OCTRU is committed to providing an accessible web presence for Clinical Trials it supports. This website aims to meet the requirements of the University's accessibility standard. Work is on-going to ensure that all pages meet that standard.
Web accessibility statement for OCTRU IT WOT websites
The WOT (Websites for OCTRU Trials) websites are run the Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU) IT team and a list of the relevant websites can be found at wot.octru.ox.ac.uk. This accessibility statement applies only to the WOT sites listed at wot.octru.ox.ac.uk and does not apply to content on other octru.ox.ac.uk subdomains (for example www.it.octru.ox.ac.uk).
The WOT websites are designed to be used by as many people as possible, with text that should be clear and simple to understand. A user should be able to:
- Zoom in on webpages up to 300% without problems
- Navigate around the websites using just a keyboard
- Navigate around the websites using speech recognition software
- Use screen readers when viewing the various web pages.
These websites are under continual devlopment and we aim to reach a level of AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) (https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/).
Some content of the WOT websites are not fully accessible, for example:
- Some pages and document attachments may not be clearly written and many documents are in PDF format and not accessible.
- Some tables do not have row headers.
- Some pages have insufficient colour contrast.
- Some pages use Google Map plugins which screen reading users and keyboard user can find difficult to use.
- Some images do not have alternative text.
- Some buttons are not correctly identified.
- There are embedded YouTube and Vimeo iframes which may not contain a title and this content may be difficult for screen reader users..
- Transcripts for embedded videos may not be included on the webpages.
Requesting content in an accessible format
If you need content of specific pages in a different format, please contact the trial teams on the relevant contact pages, or contact central it on octru-it@ndorms.ox.ac.uk. Please includes the web addresses (URLs) of the content, you name and email address, and the format that is required.
Reporting accessibility problems with WOT websites
If you encounter any specific accessibility problems not included which are not in the process of being addressed please contact us on octru-it@ndorms.ox.ac.uk.
Enforcement procedure
If you contact us and are unhappy with our response, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) (https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/) as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the responsible for enforcing public sector website regulations (Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’)).
WOT website accessibility technical specifications
The WOT websites use the following technologies in conformance with WCAG 2.1:
- HTML
- CSS
- Javascript (used to improve accessibility and the user experience)
These websites are not designed for use with older browsers such as Internet Explorer and may not display correctly in these browsers.
The content of WOT websites is partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/ ) to AA standard with non-accessible content outlined in the Non accessible content section below.
Non-accessible content
Content that may not be accessible is outlined below with information on where is fails the success criteria and planned timelines for when the issues will be fixed:
- There are images without appropriate alt text which fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.1.1 (non-text content). As part of our current review process, these are to be addressed by December 2020.
- Some tables do not have summaries or headings which fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships). As part of our current review process, these are to be addressed by December 2020.
- Some pages do not have sufficient contrast between background and text colour so fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.3 (Contrast, minimum). As part of our current review process, these are to be addressed by December 2020.
- Some pages have incorrect ARIA header roles which fails WCAG 2.1 2.1.1 Keyboard: (Level A). As part of our current review process, these are to be address by December 2020.
Disproportionate Burden
Some images, such as the logos listed on the wot.octru.ox.ac.uk site, do not have alt text. This cannot added without significantly changing the way the websites get displayed so constitute a significant burden and will not be addressed at this point.
Content outside the scope of the accessibility regulations
Several pages contain downloadable PDFs and Word documents that do not meet accessibility standard such as being structured to allow the use of a screen reader (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value)). The regulations do not require PDFs or other documents such as newsletters published before 23 September 2018 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/952/regulation/4/made) if they are not essential services.
Testing process
OCTRU has tested the WOT websites internally using Lighthouse accessibility tool and manual tests to test the WOT websites to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA standard. Tests were last carried out in August 2020 and September 2020 and the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach was used to select sample webpages to test (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/#step3).
Scores for initial testing using Lighthouse to audit a range of WOT homepages can be viewed by clicking on the following link:
A copy of the WCAG-EM report from testing sample pages can be downloaded by clicking on the following link:
Improving accessibility
We are in the process of implementing a range of accessibility improvements across all WOT websites. Testing identified broad issues with contrast, alt text for images and incorrect header ARIA roles as constituting a majority of accessibility issues. General contrast issues are being addressed via OCTRU IT whereas other issues are in the process of being addressed where possible by December 2020 by the trial staff website editors. A copy of the accessibility plan can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:
Disclaimer
Work to address accessibility is a continuous activity and so the informaiton presented here is subject to change.
