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Accessibility Statement - Staff Portal

Accessibility statement – University of Reading Staff Portal

This accessibility statement applies to the University’s Staff Portal.

This website is run by the University of Reading. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to: 

  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • using your browser settings, change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
  • 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 (My Computer My Way).

How accessible this website is   

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

  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • the calendar date picker is not fully keyboard accessible. Instead of using date picker, you can type in the date
  • providing feedback about news stories “how can we improve this page” modal dialog has a keyboard trap   

There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively.

Feedback and contact information

If you have any problems accessing this website, or related tools and functionality, please contact:

You can expect a response within two working days.

If you need content featured on our website in a different format, and you are having problems accessing the necessary format(s) (such as tagged PDFs, large print, easy read, or audio recording), please contact: WebAccessibilityTeam@reading.ac.uk. In most cases, you can expect a response within five working days.

If you find any problems that aren't listed in this statement, or think we're not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please contact: legalservices@reading.ac.uk. In most cases, you can expect a response within seven working days.

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

The University of Reading 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 2.2  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

Some images do not have a meaningful text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

In some places, information, structure and relationships are not correctly conveyed (for example, the heading hierarchy, some tables where table headers are not identified, and form fields without correct labelling). This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

There is some content with insufficient colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.3 (colour contrast minimum) and 1.4.11 (non-text contrast).

Some content is not fully keyboard accessible (for example, the date picker). This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard).

Keyboard users can get trapped in some parts of the site (for example, submitting feedback about a news article modal dialog). This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.2 (keyboard trap).

The login page does not contain a working skip to content link. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

Some links do not have meaningful link text. For example, “here” or “read more” links or full URL. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose in context).

Article feedback field does not contain a label. This fails WCAG success criteria 4.1.2 (name, role and value) and 2.4.6 (headings and labels). 

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 office 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.

Online maps

Online maps and mapping services are exempt as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are continually monitoring our website for accessibility.

Staff responsible for content on the website, are required to undertake training in producing more accessible content and improving content already on the site.

We have introduced an accessibility issues ticketing system where raised issues are prioritised and scheduled for development and deployment.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This website was last tested on15 August 2024. A sample of pages representing different page templates were tested using automated testing tools and manually. 
This statement was prepared on 03 July 2024. It was last reviewed on 19 August 2024.