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Accessibility statement for the Royal Holloway University of London Website

Accessibility statement for the Royal Holloway University of London Website

This accessibility statement applies to the website located at https://royalholloway.ac.uk

This website is run by Royal Holloway, University of London. 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 400% 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 (for example the most recent versions of JAWS or NVDA)

You can make our website easier to read and navigate by changing display settings, such as:

  • Text size
  • Colour and contrast
  • Screen magnification

Please see the following links for more information on how to change the display settings in your browser:

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

 

How accessible this website is

We are committed to making this website accessible for all users. As part of that commitment, we will be transparent about what elements of the website do not meet accessibility standards, as well as when we plan to have them fixed.

For a full technical rundown of the content that is not yet accessible, see the section later in this statement.

Here are some examples of parts of this website that are not fully accessible:

  • People may not be able to see all the text in the Unibuddy Chat feature when it is at 400% zoom in mobile view.
  • At 400% zoom, some text may not be easy to read due to it not having strong enough contrast with the background.
  • Some videos may not have audio captions, text transcript or audio descriptions.
  • Some images may have alt text that does not help the user understand what the image is.
  • Some forms may have fields and labels that are not associated making it harder to understand using assistive technology.
  • Some forms may use tables to display fields which may make them harder to navigate using assistive technology.
  • Some forms embedded using frames do not have accessible names.
  • Some section headings are not labelled as headings so may not be easy to understand using assistive technology.
  • Some navigator text is marked as headings when they should not be, which may be confusing to people using assistive technology.
  • The menus sometimes use lists that are not ordered in a hierarchy correctly, which may be confusing to people using assistive technology.
  • Some input fields in forms do not use the autocomplete attribute which means they may be harder to use.
  • There are some tabs that only show they are selected using colour, which may not be easy to see for people with visual impairment or people using assistive technology.
  • There are some text and elements that do not have sufficient contrast, meaning they may not be easy to see for people with a visual impairment or people using assistive technology.
  • The submit button on some forms contains embedded text in the image which may mean it is harder to read for people who are using assistive technology.
  • When using the navigation items on some carousels with a keyboard or assistive technology it may not be easy to see they are in focus due to their contrast with the background.
  • Some profile pictures on the chat widget change without the ability to pause them which may be difficult for people using assistive technology or people who need to stop the changing of the pictures.
  • When navigating the course filter with a keyboard, the focus may appear out of order.
  • Accordions on the course pages do not have a focus indicator which means navigating them may be more difficult when using a keyboard or assistive technology.
  • Some forms contain field validation messages that do not get focus when they are displayed meaning they are harder to read using a keyboard or assistive technology.
  • Some search, filter, form submit button and accordion interactive elements do not have the correct programmatic names, roles and values and may not be updated when they are used, meaning they may be harder to understand for people using assistive technology.
  • When interacting with carousels on the course pages, it may be harder for people using assistive technology to identify which carousel item is currently active.
  • When using the course search, the status messages are not labelled correctly meaning that people using assistive technology may not be able to read them easily.
  • When navigating pages with a keyboard, if these pages contain the Unibuddy Chat feature then keyboard focus may not always be visible.
     

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, for example, accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille please contact the Digital Communications team via email, or us the website’s Ally tool (via popup featuring and ‘A; and a downward-pointing arrow).

We’ll acknowledge your request and get back to you in 7 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 the Digital Communications team via email.

 

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

Information about accessibility whist visiting us in person is displayed on our AccessAble accessibility guide website.

If you are attending an Open Day or Applicant Visit Day and have questions about accessibility, please contact us at opendays@royalholloway.ac.uk

If you are attending a job interview in person and have questions about accessibility, please contact our recruitment team at recruitment@royalholloway.ac.uk

If you need to contact us by phone, you can do so on the following number: 01784 434455

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Royal Holloway University of London is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to the main website: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk.

 

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard

 

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The following items are currently not compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA criteria:

  • Text may flow outside of visible area at 400% zoom
    • The Unibuddy chat feature has some text that flows outside of the visible area at 400% zoom, we are working with our supplier to find a solution for this issue. (WCAG: 1.4.10)
  • Search placeholder text does not have sufficient contrast
    • The placeholder text in the search box does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the text that fails the colour contrast requirements. (WCAG: 1.4.3)
  • Frames must have an accessible name
    • IFrames used to some embed forms from third parties do not always have accessible names. This appears on parents and supporters mailing list form. (WCAG: 2.4.1, 4.1.2)
  • Focus items must be visible
    • When a user interface component receives keyboard focus, the component is partially hidden. This occurs on pages that have the Unibuddy Chat feature, we are working with our supplier to find a solution for this issue. (WCAG: 2.4.11)
  • Captions not specified for video. Text transcript not specified for video. Audio description not specified for video
    • Some videos do not provide captions, text transcripts or audio descriptions, this is an issue with a third-party component. (WCAG: 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.5)
  • Decorative image has redundant text alternative
    • There are decorative images with redundant text alternatives, these appear in the images associated with menu items. (WCAG: 1.1.1: Non-text content)
  • Informative image has inappropriate text alternative
    • There are informative images with inappropriate text alternatives, this can be found in some images on the course pages. (WCAG: 1.1.1: Non-text content)
  • Form fields and visual labels are not associated
    • There are form fields that are not associated with their visual labels. The purpose of the form fields may be unclear to users. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Presentational table exposed to assistive technology
    • There is content contained in <table> tags, despite not being tabular data. The table semantics are inappropriately exposed to assistive technology. . These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Heading not marked up semantically
    • There are elements that title or categorise other content. These elements have not been marked up as headings. These appear in main navigation and navigation section titles. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Radio group not associated with legend
    • There are radio buttons that are not associated with their visual group label. The purpose of the form fields may be unclear to users. These can be found on the course filter input controls. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Accordion heading not marked up semantically
    • There are elements that title or categorise other content. These elements have not been marked up as headings. This can be found on the accordions in the course pages. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Text uses heading semantics inappropriately
    • There are elements contained in heading tags that do not title or categorise other content. This can be found in navigation tiles that have images above them. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Heading structure is inconsistent with the visual structure
    • There are headings that have a visual parent-child relationship. However, this structure is not correctly expressed by the heading levels. This is displayed in the news headings on the news pages (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Elements use list semantics inappropriately
    • There are elements that use list semantics. However, the elements are not interrelated. The content is not sequenced or paired. This occurs in the main navigation specifically for the “In this section” text. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Autocomplete attribute has not been used
    • There are input fields that meet these criteria but that are not using the autocomplete attribute at all. This means that input fields will not autofill correctly. This may particularly disadvantage users that find navigating the web cognitively challenging. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 1.3.5: Identify Input Purpose)
  • Colour relied upon to communicate information
    • There is information that is visually communicated exclusively through colour. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the visual reliance on colour. This appears in the tabs on the Explore Royal Holloway section, course filter controls and pagination controls. (WCAG: 1.4.1: Use of Color)
  • Regular button text does not have sufficient contrast
    • There is regular button text that does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the text that fails the colour contrast requirements. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum))
  • Regular link text does not have sufficient contrast
    • There is regular link text that does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the text that fails the colour contrast requirements. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party.  (WCAG: 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum))
  • Text does not have sufficient contrast
    • At 400% zoom, some text on the homepage does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the text that fails the colour contrast requirements. (WCAG: 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum))
  • Image contains embedded text
    • Text should not be embedded in images, screen readers rely on the text being included in text alternatives, which are commonly not effective for communicating multiple sentences or structured text. As well, the text appears pixelated when accessed with screen magnification software. There are images of text. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 1.4.5: Images of Text)
  • Functional non-text content fails contrast (carousel dots)
    • There is functional non-text content that does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the component that fails the colour contrast requirements. This issue is on discover, what its like to study and data carousels. (WCAG: 1.4.11: Non-text Contrast)
  • Custom focus indication fails contrast
    • There is custom focus indication that does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the focus indication that fails the colour contrast requirements. This appears on navigation items in the data carousel. (WCAG: 1.4.11: Non-text Contrast)
  • Interactive element fails contrast when receiving keyboard focus
    • There are components with custom focus styling that does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the component that fails the colour contrast requirements. This appears on navigation items in the data carousel.  (WCAG: 1.4.11: Non-text Contrast)
  • Functional non-text content fails contrast
    • There is functional non-text content that does not meet the contrast ratio. This may particularly disadvantage low vision and colour blind users who may be excluded by the low contrast. Users might struggle to perceive the component that fails the colour contrast requirements. This appears on navigation items in the data carousel and course filter controls. (WCAG: 1.4.11: Non-text Contrast)
  • Automatically moving content cannot be paused
    • There is automatically moving content that cannot be controlled. This may disadvantage several user groups. For example, the content may move faster than screen readers can announce it, keyboard users may struggle to navigate through the content, and it may be cognitively overloading for various users. This is displayed in the Uni Buddy chat third party hosted widget. (WCAG: 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide)
  • Keyboard focus does not follow into expanded content
    • There is expanding and collapsing content. The focus order does not travel from the parent control and onto the child options. This may particularly disadvantage keyboard users. The illogical focus order may make the page difficult to understand and interact with. This appears on course filter controls.  (WCAG: 2.4.3: Focus Order)
  • Interactive elements have no visible focus indicator
    • There are interactive elements that receive focus but which do not provide any visual cue. There is no visual difference between when the element is not receiving keyboard focus and when the element is receiving keyboard focus. Keyboard users may struggle to track their position on the page. This is found on the accordions on the course pages. (WCAG: 2.4.7: Focus Visible)
  • Error messages that appear on submission have no programmatic call-to-action
    • There are error messages that appear on the page with no programmatic call-to-action. For example, keyboard focus is not moved and there is not a live region. In this case, the errors appear dynamically when the page is submitted. As a result, assistive technology will not automatically announce the presence of error messages. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 3.3.1: Error Identification)
  • Expandable element is not programmatically identified
    • There are expandable elements that are not programmatically determined as such. This may particularly disadvantage users that interface with the accessibility properties of elements, such as screen reader and voice recognition users. That the expandable state is not programmatically determined may confuse or mislead users. This can be found on course search and filter controls, course options toggle and accordions on the course pages. (WCAG: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value)
  • Listbox semantics used inappropriately
    • There are elements which have attempted to use ARIA. However, the ARIA is malformed. This may particularly disadvantage users that interface with the accessibility properties of elements, such as screen reader and voice recognition users. The malformed semantics may confuse or mislead users. This can be found on the course search. (WCAG: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value)
  • Interactive elements with no accessible name
    • There are interactive elements that do not have an accessible name. This may particularly disadvantage users that interface with the accessibility properties of elements, such as screen reader and voice recognition users. That the accessible name is not programmatically determined may confuse or mislead users. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party. (WCAG: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value)
  • Expandable element is not programmatically updated when toggled
    • There are expandable elements that are programmatically determined. However, when the user toggles the element, this property is not correctly updated. This issue appears on the course pages in the accordions. (WCAG: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value)
  • Missing or malformed ARIA on tabbed interface
    • There are tabbed interfaces that are not programmatically determined as such. This may particularly disadvantage users that interface with the accessibility properties of elements, such as screen reader and voice recognition users. The malformed semantics may confuse or mislead users. This appears on each course result after searching for a course. (WCAG: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value)
  • Carousel updates not programmatically determined
    • There are dynamic updates that are not programmatically determined as such. This may particularly disadvantage users who interface with the accessibility properties of elements, such as screen reader and voice recognition users. This appears in the navigation controls on the data carousel. (WCAG: 4.1.3: Status Messages)
  • Search results not programmatically identified
    • There are dynamic search results that are not programmatically determined as such. This may particularly disadvantage users that interface with the accessibility properties of elements, such as screen reader and voice recognition users. This appears in the course search results. (WCAG: 4.1.3: Status Messages)
  • Unordered list not marked up semantically
    • There are elements that are visually communicated as being interrelated, unordered list items. However, this structure has not been programmatically determined. This appears on the course search results page. (WCAG: 1.3.1: Info and Relationships)
  • Asterisk indicating required fields is not explained
    • There are elements that identify themselves are required with an asterisk symbol. However, the meaning of the symbol is not explained. These issues are on forms hosted by a third party.  (WCAG: 3.3.2: Labels or Instructions)
  • Interactive elements rely on placeholder for accessible name
    • Interactive elements need a programmatically determined name, role, and value. These properties must also be accurate and appropriate. There are interactive elements that have descriptive placeholder attributes. However, these elements do not have accessible names. This appears on the main site search box. (WCAG: 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value)
       

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 on how people can access our services, and forms published as Word 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.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have a list of accessibility improvements that is in development and will be implemented throughout the second half of 2026 to improve the experience for all people.  The next release will be before the end of September 2026 and will contain multiple improvements.

Accessibility training materials have been made available to the content editors and will be used when training people on how to create content.

We are working with third parties to remove or improve the accessibility of components that they update.

We have implemented a solution called Ally for websites which will enable some documents to be converted to different formats such as ebraille and audio format.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 30/06/2026.

This website was last audited in June 2026. The audit was carried out by AbilityNet on the most used pages of the website.

AbilityNet produced a series of reports, the outcomes of those reports have been distilled into a list of actionable items that we have been working on to improve the accessibility of this website. A second audit will be completed by AbilityNet after further items are completed by the end of September.

The statement was last reviewed on 30/06/2026.

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