Accessibility statement for Balliol College website
This accessibility statement applies to
This website is run by Balliol College. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, including those with disabilities. For example, that means you should be able to:
- 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
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:
- older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- the alumni newsletter archive may be difficult to navigate
- some headings on some pages may appear out of sequential order
- some third-party applications are not fully accessible
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, please contact us:
- webmaster@balliol.ox.ac.uk
- 01865 277768
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
If you cannot view the map on our Maps and Directions page, please telephone the Broad Street Lodge on 01865 277777 for directions.
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, please email webmaster@balliol.ox.ac.uk or write to the Publications and Web Officer, Balliol College, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BJ.
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
The College is working to improve access and the Disability page contains details of what we are currently able to offer.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Balliol College is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Find out how to contact us (under ‘Other enquiries‘, see ‘disability’).
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 reasons given.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Headings
Some headings may appear out of sequential order on some pages, making it more difficult for assistive technologies to access the information. In particular, currently we rarely use H2 headings. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
We plan to upgrade our website in July 2021 and when we do we’ll make sure our use of headings meets accessibility standards..
Newsletters
We provide an archive of our alumni newsletters on the site. Although in 2019 we switched to a one-column template from a two-column template, which makes the newsletters easier to read, these newsletter pages remove the repeated navigation elements, lack page headings and rely heavily on tables for presentation purposes. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.3 (Consistent navigation).
Until we are able to update the base template for these newsletters, we will provide plain text versions on request: please contact the Development Office.
PDFs
Wherever possible we have provided accessible versions of PDFs published after 23 September 2018, with the following exceptions:
- Floreat Domus 2019: see ‘disproportionate burden’ below. If you have any queries, please contact the Publications and Web Officer.
- Undergraduate prospectus: This version is an updated version of a PDF published in 2015. We aim to publish a new edition in 2021. If you have any queries, please contact our Outreach Officer.
- Catering risk assessments for coronavirus: see ‘disproportionate burden’ below. If you have any queries, please contact the Executive Head Chef.
Virtual tour
Some users may have difficulty using the virtual tour using only keyboard navigation. We are investigating how we can improve it.
Navigation while magnified
We are aware that you cannot use the mobile menu with using keyboard-only navigation, when zoomed in to the site 300% and over. This fails success criteria Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard. We are investigating ways how to fix this.
Other associated websites
Historic Collections @ Balliol: see ‘disproportionate burden’ below. If you have any queries, please contact the Librarian.
Balliol College Archives & Manuscripts: This website will be decommissioned as soon as the content has been transferred to a digital collection management system. This work is currently in progress. If you have any queries, please contact the Archivist.
Disproportionate burden
Floreat Domus 2019 PDF: Unfortunately the original InDesign file from which we could make an accessible PDF is no longer available, and we believe that the time and cost involved in recreating it would impose a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
Historic Collections @ Balliol: Likewise we believe that the time and cost involved in making this blog site accessible would impose a disproportionate burden on the College.
Forms in the alumni section: The forms do not reflow over 400% magnification, which means that people who need to magnify the site in order to see it may have trouble with these forms. This fails Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow. The time and cost associated with rebuilding this aspect of the website would be disproportionate burden. We endeavour to provide an alternative means of accessing the same information when inviting users to complete forms.
Videos: our video content is hosted on YouTube, which provides automatically generated sub-titles, but we regret that the time and cost involved in providing more would impose a disproportionate burden on the College.
Catering risk assessments (see coronavirus): these PDFs were supplied by a third party and the time and cost of making them accessible would be a disproportionate burden.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
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. We do not plan to fix the PDFs of our alumni magazines published before that date.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Video (prerecorded)
Some of our videos are not audio described. This makes it difficult for people who are visually impaired to access all the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.5 (Audio description (Prerecorded).
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix Prerecorded time-based media published before September 2020. However, we will endeavour to provide transcripts of some of the key videos on the site.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Issues with text, including hyperlinks, descriptions, labels, web pages
Some link text doesn’t make sense when read on its own (for example, ‘email’ on pages such as Wellbeing and Welfare) (WCAG 2.1 2.4.4 and 2.4.9).
Third-party platforms
We often create content which is hosted on third-party platforms. This includes:
- content we create for social media
- video which we host on YouTube or Vimeo
- PDFs of publications hosted on Issuu
We are responsible for ensuring the content we supply meets accessibility requirements; however, we are not responsible for the accessibility of the platform itself.
In the case of publications displayed on Issuu, we provide PDF alternatives.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 26 August 2020. It was last reviewed on 22 September 2020.
This website was last tested on 26 August 2020. The test was carried out by Agile Collective.
Agile Collective tested a sample of pages, as per the guidance on gov.uk.