Digital Standards and Accessibility

The University has launched new Digital Guidelines which all University web pages (internal and external) and digital content must follow. It includes adherence to the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This means all digital content produced by or on behalf of the University, including T4 (the main University website), all Springshare products (LibGuides, LibAnswers, LibCal, LibWizard, etc.), blog sites (including Wordpress) and all other internal and external sites hosting content must adhere to the new standards, and are legally obligated to adhere to accessibility regulations.

The Digital Guidelines cover all of the requirements and the site is both a really good source of information and also the authority on what is required and what isn’t allowed.

What this means for you

If you edit anything that is shared online, both internally and externally, then these rules apply you need to make sure your digital content conforms to the standards.

The basics

• Text:
  • must be written in plain English – see Writing for the web
  • should be easily scannable
  • bullet points help break text up
  • use format headings (not just bold or just larger text) to structure pages
  • use an active voice
• Links:
  • all hyperlinks you add must be able to be read and understood out of context of the rest of the sentence.
  • never use here as a link. 
  • E.g.
    • do write: Visit the Library catalogue
    • do not write: Visit the Library catalogue here
• Images:
  • Alternate text must always be used with every image on the site where the image is used to convey information. The alternate text should include any text is shown on an image, otherwise alternate text should convey the same meaning as the image (it doesn’t have to describe the image and it should be kept short). The alternate text is what screen reading technology will read out to a visually impaired person who can’t see the image.
• Files:
  • PDF and Word documents should be avoided
  • use LibWizard to create an online form for any form you would normally upload as a PDF or Word document
  • consider a web version of any documents you would normally upload
  • if you have to upload a document, it must be accessible, which is difficult to achieve:
    • document must have correct structure, including headings in the correct places
    • If fully and properly accessible in Word, there is potential to save it as PDF/A, but it still might not meet standards
  • Scanned versions of a document are not acceptable without some major work as it’s just a scanned picture
    • OCR would be acceptable if properly formatted for accessibility, using correct document structure and headers
  • guidance for other document types is to follow
• Videos:
  • videos should have transcripts to accompany them
  • videos should have closed captions/subtitles to explain both the words being spoken and describing sounds, if a hearing person would hear them (akin to audio description on TV)
• Colours:
  • be aware of colour contrast
  • colour contrast should pass WCAG AA as a minimum
  • use tools like the Web AIM contrast checker to verify
  • use University brand identity corporate colours, but check that your use of them passes the contrast checker

What should I do?

Review all of your content and check if it adheres to the Digital Standards. The Digital Standards are being continuously updated, so always refer to the online documentation for the latest advice…and be prepared to make possibly drastic changes as the standards shift.

Any questions?

The ultimate point of reference is always the Digital Standards, produced by the Digital Communications team. Locally, your Systems Team may be able to help – get in touch via the Systems Support Channel on Teams.  For support relating to writing content, use of colour in line with corporate branding, marketing etc., contact Gemma Jaleel.