Web accessibility statement
ESSI newsletter accessibility
This statement applies to content published in ESSI newsletters (PDF and / or online versions).
Other websites that also belong to The University of Manchester and use manchester.ac.uk sub-domains are managed locally and will publish separate statements with information relevant to them. These include websites of our academic Schools and research institutes, among others.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website and we are continually working towards improving its accessibility. We follow general principles of usability and universal design, and endeavour to meet level 2 (AA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
These websites will allow you to:
- zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard or speech recognition tools
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader
- view essential audio-visual information (captions or transcriptions are provided in most cases)
How accessible these newsletters are
We know some parts of these newsletters are not fully accessible.
Please see the Technical Information section below for more detailed information on known accessibility issues.
Making changes to your device
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Also, the University’s Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) website offers up-to-date information for prospective students and staff with specific learning difficulties, disabilities, sensory impairments, mental health difficulties and medical conditions.
Reporting accessibility problems with these newsletters
Please contact us via the ‘Library Help’ pages if you require information on these newsletters in a different format, have an accessibility query (including about content not within the scope of the accessibility regulation), identify any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements:
Please provide the web address (URL) of the page(s) in which you find the problem, a description of the issue and your name. We will consider your request and get back to you within ten working days.
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 a complaint about accessibility please let us know. If you remain unsatisfied, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical information about the accessibility of these newsletters
We are committed to making our newsletters accessible, in accordance with the accessibility regulations. These newsletters are partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard, due to the instances of non-compliance and exceptions listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
- We are aware that some images in our newsletters may not currently have alternative text, but we are actively working to add alternative text to all images to improve accessibility for visually impaired users. (WCAG: 1.1.1)
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some non-essential PDF documents that were published before 23 September 2018 may not be fully accessible. All subsequent PDF documents will comply with accessibility regulations.
Third party-content
Our newsletters use, and / or link to third-party content which the University does not design or control and therefore accessibility standards may vary.
How we tested these websites
This statement was prepared on 2 February 2023. It was last reviewed on 2 February 2023.
These newsletters were last tested on 2 February 2023. The test was carried out by The University of Manchester Library. The scan report highlights any content that is not compliant with WCAG 2.1.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We have an ongoing programme of work to address any accessibility issues that are highlighted by our weekly scans. We are continually working on our content and site structure and finding ways to make the site more intuitive and easier to navigate. We are developing guidelines on how to create accessible content to help those colleagues working on our websites.