Accessibility Statement | Website Information | Newcastle University
Source: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/info/accessibility
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:35
Accessibility Statement | Website Information | Newcastle University
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Newcastle University
Website Information
Accessibility Statement
On this page
We aim to achieve the recommended government standard for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and follow general principles of usability, which should help all visitors to our websites.
This accessibility statement covers this website (
www.ncl.ac.uk
) and applies to:
from.ncl.ac.uk
belong.ncl.ac.uk
supportus.ncl.ac.uk
enquire.ncl.ac.uk
international-blogs.ncl.ac.uk
search.ncl.ac.uk
apps.ncl.ac.uk
applyto.newcastle.ac.uk
This website is managed by Newcastle University, 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 200% 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
Further information and support
If you need to make text size or colour changes,
W3C
have advice on helping you do this
AbilityNet
also has guidance on making your device easier to use if you have a disability
Third party content
Our website may contain links to third-party content. Newcastle University is not responsible for the accessibility of this content. We are committed to working with partners to ensure materials they are responsible for:
meet accessibility standards where possible
have their own accessibility statements
How accessible is this website
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
live video streams do not have captions
some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
some of the text may not have sufficent contrast
Feedback and contact information
We’re committed to improving the accessibility of this website. You can contact us if you:
find any problems not listed on this page
think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements
need information on this website in a different format e.g. accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille
We’ll review and respond to your request and get back to you in five working days.
Accessibility Feedback and Content Request Form
Or you can speak to us directly using information found on our
contact us page
.
Enforcement procedures
If you feel your issue hasn’t been sufficiently addressed, you can raise a concern or make a complaint by completing our accessibility feedback form.
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)
.
Non-accessible content
Newcastle University is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility regulations 2018. Further information can be found on our
Central Digital and Data Office Digital Accessibility guidance
.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Issues with text and headings
some pages may not contain a top-level heading (WCAG A 1.3.1)
some of text may not have sufficient contrast (WCAG AA 1.4.3)
not all our pages have titles (WCAG A 2.4.2)
some text may not be simplified and difficult to understand (WCAG AAA 3.1.5)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with links and buttons (controls)
some links may not be distinguished by more than just colour (WCAG 1.4.1)
some links may not be used by screen readers (WCAG A 4.12)
some links may not clearly explain their purpose (WCAG A 2.4.4)
some link and buttons do not show they have been selected by the keyboard (WCAG AA 2.4.7) this issue will be resolved by 09/2023
some adjacent links may point to the same destination (WCAG A 1.1.1)
some links may link to an anchor on the page that does not exist (WCAG A 2.4.1)
some links may not have a clear name, role, or values (WCAG A 4.1.2)
when we use an online survey tool on select pages, at present the toggle button does not have descriptive text, this service is provided by a third-party HotJar, but we are working with them to resolve this issue (WCAG 4.1.2)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with form
people using screen readers are not able to see the layout of a form (WCAG A 1.3.1)
on this website enquire.ncl.ac.uk feedback forms do not have a submit button (WCAG A 3.2.2)
on some forms for searching for content, legends are missing to describe fields (WCAG A 1.3.1)
some forms may have controls such as fields that do not have adequate contrast (WCAG AA 1.4.11)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with tables
some of our tables do not include a scope attribute to help provide useful context (WCAG A 1.3.1)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with audio and video
some videos do not have captions (WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded))
some videos use automatically generate captions, which may be inaccurate (WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded))
some audio content does not have a transcript or other text equivalent (WCAG 1.2.5 Audio Description (Pre-recorded))
We will correct this as part of our review of audio and video content to be completed 2025.
Issues with linked files such as PDFs
some information is only available in formats such as PDF or Microsoft Word. Not all PDFs have been designed for accessibility. They may contain content that should be available in an accessible format such as HTML (WCAG 1.3 Adaptable)
We will correct this or provide accessible alternatives as we review each page of our site to be completed 2025. We will make digital content creators and contributors aware of the problems with PDF files ensuring new PDFs are accessible.
Issues with keyboard navigation and menus
on some pages there’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (WCAG 2.1.1)
some of our related links may not be written semantically as a list (WCAG A 1.3.1)
not all our pages all users to skip to the main content of the page (WCAG A 2.4.1)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates and site functionality.
Issues on mobile devices or small screens
on some page content may not fit without requiring you to scroll in two dimensions (WCAG 1.4.10)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
PDFs and other documents
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.
PDF/Word Documents; although we're still auditing our PDF documents, due to the sheer volume we assume many of these documents are not compliant.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Non-compliant websites
In addition to the above statements, there are number of other University websites which sit outside of the main University infrastructure. These are managed by individual teams or employees. These websites:
might use unconventional or specialist content management platforms
might not been audited yet and are as such assumed to be non-compliant with the guidelines
These websites will be audited or retired and will be included within one of the statements above or listed separately by June 2025.
This list will be updated as the websites are reviewed, audited, and correct:
research.ncl.ac.uk
(including all websites linked from this directory)
jobs.ncl.ac.uk
applyto.newcastle.ac.uk
Non-compliant intranets
newcastle.sharepoint.com
(staff Intranet)
newcastle.sharepoint.com/hub/student-noticeboard
(Student Intranet)
These are older intranets and will be made accessible when they are updated.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility and inclusive design
our digital content editors are guided by Hemingway readability. These web content standards aim to make the website text as simple as possible to understand
we use
Silktide
; a website optimisation tool to monitor and scan a representative sample of our website conducted on a weekly basis
we manually check and test a representative sample of the website. We use an accessibility checklist and
WebAIM
for colour contrast checks
we work closely with our
Wellbeing team
to test new accessibility tools for users of our website
we are including accessibility as a fundamental part of all future web page and websites we create. This includes new web content templates, developing new functionality to meet accessibility standards
we are making content creators and subject matter experts aware of accessibility issues. This will increase knowledge of accessibility across the organisation. We aim to improve accessible content from initiation through to publishing
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was first prepared on 24 November 2022. It was last reviewed on 07 February 2025.
ðŸ?
Skip to main content
Website Information
Careers
Library
Current Students
Staff
News & Press
Events
Contact
Logo
Website Information
Accessibility Statement
Legal
Cookie Policy
Newcastle University
Website Information
Accessibility Statement
On this page
We aim to achieve the recommended government standard for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and follow general principles of usability, which should help all visitors to our websites.
This accessibility statement covers this website (
www.ncl.ac.uk
) and applies to:
from.ncl.ac.uk
belong.ncl.ac.uk
supportus.ncl.ac.uk
enquire.ncl.ac.uk
international-blogs.ncl.ac.uk
search.ncl.ac.uk
apps.ncl.ac.uk
applyto.newcastle.ac.uk
This website is managed by Newcastle University, 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 200% 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
Further information and support
If you need to make text size or colour changes,
W3C
have advice on helping you do this
AbilityNet
also has guidance on making your device easier to use if you have a disability
Third party content
Our website may contain links to third-party content. Newcastle University is not responsible for the accessibility of this content. We are committed to working with partners to ensure materials they are responsible for:
meet accessibility standards where possible
have their own accessibility statements
How accessible is this website
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
live video streams do not have captions
some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
some of the text may not have sufficent contrast
Feedback and contact information
We’re committed to improving the accessibility of this website. You can contact us if you:
find any problems not listed on this page
think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements
need information on this website in a different format e.g. accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille
We’ll review and respond to your request and get back to you in five working days.
Accessibility Feedback and Content Request Form
Or you can speak to us directly using information found on our
contact us page
.
Enforcement procedures
If you feel your issue hasn’t been sufficiently addressed, you can raise a concern or make a complaint by completing our accessibility feedback form.
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)
.
Non-accessible content
Newcastle University is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility regulations 2018. Further information can be found on our
Central Digital and Data Office Digital Accessibility guidance
.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Issues with text and headings
some pages may not contain a top-level heading (WCAG A 1.3.1)
some of text may not have sufficient contrast (WCAG AA 1.4.3)
not all our pages have titles (WCAG A 2.4.2)
some text may not be simplified and difficult to understand (WCAG AAA 3.1.5)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with links and buttons (controls)
some links may not be distinguished by more than just colour (WCAG 1.4.1)
some links may not be used by screen readers (WCAG A 4.12)
some links may not clearly explain their purpose (WCAG A 2.4.4)
some link and buttons do not show they have been selected by the keyboard (WCAG AA 2.4.7) this issue will be resolved by 09/2023
some adjacent links may point to the same destination (WCAG A 1.1.1)
some links may link to an anchor on the page that does not exist (WCAG A 2.4.1)
some links may not have a clear name, role, or values (WCAG A 4.1.2)
when we use an online survey tool on select pages, at present the toggle button does not have descriptive text, this service is provided by a third-party HotJar, but we are working with them to resolve this issue (WCAG 4.1.2)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with form
people using screen readers are not able to see the layout of a form (WCAG A 1.3.1)
on this website enquire.ncl.ac.uk feedback forms do not have a submit button (WCAG A 3.2.2)
on some forms for searching for content, legends are missing to describe fields (WCAG A 1.3.1)
some forms may have controls such as fields that do not have adequate contrast (WCAG AA 1.4.11)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with tables
some of our tables do not include a scope attribute to help provide useful context (WCAG A 1.3.1)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
Issues with audio and video
some videos do not have captions (WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded))
some videos use automatically generate captions, which may be inaccurate (WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Pre-recorded))
some audio content does not have a transcript or other text equivalent (WCAG 1.2.5 Audio Description (Pre-recorded))
We will correct this as part of our review of audio and video content to be completed 2025.
Issues with linked files such as PDFs
some information is only available in formats such as PDF or Microsoft Word. Not all PDFs have been designed for accessibility. They may contain content that should be available in an accessible format such as HTML (WCAG 1.3 Adaptable)
We will correct this or provide accessible alternatives as we review each page of our site to be completed 2025. We will make digital content creators and contributors aware of the problems with PDF files ensuring new PDFs are accessible.
Issues with keyboard navigation and menus
on some pages there’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (WCAG 2.1.1)
some of our related links may not be written semantically as a list (WCAG A 1.3.1)
not all our pages all users to skip to the main content of the page (WCAG A 2.4.1)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates and site functionality.
Issues on mobile devices or small screens
on some page content may not fit without requiring you to scroll in two dimensions (WCAG 1.4.10)
We will correct this as we review each page and as part of a review of our templates to be completed 2025.
PDFs and other documents
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.
PDF/Word Documents; although we're still auditing our PDF documents, due to the sheer volume we assume many of these documents are not compliant.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Non-compliant websites
In addition to the above statements, there are number of other University websites which sit outside of the main University infrastructure. These are managed by individual teams or employees. These websites:
might use unconventional or specialist content management platforms
might not been audited yet and are as such assumed to be non-compliant with the guidelines
These websites will be audited or retired and will be included within one of the statements above or listed separately by June 2025.
This list will be updated as the websites are reviewed, audited, and correct:
research.ncl.ac.uk
(including all websites linked from this directory)
jobs.ncl.ac.uk
applyto.newcastle.ac.uk
Non-compliant intranets
newcastle.sharepoint.com
(staff Intranet)
newcastle.sharepoint.com/hub/student-noticeboard
(Student Intranet)
These are older intranets and will be made accessible when they are updated.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility and inclusive design
our digital content editors are guided by Hemingway readability. These web content standards aim to make the website text as simple as possible to understand
we use
Silktide
; a website optimisation tool to monitor and scan a representative sample of our website conducted on a weekly basis
we manually check and test a representative sample of the website. We use an accessibility checklist and
WebAIM
for colour contrast checks
we work closely with our
Wellbeing team
to test new accessibility tools for users of our website
we are including accessibility as a fundamental part of all future web page and websites we create. This includes new web content templates, developing new functionality to meet accessibility standards
we are making content creators and subject matter experts aware of accessibility issues. This will increase knowledge of accessibility across the organisation. We aim to improve accessible content from initiation through to publishing
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was first prepared on 24 November 2022. It was last reviewed on 07 February 2025.