Accessibility Statement

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

Accessibility Statement for Moodle

 

Moodle is the Universities centrally supported Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for online distance education programmes, and is run by Information services, University of Edinburgh. This is a restricted service only available to students on online distance education courses.

This service is hosted on University of Edinburgh Infrastructure, using the Moodle Open Source application; and its content is University of Edinburgh MSc level distance education courses. Moodle hosts a series of pages about its accessibility Moodle and accessibility and maintains a list of known accessibility issues . We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

•           Use browser settings can be used to adjust font size to 200%

•           Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard

•           Listen to most of the website using a screen reader

•           Use browser settings to change font and background colours to allow high contrast.

The service is primarily used to share content between staff and students which means documents and other content can be uploaded which isn’t accessible.  This means it is important for us to ensure that helpful guidance and training is available to users who create content to minimise the risk of this.

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.

Additional information on how to customise our website appearance

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

SenusAccess Information

 

How accessible this Service is

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

  • some embedded videos may not have captions
  • some text boxes may not have a spell check function, for example search.
  • some error messages can appear as pop-ups, such as when you navigate away from a page without saving.
  • It can be possible for users to enter data in an incorrect format, and not receive an error alert when the data is saved. For example when phone number or city is saved.
  • Colour contrasts may not always meet recommended Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard (WCAG 2.1 AA).

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

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:

  • Information Services online contact form Get Support
  • Email: IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk
  • Phone:0131 651 5151

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

 

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

British Sign Language service

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.

British Sign Language Scotland service details

 

If you are a member of University staff or a student, you can use the free SensusAccess accessible document conversion service. Find out more at: SensusAccess

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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

Contacting us by phone using British Sign Language

British Sign Language service

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.

British Sign Language Scotland service details

 

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.

Contact details for the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS)

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

Reporting an accessibility problem on a public sector website

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

The full guidelines are available at:

 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1

Non accessible content

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

Noncompliance with the accessibility regulations

The following items to not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria:

There are several areas that do not meet WCAG .1 AA standard that are outwith our control and sit with the 3rd party application Moodle. We have summarised the issues below and raised these with the supplier.

 

Spell check functionality

Some text boxes may not have a spell check function, for example search.

Pop up error messages

Some error messages can appear as pop-ups, such as when you navigate away from a page without saving.

Entering data

It can be possible for users to enter data in an incorrect format, and not receive an error alert when the data is saved. This happens when a form element is not a ‘required field’ for example when phone number or city is saved in a users profile. All form elements which are ‘mandatory’ do result in an error alert if not completed in the correct format.

 

 

Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution for items, or significant improvement, within our control will be in place by September 2021.

 

Moodle has documentation regarding their accessibility:

Moodle Accessibility homepage

They also have a page of ongoing accessibility issues with their platform and their current status and these can be viewed at:

 Current Moodle Reported accessibility issues.

 

Disproportionate burden

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

 

Content that is not within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations

Some of the PDFS or other documents that are not essential to providing our services may not be accessible,  for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader .The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

How we tested this website

Moodle was last fully tested by us in August 2019.

We tested the system using a variety of browsers including Internet Explorer 11 as this is the bowser most commonly used by disabled users due to its accessibility features and compatibility with assistive technology, as shown by the Government Assistive Technology Survey

We tested:

•           Spellcheck functionality

•           Data validation

•           Scaling using different resolutions

•           Options to customise the interface (magnification, font and background colour changing etc)

•           Keyboard navigation

•           Warning of links opening in a new tab or window

•           Information conveyed in colour or sound only

•           Flashing or scrolling text

•           Operability if Javascript is disabled

•           Use with screenreading software (JAWS)

•           Time limits

•           Access to specialist help

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to work with the supplier to address the accessibility issues highlighted and deliver a solution or suitable work around.  We have developed new training and materials for our staff that cover how to create accessible content for the VLE and we are continuing to work through our documentation and guidance to make it more accessible (including captioning video materials).

We will continue to monitor the system’s accessibility and will carry out further accessibility testing as these issues are resolved. However, 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. We plan to have resolved the majority of accessibility issues by September 2020 at the latest.

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

 

This statement was prepared on August 2019. It was last updated on 14th July 2020.

 

 

This article was published on