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Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to nscg.ac.uk. This website is run by Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group and is designed and hosted by Bluestorm Design.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website. 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.

Accessibility options:

In order to make our website more accessible, we have provided a third party widget called Userway, which appears as a symbol in the bottom right of the screen. As we’re aware our brand colours do not meet accessibility requirements in all places, the Userway tool helps by providing the following support, including colour contrast changes:

  • Screen Reader: Enables the content on the website to be read aloud, allowing users with visual impairments or those who prefer to listen to content.
  • Contrast Colours: This option changes the foreground and background colours to high contrast combinations and helps convert our brand colour scheme to an accessible contrast
  • Highlight Links: Makes links on the page more prominent through underlining or colour changes, aiding users with visual impairments or cognitive challenges in identifying navigational elements.
  • Bigger Text: Allows users to increase the text size, benefiting those with visual impairments or those who find small text difficult to read.
  • Text Spacing: Adjusts the spacing between letters and lines, which can help users with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.
  • Pause Animations: Stops animations, videos, or moving objects, which is crucial for users with attention disorders or those prone to seizures.
  • Hide Images: Provides the option to remove images from the page, reducing distraction or bandwidth if needed, and focusing on textual content.
  • Dyslexia Friendly Fonts: Switches the text to fonts that are easier to read for users with dyslexia, enhancing readability.
  • Cursor: Enhances the cursor’s visibility and size, making it easier for users with visual impairments to navigate the website.
  • Tooltips: Displays additional information when hovering over elements or icons, which can assist users who are unfamiliar with certain navigational or interface elements.
  • Page Structure: Reorganises or highlights the structural elements of a page (like headers, lists, and paragraphs) to improve readability
  • Line Height: Increases the space between lines of text, which can significantly enhance readability for users with visual impairments or reading difficulties.
  • Text Align: Allows users to change the alignment of text to their preference, which can help with readability for some users with cognitive or learning disabilities.
  • Dictionary: Provides definitions or explanations for selected words or phrases, aiding users with learning disabilities or those for whom English is a second language.
  • Saturation: Adjusts the colour saturation of the page, which can be helpful for users sensitive to bright colours or who have difficulty distinguishing colours.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Some older PDF documents are not fully accessible as they have poor logo contrast and or may have titles missing from the page and may not conform to WCAG 1.3.1. Info and Relationships. Newer PDFs will aim to meet these standards.
  • A small minority to images on the ‘News and Events’ page contain text, which may be difficult to read when magnified.
  • Elements of our site which feature white text on an orange background, and vice versa - may not meet required minimum contrast requirements, however orange is the NSCG brand colour which cannot be altered.  Accessibility tools deployed on the website will help to improve contrast for users, if utilised.
  • The #MyNSCG section of the site is fed by a third-party feature/snapwidget, and we have no control of the features. At the moment there is no play/pause button on the images, the keyboard focus becomes lost between the articles and the frames don't have an accessible name.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

Email: marketing@nscg.ac.uk

Call: 01782 254116

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 30 days.

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 contact:

Email: marketing@nscg.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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group 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 and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content - non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:

  • A very small percentage of images on the ‘News and Events’ page contain text, which may be difficult to read when magnified. This fails WCAG 1.4.5 success criterion. These older images will phase out and when new images are uploaded in this section, and we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
  • Certain elements within the site may be difficult to use when navigating the site horizontally on very small screens (iPhone 5 and below / 256px wide screens) as our site is only compatible with more recent device screen sizes.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Some of our PDF documents contain policies, procedures and governance information. A very small minority of these documents may contain logos with poor colour contrast, and/or are missing titles at the top of the page.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 12 June 2023. It was last reviewed on 21 March 2024.

This website was last reviewed in April 2023. The test was carried out by ourselves using manual testing. We tested a sample of pages as they are a reflection of the majority of our website, these included:

You can read the previous full accessibility test report, carried out by the Government Digital Service | Cabinet Office which was used to make the necessary adjustments to our website here.

Website Access Keys

Access keys can be used to navigate the website without the use of a mouse. They allow you to jump to a specific part of a web page via the keyword. To use an access key, hold down the ‘ALT’ key and then press one of the following numbers: