Accessibility statement for Moodle
This accessibility statement applies to http://moodle.nottingham.ac.uk.
This website is run by The University of Nottingham. It is the University's Virtual Learning Environment and houses learning materials
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen. Our tests showed this works well in Chrome, Edge, Firefox on Windows and Safari on Mac Pro.
- 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
The Moodle platform is a complex system with many parts. Its code is always evolving. Modules can be enabled and disabled. The interface can be heavily customised using themes and thousands of settings. Actual content can be produced by any teacher or any student. As such it is impossible to say with 100% certainty whether Moodle or any site based on Moodle is fully accessible or not.
Accessibility is not a state, it is a process of continuous improvement in response to our users and the wider technical environment.
When deciding how Moodle should present its content for best Web accessibility, the WCAG 2.1 guidelines are followed.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- the text may not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window in all browsers. Our tests showed that it does appear to reflow in a single column when using Firefox, Chrome and Safari
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- live video streams do not have captions
- some of our online forms may be difficult to navigate using just a keyboard. However, our tests showed that some forms do navigate well with a keyboard, these included the DSE checklist, incident reporting form, HR general enquiries form, central short courses form and immigration enquires form
- you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
- there’s a limit to how far you can magnify the map on our ‘contact us’ page. That limit is 500%.
- we are working towards testing of navigation of this site by speech recognition software.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you.
The University offers an Alternative Formats Service (AFS).
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, email learning-technologies@nottingham.ac.uk
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
Our team is based on the University Park Campus. You can contact us at Learning-Technologies@nottingham.ac.uk
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
University of Nottingham is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Compliance status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
Moodle as a platform is designed for accessibility but it may host content that is not accessible.
Students encountering any of the potential accessibility issues below should please report it to Learning-Technologies@nottingham.ac.uk.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Platform issues
- Some images on our website do not have appropriate alternative text, and some which are purely decorative are not identified as such. (1.1.1)
- Content and navigation are not always logically structured for screen readers (1.3.2)
- Input fields collecting information about the user can not always be programmatically determined (e.g. read by screen reader software) (1.3.5)
- It cannot be guaranteed that content can be presented vertically and horizontally without needing to scroll. (1.4.10)
- Visual information to identify user interface components, such as keyboard focus, do not always have a sufficient contrast ratio (1.4.11)
- Some tooltips disappear as soon as the cursor moves. Also, tooltips are not always present for all icons and images. (1.4.13)
- It is not always possible for a person to know which element among multiple elements has the keyboard focus. (2.4.7)
- Not fully compatible with screen readers (4.1.)
Content issues
- Some images on our website do not have appropriate alternative text, and some which are purely decorative are not identified as such.
- It cannot be guaranteed that all prerecorded audio and video content is accompanied with a text alternative, captions, audio description, sign language interpretation or audio description.
- Heading tags are sometimes used inconsistently to create emphasis to text.
- Content and navigation are not always logically structured for screen readers.
- The visual presentation of text and images of text does not always have a sufficient contrast ratio, which can make it difficult to read for those with low vision, poor eyesight, or colour blindness.
- Images of text have sometimes been used.
- Page titles, headings and labels do not always describe topic or purpose.
- Not all content is fully compatible with screen readers.
- When content is delivered in other languages, this has not always been identified so that assistive technologies present it in appropriate ways. We are looking at best practice in language-based modules with our content producers to remedy this.
- Content may not be presented consistently across different modules. We are looking at best practice with our content producers to remedy this.
Unless specified otherwise, a complete solution for items, or significant improvement, within our control will be in place by September 2021.
There are several areas that do not meet WCAG 2.1 AA standard that are outwith our control and sit with the 3rd party application Moodle.
Moodle has documentation regarding their accessibility: Moodle Accessibility homepage
They also have a page of ongoing accessibility issues with their platform and their current status. These can be viewed at: Current Moodle Reported accessibility issues
Disproportionate burden
Although we are not currently claiming that any accessibility problems would be a disproportionate burden to fix at this time, we are still evaluating our approach of resolving the issues above with third parties and within our own internal teams.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
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
Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
How we tested this website
This VLE was last tested in August 2020. The test was carried out by the Learning Technologies Team at the University of Nottingham, using the Axe accessibility testing tool and manual checks to produce the above findings.
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 relate and use language specific to websites therefore, it is not possible to complete a direct assessment of the VLE against the regulations. It has been necessary to translate and interpret the regulations to apply to a VLE context.
We tested:
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are dedicated to improving the accessibility of this VLE for all users. To do so we will:
- provide guidance to authors on designing and creating accessible content in the VLE
- work within the University’s accessibility programme to identify areas of improvement and how we might incorporate them within the VLE
- assess proposed new features, integrations, interfaces and developments based on the WCAG 2.1 success criterion
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 30 September 2020. It was last updated on 30 September 2020.