Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for Media Hopper Create's use at the University.

This is the Media Hopper Create service accessibility statement in line with Public Sector Body (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Media Hopper Create is a centrally supported media asset management tool integrated with the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) at the University of Edinburgh.  It is based on the commercial software application product Kaltura. This statement covers both the public facing and the media upload and editing interfaces. As Media Hopper Create is a third party piece of software we have limited control over the changes we can make to it. Kaltura provide detailed information about the Kaltura software application and its accessibility along with a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) on their website. 

There is also an application called Kaltura Capture Desktop Recorder which can be installed on your location computer and used to record video and upload directly to the website.  This application will not be considered as part of this accessibility statement.

Detailed Media Hopper Create accessibility information

We want as many staff and students as possible to be able to use this service. You should be able to:

  • Use browser settings can be used to adjust font size to 500%
  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • Use browser settings to change font and background colours to allow high contrast.

The service is primarily used to create, upload and stream media content for a variety of purposes, including for teaching and learning purposes through our VLEs.  It is therefore important for us to ensure that helpful guidance and training is available to users who create content to minimise the risk of this.

We have completed our own high-level accessibility checking of the software application, and also on our own customisations.

Customising the website

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

AbilityNet - My computer my way

With a few simple steps you can customise your browser settings to make it easier to read and navigate.

Information on how to customise browser settings for accessibility

If you are a member of the University staff or a student you can use the free Sensus Access accessible document conversion service.

SensusAccess Information

How accessible this service is

We know that some parts of the Media Hopper Create application are currently not fully accessible, such as:

  • Some active elements are not accessible from the keyboard such as:

    • On ‘Load more’ the keyboard focus goes back to the start of the list of videos rather than being set to the point the user already reached.
    • On videos, if you hover over them you see a few preview images and these can’t be triggered by non-mouse action.  We don’t believe this is widely used or particularly useful and the videos are still accessible directly via the keyboard.
    • Active elements related to each video in Media Hopper Create are initially hidden but appear on mouse hover or when the first video element receives keyboard focus in the tab order. This significantly lengthens the tab order and also prevents users of assistive technology, such as speech input software, from having direct access to these controls. This can be particularly seen in a gallery/channel view of the media.
  • A Chapter timeline bookmark slider in Media Hopper Create cannot be controlled by screen readers.
  • There is a carousel on the front page where it isn’t possible to pause or click through to the highlighted video by using the keyboard rather than a mouse.
  • There are some issues with focus order or controls such as when the data picker opens, the focus is not moved to it.
  • One button in the interface does not provide an accessible name (‘Add Hint’).

The service is used to share media. It can also be used to provide automated captioning of media which can be requested through a web interface on the service.

What to do if you can’t access parts of this service

If you need information or content on this service in a different format, like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact the IS Helpline:

We will acknowledge your request immediately, and respond within 5 working days.

 Within the University, we can:

  • Offer users 1-2-1 sessions to help orientate and navigate the service’s interface, in particular with regard to assistive technology 
  • Offer content in alternative formats
  • If you are a member of University staff or a student, you can use the free SensusAccess accessible document conversion service. 
  • Provide advice and guidance on using accessibility features in Turnitin and in your operating system.

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this service. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: 

We will acknowledge your request immediately, and respond within 5 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 please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) directly.

The government has produced information on how to report accessibility issues:

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

British Sign Language Scotland runs a service for British Sign Language users and all of Scotland’s public bodies using video relay. This enables sign language users to contact public bodies and vice versa. The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Technical information about this service’s accessibility

The University of Edinburgh is committed to making its websites and web applications accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This application is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed in the product VPAT and the list below.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Kaltura provide information about the application and its accessibility including a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. You can see this detailed accessibility information on the Kaltura website.

Here is a list of the areas where Kaltura fails to meet the following WCAG  2.1 AA Success Criteria: 

Success Criteria 1.1.1 Text Alternatives

  • Not all non-text content has a text alternative
  • Some of our guidance for using the service may not meet accessibility standards.

Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

  • When the “Load More” button is activated, programmatic focus is moved to the top of the overall list rather than being set at the point from which the user can review the additional content.

Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard

  • Some active elements are not accessible from the keyboard:

    • When the “Load More” button is activated, programmatic focus is moved to the top of the overall list rather than being set at the point from which the user can review the additional content.
    • Video preview images in Kaltura MediaSpace can only be triggered with a mouse.  These preview images aren’t essential for use.
    • Gallery/Channels buttons on media thumbnails are hidden until focus on thumbnail.
    • A Chapter timeline bookmark slider in Kaltura MediaSpace cannot be controlled by screen readers.

Success Criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide

  • Kaltura MediaSpace offers a single image carousel on its homepage. While it automatically pauses if the mouse is hovered over it, the carousel does not offer a keyboard-focusable element to pause it, nor does the carousel pause if the Next or Previous buttons have keyboard focus.

Success Criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order

  •  In Kaltura MediaSpace, when the “Load More” button is activated, programmatic focus is moved to the top of the overall list rather than being set at the point from which the user can review the additional content.

Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value

  • Not all elements are suitably labelled for computability with assistive software for example:

    • The ‘Add Hint’ button in the Video Editing Tools interface doesn’t provide an accessible name

Use with accessibility software

We haven’t completed our own local testing with JAWS, TextHelp or Zoomtext  yet.

Kaltura mention on their website that testing is completed using JAWS and other screen readers.

University customisations of the service

The University customises the branding on the front page of Media Hopper Create.

User Added Content

At the time of writing this document, the service contains 115K media items uploaded by users at the University.  The accessibility of the content may vary depending on who created the content.  Some user added content may not always meet WCAG 2.1 AA Success Criteria:

Documentation and guidance provided to support the use of Kaltura

The documentation available to users is a mixture of HTML, Word/PDF documents and video content.

Disproportionate burden

We are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems within our control would be a disproportionate burden to fix. 

Content that is not within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations

Much of Media Hopper Create (Kaltura) is out with our control and run by a third party and therefore we are limited in the changes we can make.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to work with the supplier, Kaltura, to address the accessibility issues highlighted and deliver a solution or suitable work around.  As a Kaltura is a third party system we have limited ability to make any changes ourselves.

We have developed training and guidance courses for staff which covers creating accessible documents to all students and universal design and we are continuing to work through our documentation and guidance to make it more accessible.

We will work through all service documentation to ensure it is accessible – including adding captions to any guidance videos which currently don’t have captions.

We will continue to monitor system accessibility and will carry out further accessibility testing as these issues are resolved. Due to the complex nature of the information displayed it may not be possible to resolve all accessibility issues. If this is the case, we will ensure reasonable adjustments are in place to make sure no user is disadvantaged.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16 September 2019. It was last reviewed on 13th October 2020

This website was last tested in 2018 by Kaltura. Kaltura have provided VPAT report for tests that were carried out in 2018 covering different aspects of the product from a student user perspective.  They have also provided updates to the accessibility issues they have fixed, last updated in June 2020. The VPAT report tests against all WCAG 2.0 AA criteria

We have also carried out basic manual testing which we intend to supplement with more extensive testing before December 2021. The manual testing we did so far looked at magnification and reflow, text size and keyboard navigation.

Other useful Links

Information Services and accessibility

Information Services (IS) has further information on accessibility including assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and services IS provides for disabled users.

Assistive technology, creating accessible documents, and services IS provides for disabled users

A-Z list of higher education terms

This glossary includes common abbreviations and acronyms used across the University of Edinburgh website.

A-Z list of higher education terms

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