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Accessibility

Website Accessibility Statement for Richmond Upon Thames College

This accessibility statement applies to Richmond Upon Thames College’s website: www.rutc.ac.uk

This website is run by Richmond Upon Thames College, part of HRUC.  We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website and aim to meet a minimum of WCAG 2.1 AA compliance in line with the Web Accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1) standards.

For example:

  • We have ensured text is clear and concise to allow essential information to be easily digested
  • Images and videos are supplementary to other content and we have ensured that access to these is not required in order to use the website effectively.
  • We have endeavoured to ensure navigation around the site is intuitive, logical and requires the minimum of inputs and most of the website can be navigated using a keyboard
  • The layout and presentation of website pages have been designed to reduce clutter where possible and only present relevant information.
  • We have been working to reduce the necessity for the download of documents which are not optimised for on-screen viewing, including PDFs.
  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using the Recite Me toolbar
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader 

  • To provide additional support to aid a more inclusive user experience we provide the Recite Me assistive technology tool. This Toolbar enables all website visitors to customise their experience through a range of options to suit their online accessibility and language needs. The Recite Me toolbar provides text-to-speech functionality, fully customisable styling features, reading aids and a translation tool with over 100 languages, including 65 text-to-speech voices and many other features.

How accessible is this website?

We continue to work on ensuring our website is as accessible as possible, however we know some parts of this website are not fully accessible including:

  • Invalid ARIA attributes
  • Missing form label
  • Contrast errors.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact 020 8607 8000. We will consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

If you require a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter please contact us before your visit so we can arrange this.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking for ways to improve the accessibility of this website. We are open to ideas about how we can improve our site to provide a better service to our customers and to help people who have not been able to find what they need from our site.

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements contact the Marketing Department by email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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

Richmond Upon Thames College 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

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • WCAG 1.1.1 - Not all images have alternative text available. We have been working on adding alternative text to any new images published on the website.
  • WCAG 1.4.9 - Some images of text (e.g. logos) are used on web pages for illustrative purposes. Where possible we will reduce this and use alternative images.
  • WCAG 1.4.3 - Contrast errors: Automated testers are unable to correctly rate contrast compliance when text overlays an image or is on an element that has less than 100% opacity. The breadcrumbs are reported as being non-contrast compliant when displayed over an image banner. Manual testing proves this contrast ratio is sufficient.

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

  • PDF content supplied by external parties that does not fully meet accessibility criteria. We will look to add website links where possible to ensure we can link to relevant and helpful information for our website users.
  • Invalid Aria Attributes: The embedded Google map and YouTube videos used on the website contain invalid aria attributes on some of their elements. This cannot be fixed without removing the map and YouTube videos.
  • Missing form label: Google reCAPTCHA is used throughout the website. Part of this system includes a hidden text area that has no form label. This comes directly from the Google reCAPTCHA service and cannot be fixed without removing the system. This will be reported by automated testers but ultimately does not affect end-user accessibility.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We aim to audit our website every six months (using both automated and manual methods), via our third-party website agency (the last audit was completed on 10 May 2024) or the Recite Me Accessibility Checker, and resolve any conflicts that may arise from that.

We can conclude based on the testing that the website is partially accessible to the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. This means that pages

  • Will allow the user to zoom up to 400%
  • Are navigable with only a keyboard and free of ‘Keyboard Traps’
  • Have a visible focus style for keyboard users to see their page position
  • Have sensical page titles
  • Are navigable with only a screen reader or assistive technologies
  • Are free of contrast issues

With the exception of the Known Issues above, all pages:

  • Implement meaningful alternative text for images
  • Use descriptive text links
  • Animations and sliders include a pause button
  • We are adding alternative text to new PDF documents that are published on the site.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 20 February 2024. It was last reviewed on 21 June 2024.

The method for testing this website was by both automated and manual methods, via our third-party website agency (the last audit was completed on 10 May 2024) or the Recite Me Accessibility Checker.