Accessibility Statement

How accessible is this website?

This website is run by Dudley College of Technology. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate the architecture of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader
  • the text will reflow into a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • you can produce and download alternative format versions of the page content using Blackboard Ally for Web

The website incorporates Website Accessibility Software Blackboard Ally for Web. This is available by clicking the ‘Accessibility’ button at the top right hand side of this website. AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

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

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • not all videos have captions
  • some of our website is difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • maps on our ’contact us’ pages can only be magnified within the capacity of the mapping service in most cases this is Google Maps
  • we are still working on making the application form more accessible
  • Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

  • email [email protected]
  • call: 01384 363 363
  • deaf/minicom services are available at our Broadway site

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days. If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call: 01384 363 363 or email us at [email protected].

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 us:

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Dudley College of Technology 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 version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed above.

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).

How we tested this website

This website is tested weekly and evaluates the whole site against benchmark criteria as to the accessibility of each page’s contents, this allows us to continually monitor and improve the accessibility of our content. The test is carried out by our internal technical teams.

The weekly automated accessibility analysis tool tests the following websites:

  • our main website platform, available at [DCoT url: www.dudleycol.ac.uk ]
  • our campaign microsites, available at [Dudley Sixth url: www.dudleysixth.co.uk]
  • our website for International activity [url: www.worldwidedudley.com]
  • and the site for our advanced technical engineering and construction centre [ATECC url: www.advance-tecc.co.uk]
  • our Alumni, [alumni.dudleycol.ac.uk] – services based on a different technical platform but ‘skinned’ to look like our website.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are working hard to improve on any issues and our accessibility compliance is reviewed regularly.

This statement was prepared on 2 March 2020 when it was first published. It was last updated on 20th April 2020.