By following this ongoing six step accessibility monitoring and development roadmap, Suffolk New College can ensure that its digital content remains accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
- Monthly accessibility audits: The college will conduct monthly accessibility audits of its website, digital documents, and other digital content to identify any new accessibility barriers.
- Quarterly accessibility training: The college will provide quarterly accessibility training to all staff members who create or publish digital content, including web developers, content creators, and social media managers. The training will cover the latest WCAG guidelines and techniques for creating accessible content.
- Annual accessibility review: The college will conduct an annual review of its accessibility progress, including a review of any accessibility-related complaints or feedback received from students or staff members. This review will be used to develop an updated accessibility plan for the coming year.
- Continuous improvement: The college will continuously work to improve accessibility by implementing new techniques and technologies as they become available, and by staying up-to-date on the latest WCAG guidelines and best practices.
- Accessibility feedback mechanism: The college will implement a mechanism for receiving feedback on accessibility from students and staff members, such as a feedback form or email address. This feedback will be reviewed regularly and used to identify areas for improvement.
- Accessibility statement: The college will maintain an up-to-date accessibility statement on its website, outlining its commitment to accessibility and providing information on how to report accessibility issues.
Activity Timeline
An overview of what accessibility-related activity has taken place.
| Activity | Outcome | Target Date |
|---|---|---|
| WCAG issues identified by the Government Digital Service in January 2023 | All issues have been addressed and improvements are now live. This involved some internal work and external work with our website provider. Examples of the improvements were keyboard focus related. Fixes put in place should address the issues identified on the pages identified and also across the whole site. | March 2023 |
| Internal accessibility testing of the website | Internal testing is now taking place using RAMP. Regular use of Axe Devtools has been implemented and issues identified will be addressed as required. | Ongoing |
| Accessibility Statement | Our existing Accessibility Statement has been reviewed and published on the website. | 20th March 2023 |
| WCAG 2.2 Improvement Plans | Identified developments to help meet WCAG 2.2 Identified work includes: Increase focusable element highlight Escape key should close the menu. Tabbing controls the sub-menu Underline linked breadcrumb elements Event Card Link Indicator Escape key to close search Search close needs a hover state Tab to the filters on search results Improve card block compatibility with screen readers Improve search panel visibility at 300/400% zoom | September 2024 |
| WCAG 2.2 Improvements | Modal: focus on close button when opening with enter or space escape button closes 400% zoom issue fixed people and favourites dropdown: open with space or enter close with escape or by tabbing through and out. Hamburger menu: open with space or enter close with close button or escape Flyout nav: open submenu with space close submenu using tab and escape Focus-visible style on all focusable elements: black border yellow outline (thick). Archive-Course: accordions accessible – can open and close with keyboard checkboxes can now tab through Search: accordions accessible – can open and close with keyboard checkboxes can now tab through Headers: cut down to 2 to increase performance. Breadcrumbs: underline added | 18th September 2024 |
Contact
To get in touch with our digital accessibility team please call 01473 382574 or email website@suffolk.ac.uk