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Westminster Vacancies Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the University of Westminster vacancies website: https://vacancies.westminster.ac.uk/Hrvacancies/.

 

This website is run by The University of Westminster. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

 

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

My Computer My Way has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability, and the AT Hive can help you find assistive technologies that work for you.

 

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the Non-accessible content section of this statement.

 

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, or if you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, visit our digital accessibility contact us page for information on how to report an accessibility problem and request alternative formats.

 

If you have further queries about the recruitment process or any information about vacancies on this website, contact Recruitment@westminster.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).

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The University of Westminster 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

 

This website is not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard. The non-compliances are listed below.

 

Non-accessible content

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

 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

 

Online registration

None of the form fields in the online registration page have accessible text names or are not correctly associated with the label elements visibly present above the fields. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), 2.5.3 Label in Name, and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

 

Viewing the website

·       The website has significant issues with magnification and reflow which will affect how users view content on smaller screen sizes and mobile. This fails WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text (AA) and 1.4.10 Reflow (AA).

·       Content on the website does respond to user-triggered text spacing adjustments but it introduces clipping issues in many areas. This fails WCAG 1.4.12 Text Spacing (AA).

·       Across the website a teal colour is used for buttons and links. This colour against white and greys used on the website fails contrast requirements. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast Minimum (AA).

·       Notification content at the bottom of the How to apply page does not meet contrast requirements. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast Minimum (AA).

 

Searching jobs

·       Vacancies are listed in a table on the home page. This table is not correctly associated to read out table column headings to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).

·       Vacancies are listed in a table on the home page. The table headers are sorting controls that list job postings alphabetically or by nearest closing date etc. These controls are not visually apparent to users and are not identified audibly to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

·       Vacancies are listed in a table on the home page. Individual job titles are links that can be clicked to take users to the job advert. This is not visually apparent to users. This fails WCAG 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (A).

·       Vacancies are listed in a table on the home page. The table contains duplicate links which extend the navigation for keyboard users. Additionally, many of these links are described as “more information” without further context which may confuse screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order (A), 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A), and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

·       There is only a single route for interacting with job vacancies and applications. If a user for any reason has accessibility issues with this route, there is no alternate navigation route. The recruitment team should be contacted in these cases. This fails WCAG 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (AA).

 

Other issues

·       In several areas across the website including in text at the top of every page, and in some job listings, lists are misused for single items or are not correctly implemented to list details of job descriptions. This may affect the readability for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).

·       None of the footer social media icons have accessible text names. This may make them confusing to screen readers and dictation users. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A), 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A), and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

·       Pages do not have unique titles and all pages are referred to as HR Vacancies – Job Vacancies. This fails WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled (A).

·       Pages across the platform do not have a language set. This fails WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page (A).

·       The contact email address is differentiated from the surrounding text using colour alone. This fails WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Colour (A).

·       Across individual job listings there are some vestigial or blank elements left over from templates which may disrupt keyboard and screen reader experiences. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A), 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA), and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

·       In the How to Apply page, the content is split under several larger text visual headings. These do not have matching programmatic heading structure which may disrupt navigation for some assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).

 

Document issues

The website suggest several documents to users such as further job description information, promotional content about working at the University of Westminster, as well as a Microsoft Word application form. These documents may present several different issues to users of assistive technology.

·       The Being Westminster promotional document broadly has issues associated with a lack of heading structure and tags that may make the document harder to consume for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).

·       The Candidate packs have several issues with images without alternative text descriptions, missing document titles and issues relating to lack of headings, and incorrect list structures. These fail WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A), 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), and 2.4.2 Page Titled (A).

·       The Application form uses tables for layout purposes, though for screen reader users the association between section labels and cells to provide responses are not always consistently aligned. Additionally, the document has several headings for different sections of content but these are not programmatically marked headings which makes navigation for some assistive technologies harder. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).

 

We have reviewed the issues identified in the most recent audit as listed above. Several of these issues are being addressed immediately by the university and will be resolved shortly. This should have significant impact on improving the accessibility of the journey as we resolve issues with the online registration process.

 

Several other issues including improvements to reflow and magnification will require more significant redevelopment of the platform. We have no plan to fix these issues on the current platform. Instead, from August 2024 a project to replace the vacancies website will begin with accessibility as a non-negotiable requirement. This replacement will provide a clean slate from which to deliver an accessible application experience to all users.

 

For issues with documents listed above, we are working with HR creators to improve the current templates and provide training for creators to deliver more accessible documents in future.

 

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Feedback and contact information’ section of this statement.

 

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.

 

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

At this time, we have not identified any content that is not within scope of the accessibility regulations.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 05/09/2020. It was last reviewed on 23/07/2024.

This website was last tested on 02/07/2024.

 

The test was carried out internally by the University of Westminster Digital Accessibility Team, using a combination of manual techniques, automated and semi-automated tools and testing with a range of devices, browsers, operating systems and assistive technologies.