Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for the Blended Learning Consortium

The Blended Learning Consortium is run by Heart of Worcestershire College. This accessibility statement applies to the Blended Learning Consortium only.

The Blended Learning Consortium is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone, and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website and associated eLearning resources. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts using in-browser tools
  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader
  • Access and navigate most of our eLearning resources using current native windows and mac accessibility tools, screen readers and assistive technologies

Conformance Status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA.

The Blended Learning Consortium is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Technical Specifications

1. Blended Learning Consortium Website

Accessibility of the Blended Learning Consortium website relies on the following technologies to work with the combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • Javascript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

2. Blended Learning Consortium eLearning Resources

In addition to our website, the Blended Learning Consortium produces a range of bespoke eLearning resources intended to be viewed using a standard web browser and/or within a specific virtual learning environment. The accessibility of these resources relies on the following technologies to work with the combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

  • HTML
  • Javascript

Our eLearning resources are created using the most current authoring software avaialable. We continually test and monitor the resources to ensure they are as accessible as possible over a wide a range of browsers, operating systems and virtual learnhing environments as possible.

However, there may be some accessibility limitations and differences due to the varying combinations of devices, operating systems and/or assistive technologies being used.

We endevour to implement current guidelines for using screen readers when creating our eLearning resources. Most navigation or interactive elements are accessible using keyboard controls and current screen readers. Our designers create content that aims to conform with WCAG 2.1 level AA guidelines for font use, alt text and contrast ratio.

We also provide an accessible text-only PDF version of most eLearning resources that is suitable for learners who require it.

Limitations and Alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of our website and associated eLearning resources, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

Known accessibility limitations:

  • Videos without captions: Some video content may not have captioning. We are working to caption all video and audio content.
  • Document links (PDFs, PowerPoint, DocX): Some archival documents may not be fully accessible. We are working towards updating all archival documents.
  • 3rd party resources: Some embedded content or content provided by 3rd parties may not be fully accessible. We continually monitor all 3rd party content and encourage all content is supplied in as accessible a format as possible. We are working towards updating archival content.
  • Archival resources: Some archival learning resources may not be fully accessible and function as expected with all current web browsers. We are continually working towards updating all archival learning resources to ensure they are compatible with as many web browsers as possible.

If you experience any accessibility issues using our website or associated eLearning resources, we advise checking or updating the browser you are using and ensuring you are using a current windows or mac operating system.

3rd Party Resources

Content supplied by 3rd parties, such as supporting documents, SCORM interactive content or packages purchased from third party companies, could fail multiple WCAG 2.1 success criterion. We don’t plan to redevelop or edit content we have not developed, funded, or have no control over.

Known Incompatibility

The Blended Learning Consortium website and/or associated learning resources may not work as expected with:

  • Web browsers older than 3 major versions
  • Mobile operating systems older than 5 years
  • Virtual Learning Environments older than 3 major versions

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the Blended Learning Consortium website and associated eLearning resources. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers:

Email: accessreggroup@howcollege.ac.uk


We try to respond to feedback within 2 days.

This statement was created on 29th March 2022 by the Blended Learning Consortium.

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