Accessibility Statement

Belfast Royal Academy is committed to making its website accessible. Although the Academy is mainly exempt from the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the accessibility regulations), we want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

For example, that means you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen.
• get from the start of the service to the end using just a keyboard.

We’ve also made the text in the website as simple as possible to understand. AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible is this website

Some people may find parts of this website difficult to use. For example:

• links in blocks of text may be hard to see as the colour contrast with text is low
• you cannot skip to the main content using a keyboard
• some link text is generic and doesn't describe where the link goes
• the heading structure won't appear logical to screen readers
• some form fields will missed when using assistive technology as labels are missing
• some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
• some tables do not have row or column numbers
• some pages and elements have poor colour contrast
• some images and icons do not have good alternative text
• some complex images doe not have sufficient descriptions
• some video content does not have a text alternative
• many documents are in PDF and MS Office formats and are not accessible.

Feedback and contact information

If you have difficulty using this service, please get in touch by emailing us at info@bfsra.belfast.ni.sch.uk

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of the Academy website.

If you find any problems that aren't listed on this page or think we're not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please email info@bfsra.belfast.ni.sch.uk to let us know.

Enforcement procedure

Although we are in the main exempt from the accessibility regulations, the Equality Commission is responsible for enforcement. The only aspect of our website that is covered by the accessibility regulations is essential online administrative functions. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint concerning essential online administrative functions, you may contact the Equality Commission https://www.equalityni.org/Accessibility

Non-accessible content

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

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Colour contrast

Links in blocks of text are only identifiable by colour and don’t meet the minimum colour contrast ratio needed between links and surrounding text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (use of colour).

The contrast ratio between text and the overlay on images is very low. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast - minimum). We also fail on this success criterion with the colour of the carousel buttons and the background colour on the supporting staff page.

Interactive tools

Where we ask for users for their details, for example, so they can log in or register for an account, these forms are difficult to navigate using assistive technology because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

Navigation and accessing information

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header, for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

Elements such as links and buttons don't become highlighted with a focus ring when using a keyboard to navigate a page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).

Some link text is too generic, such as 'read more', meaning the purpose of the link cannot be identified by some users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose - in context). We also fail on this success criterion as some jobs advertised will have the same job title, such as 'teaching assistant'. This means the same link text will be used to access multiple different adverts.

The links to the terms and conditions and privacy policy open in a pop-up window and are difficult to navigate and exit from when using a keyboard only. This fails success criterion 2.1.2 (no keyboard trap).

The navigation and icon links in the listing part of the website are missing link text. This fails success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose).

Headings tags have been used incorrectly, for example, some pages have more than one H1, and some heading text has been duplicated. This means our pages have an illogical heading structure when viewed using a screen reader and other assistive technology. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

Documents

A number of documents are non-accessible for a number of reasons which may result in a loss of meaning for users of screen readers or present issues for users with moderately low vision. For example, some documents:

• do not have a language attribute set This is a failure of WCAG 3.1.1 (language of page).
• have areas of insufficient colour contrast. This is a failure of WCAG 1.4.3, 1.4.11 (contrast (minimum))
• do not have colour conveying meaning This fails WCAG 1.4.1
• are tagged incorrectly WCAG 1.3.1, 2.4.2
• do not have a correct reading order. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence)
• do not have alternative text for images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
• have links which are not marked up correctly. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 info and relationships and 2.4.4
  have links that have not the correct colour contrast. This fails WCAG 1.4.1
• are scanned documents with errors in elements including reading order, language, and title. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We will endeavour that any new PDFs or other documents we publish will meet the required accessibility standards.

Video

A number of pages have embedded video content without text alternatives or closed captions. This may prevent users from adapting the material through any sensory modality (for example, visual, auditory or tactile) to match their needs. This fails WCAG 2.1 1.2.1 (audio-only and video-only (pre-recorded)), 1.2.2 (captions), 1.2.3 (audio description or media alternative (pre-recorded)) and 1.2.5 (audio description (pre-recorded)).

When we publish new content, we will endeavour to make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Tables and Lists

A small number of pages have tables which do not have row or column headers and are non-accessible. This may result in a loss of meaning for users of screen readers.

Identify and use unordered list mark-up for lists where there is no logical order implied, including navigation lists and menus. (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1)

You may contact us directly for the information in a different format.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on September 2021 using https://www.webaccessibility.com/

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to make improvements to make our system more usable for all users.
This statement was prepared on September 2021. It was last updated on September 2021.