required. This fails WCAG 2.4.4
Link Purpose (In Context) (A).
Comboboxes used across pages do not receive suitable focus visibility. This
fails WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA).
The burger navigation menu does not trap user focus and users can navigate
to main page content which is visually obscured. This fails WCAG 2.4.11
Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (AA).
Some components including the collapsible navigation menu and some
accordions do not announce their state or function to screen reader users.
This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).
Some components such as navigation menu close buttons, back to top
buttons, and controls within the Pathways tool do not have accessible text
names. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).
The YouTube video on the home page is contained within an iframe without a
title. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the
routes described in the ‘Feedback and contact information’ section of this statement.

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have made no claims of disproportionate burden.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations.

PDFs and other documents
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.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

3rd party content
Some of our services include third party content which we have no control over such
as documents which are sent to us and uploaded as part of the health assured
student assistance service. The accessibility regulations do not require us to manage
these kinds of content, but if you have a problem with any of the content hosted on
this website, please contact us using the methods above and we will try to help.

Video content
We have some existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the
23rd September 2020. This content is also exempt from the regulations. All new
video content we produce will have appropriate captions, audio descriptions and
transcripts as necessary.

Online Maps
Our service includes the use of online maps to show certain geographical
information. These are not used for navigational purposes and are exempt under the
regulations. If you require the information presented in an online map in a different
format, please contact us to discuss reasonable adjustments.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have already addressed a number of issues to improve the accessibility of the
site such as making sure that any .pdf documents are screen-reader accessible
through setting the specified language and ensuring that there is a way of stopping
the background video on the homepage.

The Blackpool Sixth Form College is doing the following to improve accessibility:

Working with our external web development company to address the issues
identified through our recent external audit (as listed in the Non-Accessible
Content section of this policy).
Upskilling our marketing team with knowledge of the latest web accessibility
best practice.
Ensuring that all content is internally assessed for accessibility against the
WCAG 2.2 AA standards
Keeping this policy document updated regularly so it is clear which (if any)
accessibility issues still need to be addressed.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in March 2018. It was last reviewed on 26th September
2024.

This website was last tested on 16/09/2024. The test was carried out by All Able Ltd.
A representative sample of pages of the website were tested. Testing was composed
of a mixture of manual, semi-automated and assistive technology testing.