Web Accessibility Statement

How accessible this website is

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

• Some interactive elements are not operable using a keyboard.
• Some heading elements are not semantically marked up.
• Some images do not have image descriptions.
• Some labels and error messages are not associated with form controls.

A full listing of known issues with our web pages that may affect users with disabilities is available below under non-accessible content.

Feedback and contact information

Whilst LSTM strives to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read formatting, audio recording or braille, please contact info@lstmed.ac.uk.

We’ll consider your request and aim to get back to you in 7 working days.

If you are an LSTM student with existing arrangements or reasonable adjustments, please contact the Student Advice and Welfare team: SAW@lstmed.ac.uk.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.  If you find any problems that aren't listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, contact info@lstmed.ac.uk. We will acknowledge your query within 7 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, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com.

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

LSTM 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 2.1 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

Images and non-text content

• There are functional and informative images that have an inappropriate or missing text alternative for assistive technology users. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1)
• Some decorative images are not hidden from assistive technology users. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1)
• Some images of text are used which may not magnify well for users with low vision. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5) 

Colour and contrast 

• Some links rely on colour alone to distinguish them from the body text. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1)
• There is insufficient contrast between text and background for some text elements. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3) 
• There is insufficient contrast between some functional graphics and custom focus indicators with their background. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11) 

Page and content structure

• Some text is displayed visually as a heading but is not marked up as such for assistive technology. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1)
• Some content is marked up as headings which is not acting semantically as a heading on the page. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1) 
• Heading structure on some pages is inconsistent with the visual structure. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1) 
• Some list items are not marked up semantically as a list. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1) 
• Some elements are marked up as lists which are not acting semantically as a list. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1) 
• Some list elements are not marked up according to HTML specifications. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1) 
• On some pages, there are table semantics used inappropriately for non-tabular data content. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1) 
• Some headings and labels are insufficiently descriptive. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6)

Keyboard navigation

• Some interactive elements like links and buttons do not receive keyboard focus. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1)
• There are visually hidden off-screen elements that receive keyboard focus. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3) 
• There are instances where focus is not set into a modal dialog when opened. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3) 
• A few components do not receive keyboard focus in a logical order. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3)
• The keyboard focus indicator is not visible on some components. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7)  

Text resizing & adjustment

• There is loss of meaningful content on podcast elements, when zoom is set to 200%. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4)
• The ability to reflow content is not fully supported on some pages, as some items require horizontal scrolling or are clipped with 400% browser zoom. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10)
• Text spacing is not fully supported on a small number of items. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.12)

Form controls

• There is insufficient contrast between some input field borders and their background. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11) 
• Some form fields do not have errors associated with the input fields. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1)
• Some form fields and visual labels have missing or incorrect association. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1)
• Some related form elements are not associated with a legend (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1)
• The input purpose is not programmatically defined with the autocomplete attribute for some fields that collect personal information in forms. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5)

• Some form elements do not receive keyboard focus. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1)
• Some error messages are not described with text. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1)
• Some input fields have no visible label. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2)
• There is an asterisk used to indicate required fields in a form, but the meaning of the asterisk is not explained in the form. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2)

Audio and video

• There are pre-recorded videos missing audio description or media alternative. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3) 

Interactive components

• On mobile, the submenu buttons within the mega-menu do not receive screen reader focus and cannot be activated. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1) 
• There are tabbed interfaces that do not receive keyboard focus.  (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1)
• Menu components with the same functionality are inconsistently identified. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.4)
• There are tabbed interfaces that are not programmatically determined using ARIA.  (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2)
• Some interactive components are missing ARIA states, or states are not available through text. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2)
• Some interactive components are missing roles. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2) 
• The menu button and sub menus in the main mega navigation do not communicate their accessible name and expanded or collapsed state to assistive technology users. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2)
• There are pre-recorded video elements with no accessible name and videos in untitled iFrames. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2)
• There are dynamic search results that are not programmatically determined. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3)

Coding 

• There are parsing errors in the markup of pages. These are technical failures for WCAG 2.1 but may not have a direct effect on users. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1) 

 

PDF and Microsoft Office Files

Some of the documents on this website may not currently meet the accessibility standards, including PDFs and older Microsoft Office files. We are currently reviewing these, but you can request an alternative version if required. Please contact info@lstmed.ac.uk if you require further support.

Disproportionate burden

We recognise our responsibilities in ensuring our website is compliant with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Apps) Accessibility Guidelines 2018.

We have assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden to rectify all the existing issues on our current website in full within our existing resource.

We are prioritising improvements to the pages/sections which have the highest visitors and where the impact will be greatest for individuals ie student recruitment information etc. At the same time, we will be looking to develop a new website project to fundamentally address a number of the existing accessibility gaps.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

LSTM’s website may include content that is not within the scope on accessibility regulations.  This includes but is not limited to:

• Live video
• PDFs and Microsoft Office files published before 23 September 2018 that are not necessary for a service
• Pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
• Heritage collections from the LSTM Archive such as documents and scanned artefacts
• Maps
• Third-part content which is outside of LSTM’s control

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We appointed AbilityNet to conduct an extensive audit of this website, systematically checking the site against a set of the W3C WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. We will also conduct manual testing against content which we have identified as due for updating against accessibility issues which are not able to be found through automated testing.

We will ensure that documents and in-scope content is made accessible upon creation, providing guidance and training to LSTM staff to assist in following accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1 August 2023.

This website was last tested on ​01/03/2023​ - ​08/03/2023. The test was carried out by AbilityNet.

11 pages from https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/ were selected to be audited, representing pages that have high usage and that contain different representative types of components. Pages were tested against WCAG 2.1 A & AA on Windows desktop with Mozilla Firefox and NVDA screen reader, and on mobile using an iPhone with VoiceOver.