Accessibility statement for qmu.ac.uk
This accessibility statement applies only to content published on qmu.ac.uk using our content management system. This statement does not apply to content on sub-domains such as our Admissions Portal , Online Courses Microsite, QMU Online Shop or other systems that publish on the qmu.ac.uk domain.
This website is run by Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader
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.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- some of our older PDF documents, including some of those from external sources, are not fully accessible to screen reader software. They may be missing tags or have poor colour contrast
- some third party content used or embedded on the site is not accessible (e.g. statistics widget on undergraduate course page)
- some YouTube embeds are created in iframe elements where the code is controlled by YouTube. It means some aria-labels are given to <div> html elements and some links with the same name have a similar purpose e.g. 'Watch on YouTube'
- some YouTube video elements may be missing captions
- a small number of website elements may have poor colour contrast due to transparencies/opacities used
- some visible labels and accessible names may not match
- some form fields are not labelled
- some inline frames may be without a text alternative
- some images do not have image descriptions
- some tables do not have header rows and data cells assigned
- some headings are not structured or consistent
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, email website@qmu.ac.uk. We’ll consider your request and get back to you as quick as we can, normally within five working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact our Web Team at website@qmu.ac.uk.
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).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
Contacting us by phone
You can call us on 0131 474 0000. contactSCOTLAND-BSL 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, 7 days a week.
Visiting us in person
Our campus has audio induction loops in some areas, and if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. We also have accessible accommodation, toilets and parking.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Queen Margaret University 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
The following items do not comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria, however we are working to fix these.
Non-text content
- Occasionally images may be added to the site which do not contain image descriptions. This means people using a screen reader cannot access the information. We regularly check that all new images added have the necessary descriptions and correct these as necessary.
- Some embedded videos might not have required titles and captions, especially where these originate from third parties.
Information and relationships
- HTML is used to format some content. This issue has arisen from a recent cloud migration of our website and we are working to fully identify and fix this. Among other issues, this might lead to some headings being incorrectly structured.
- On some of our forms, some elements may not logically grouped.
- Some of our tables do not have a header description. We are investigating are will work to adjust these.
- Some visible labels and accessible names may not match. Aria-labels have been applied to give a more descriptive explanation for screen reader users, that is not required by other users.
- We are aware that date form fields are not labelled correctly. This is being fixed.
Navigable
- On some pages, the same link text is used for multiple different destinations. Where the same link text is used an aria-label is used to differentiate. Some links remain the same as they point to the same place.
Colour contrast
- We are aware that some colour contrast issues remain on our site, which we are working to address.
- There are a small number of overlays and transparencies which we are investigating.
Third party content
- A third party widget which is used on our undergraduate course page is not currently compliant and is under investigation. There are potential issues relating to colour contrast and non-unique landmarks.
- Some video content used or embedded on the site (including that of third parties) is not accessible.
some YouTube embeds are created in iframe elements where the code is controlled by YouTube. It means some aria labels are given to <div> html elements and some links with the same name have a similar purpose e.g. 'Watch on YouTube'. Also some YouTube video elements may be missing captions.
Disproportionate burden
We do not currently believe that any of the accessibility issues listed above, for which we are responsible, will be a disproportionate burden to fix. We are working on these areas now.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information about our courses, PDFs about our regulations, policies and procedures, and forms published as Word or PDF documents. We are working to fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.
Due a migration of our website to the cloud, many of our documents that were published pre 2018, may in fact look like they have been published in 2021.
We are making an overall commitment to reduce documents across the site where possible as part of an ongoing university document review project. We have removed c.600 PDFs from our site (reducing the numbers present from 1400 down to c. 800) over the last 12 months, replacing with HTML. We continue to work on this as priority and will work to ensure that any remaining documents are made accessible with title tags.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was originally prepared on 11 September 2020 and has been significantly updated since then. It was last reviewed on 20 September 2022.
This website was last tested on 20 September 2022. The test was carried out by us, using a third-party tool, SiteImprove.The site is automatically tested at least every five days, with a manual review every 3-4 months.
All our pages are tested automatically, however we manually review a sample of pages. We select this sample by identifying popular pages of each page template type according to the university calendar or using traffic figures from Google Analytics.
We have manually tested the following pages using the Deque Axe Chrome plug-in tool, in order to identify issues with our templates. This manual site testing was completed in August and September 2022.
General Landing Page (BC2 Template) as used on 'Study Here'
General Landing Page as used on 'Undergraduate Study' section
Course AZ
Subject Overviews as used on Undergraduate, Postgraduate subject overviews pages
Research and Knowledge Exchange
General Page (AZ functionality)
General Page (with embedded quotes)
Events Item
Banded Landing Page
Manual Listing, Anniversary Listing
Other ways we are improving the accessibility of our website and associated content
Our website accessibility is important to us. We have made (and continue to make) a number of changes on our site to improve the accessibility of the site and overall usability:
1. An ongoing commitment to reduce the number of documents in use on our site. We continue to work on the migration of our documents to HTML as priority and will work to ensure that any remaining documents are then made accessible.
2. Reviewing and updating website copy. We have made changes to reflect best practice guidance from our site governance tool around gender/age and disability terminology and avoiding sensory cues.
3. Ensuring descriptive link copy is used and link titles are complete.
4. Reviewing our website governance and issuing web content best practice guidelines. We have issued refreshed best practice guidance for new content creation with editors (September 2022), with accessible content creation training sessions planned. We are also scoping opportunities to introduce some automated control mechanisms within our CMS so university web editors are aware of issues with content in real time at the content creation stage.
