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Accessibility
Accessibility statement for the University of Leeds
This accessibility statement applies to the University of Leeds digital estate.
This includes:
Public websites and internal websites.
Third-party, browser-based content funded or developed by, or under the control of, the University of Leeds.
Mobile applications developed for an audience that includes the general public where the University has had some control over the final product or it’s in University branding.
This website and the rest of the digital estate are run by the University of Leeds, in some cases in collaboration with third parties. We aim to resolve as many of the accessibility issues listed on this page as soon as possible.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use our digital estate. Our plan of work to improve accessibility means, ultimately, you should be able to:
Navigate the digital estate using just a keyboard.
Navigate the digital estate using speech recognition software.
Listen to most of the digital estate using a screen reader, including the most recent versions of JAWS (Job Access With Speech), NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) and VoiceOver.
We are also working to make the text across our digital estate as simple as possible to understand.
While we are working actively to resolve the accessibility issues with our relevant websites and services, AbilityNet has advice that may make our digital properties more usable in their current state.
The University of Leeds is committed to providing an inclusive environment, and to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone, and we are working to apply the relevant accessibility standards.
How accessible our digital estate is
We know some parts of our digital estate are not fully accessible:
Some pages have poor text colour contrast.
Text alternatives are not always provided for non-text content.
Images aren’t always coded correctly.
Elements of the page (links, buttons, etc.) do not always have a clear purpose.
Instructions and labels are not always clear, and we do not always provide context-sensitive help.
The reading and navigation order of links is not always logical.
You can’t use a screen reader smoothly everywhere.
You can’t use voice recognition software smoothly everywhere.
Issues from across the digital estate are listed in full, grouped by site type, under the heading ‘Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations’. Any issues that we can’t fix and are exempt from solving are listed under the heading ‘Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations’.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information from this digital estate in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact IT Services:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as we can.
Reporting accessibility problems with the digital estate
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our digital estate. If you find any problems not listed in this statement or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact IT Services with the URL of the page and the issue you’ve identified:
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 concerns, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
If you have any specific questions, details for different sections of the University are listed on our contact page.
Technical information about the digital estate’s accessibility
The University of Leeds is committed to making its digital estate accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
The following are detailed lists, grouped by website type, of parts of our digital estate that are not compliant with the accessibility regulations. The groupings list the relevant sites, and each non-compliance notes on which of those sites that issue appears.
The sites covered here are a representative sample of the full University web estate. See our Mobile app accessibility statements page for information about the compliance of rest of our digital estate.
We are always working to improve our digital estate and resolve accessibility issues by working with internal teams and external suppliers to address non-compliances.
These non-compliances apply to the main University of Leeds site – leeds.ac.uk.
There are multiple pages on the website that contain an illogical heading structure where the first heading on a page is an H2 or H3. This can make it difficult for a screen reader user to navigate around the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). This has been investigated but the complexity of a potential solution means the issue remains on our backlog. We don’t believe this is significantly disruptive for users, but we hope to have it addressed soon.
There may be rare instances where images have non-descriptive alt text or be missing alternative test. This can cause confusion for screen reader users or mean they miss information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A). Where this has been found to be an issue with third-party content, we have asked for this to be addressed, subject to the provider’s timelines. For University-owned content, we look to resolve individual instances within four weeks of initial publication.
There are unlabelled form fields and cases where the form label is not linked correctly to the form element. On the ‘Staff A-Z’ page there is a form field ambiguously labelled ‘Search’. This may make it difficult for some assistive technology users to successfully submit information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA), 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A), 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A). Where this has been found to be an issue with third-party content, we have asked for this to be addressed, subject to the provider’s timelines. For internal pages, this issue is part of our backlog and we hope to have it addressed in 2026.
The ‘Undergraduate open days’ page contains a form with mandatory form fields denoted by a red asterisk. These mandatory markings are hard to see. Furthermore, there is no explanation of what the asterisk means. This will frustrate a screen reader user. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A). This has been found to be an issue with third-party content. We have asked for this to be addressed, subject to the provider’s timelines.
On the ‘Staff A-Z’ page when a user performs a search, the results are in the form of data table that sometimes has empty data cells. This will make it difficult for screen reader users to understand the content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This issue is part of our backlog and we hope to have it addressed before the end of 2025.
Some embedded content is in a frame that does not contain a descriptive title. When a screen reader user needs to know the purpose and content of a frame. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). Where this has been found to be an issue with third-party content, we have asked for this to be addressed, subject to the provider’s timelines. For internal pages, we hope to have the issue addressed before the end of 2025.
Some downloadable documents, such as PDFs, available on the site have issues that will prevent some users some accessing their content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria such as 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A), 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A), 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A), and 3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A). Some of these PDFs have accessible alternative documents or web pages containing the same content. For University-owned content, we look to resolve instances of non-compliance within four weeks of initial publication.
There are combinations of colours that fall below the minimum contrast levels that make the text difficult to read. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA). Where this has been found to be an issue with third-party content, we have asked for this to be addressed, subject to the provider’s timelines.
When increasing the size of the text on the ‘Undergraduate open days’ page, the size of the text within the drop-down boxes does not increase. Small text can be difficult to read for certain people. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.4 Resize text (Level AA). This has been found to be an issue with third-party content. We have asked for this to be addressed, subject to the provider’s timelines.
Visible keyboard focus is sometimes lost when tabbing backward through the student stories on the University homepage. People who rely on keyboard navigation may struggle to move around some parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA).
The NVDA screen reader doesn’t announce some parts of the student stories on the University homepage. NVDA users will not hear the headings and body text associated with each sotry, but can continue to pages for the full student stories to receive all the relevant information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). A fix has been identified and will be implemented by Q4 2025. Other screen readers, such as VoiceOver and Narrator, announce all the relevant content.
A digital accessibility audit of the main University site was delivered in July 2022. The site is also regularly scanned by an accessibility monitoring tool and new updates and functionality subject to accessibility testing. Any non-compliances on the main University website will be addressed as soon as possible or as described in this statement.
These non-compliances apply to the following sites and URLs:
Students - students.leeds.ac.uk
Student Education Service - ses.leeds.ac.uk
HR - hr.leeds.ac.uk
Wellbeing, Safety and Health - wsh.leeds.ac.uk
The Students and Wellbeing, Safety and Health sites have been updated to a compliant codebase, however some content-based non-compliances may remain. Dates for when the remaining sites will be addressed haven’t been determined yet. The Students website was moved onto the University’s compliant Design System in February 2025.
Some images and graphical content don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content (Level A). This issue is present across all the sites in this group except for the Students and Wellbeing, Safety and Health sites.
Navigational order isn’t always clear. This can create difficulty people who rely on assistive technologies that read content aloud. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A). This affects the HR site.
Autocomplete could be set on some input fields but isn’t. his may reduce ease of use for people with learning disabilities or cognitive or motor impairments. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA). This affects the HR site.
Colour is used as the sole way of distinguishing links in some cases. This can cause difficulties for people who are colourblind or have low vision. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A). This affects the HR site.
Text doesn’t always have high enough contrast against its background. People with low vision may have difficulty reading some text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA). This issue is on the Student Education Service and HR sites.
Buttons and some links don’t have strong enough contrast against their backgrounds. People with low vision may have difficulty perceiving parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA). This affects the Student Education Service and HR sites.
There's no way to skip repeated navigation and other repeated parts of a page. This could make it more difficult to reach the main content of a web page for people using screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A). This affects the HR site.
Page titles aren't always descriptive enough to indicate to people where they are and what is available on the page. This may make the browsing experience difficult for blind people, those with low vision, people with cognitive disabilities and those use voice navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A). This affects the Student Education Service and HR sites.
The navigation order of links isn't always intuitive. This can make the experience confusing for screen reader and screen magnification users, as well as people who otherwise rely on keyboard navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A). This affects the Student Education Service and HR sites.
There might not always be more than one clear route to a page. Not all our sites have sitemaps, for example. People with cognitive impairments or who use assistive technology may find it's harder to get to the information they need. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA). This affects the HR site.
Page headings and labels for interactive elements aren't always intuitive. This can make things more challenging for screen reader users or those who have cognitive disabilities. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). This affects the Student Education Service site.
It's not always completely clear which part of the page has focus. People who rely on keyboard navigation may struggle to move around some parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA). This affects the Student Education Service site.
Some buttons don’t have sufficient alternative text and labelling. This may cause problems for people using screen readers and speech navigation software. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A). This affects the Student Education Service and HR sites.
Use of mark-up languages like ARIA, form labels, frame titles and more doesn't always follow correct practice. User of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech navigation software, may find the correct information or operation isn't always clear. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). This affects the HR site.
These non-compliances apply to the following sites and URLs:
Engineering and Physical Sciences - eps.leeds.ac.uk
Environment - environment.leeds.ac.uk
Medicine and Health - medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk
Social Sciences - essl.leeds.ac.uk
Addressing the code-level issues on these sites is subject to several factors. However, additional work to address content-level non-compliances will be increased during Q3 and Q4 2025.
Some images and graphical content don’t have a text alternative. Some information may be lost for people who are blind or have low vision. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
Page regions may be poorly defined, lists aren’t always marked correctly and sometimes there’s a lack of relevant headings. People who are blind or have low vision may struggle to always understand what the page is communicating. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
Navigational order isn’t always clear. This can create difficulty people who rely on assistive technologies that read content aloud. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
Text doesn’t always have high enough contrast against its background. People with low vision may have difficulty reading some text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA). This affects all sites in this group.
There's no way to skip repeated navigation and other repeated parts of a page. This could make it more difficult to reach the main content of a web page for people using screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
Page titles aren't always descriptive enough to indicate to people where they are and what is available on the page. This may make the browsing experience difficult for blind people, those with low vision, people with cognitive disabilities and those use voice navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
The navigation order of links isn't always intuitive. This can make the experience confusing for screen reader and screen magnification users, as well as people who otherwise rely on keyboard navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
Link purpose isn't always clear from each link's text. This can be confusing for keyboard and screen reader users as the function or purpose of the link will not be obvious. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
There might not always be more than one clear route to a page. Not all of our sites have sitemaps, for example. People with cognitive impairments or who use assistive technology may find it's harder to get to the information they need. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA). This affects all sites in this group.
Some buttons don’t have sufficient alternative text and labelling. This may cause problems for people using screen readers and speech navigation software. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
Use of mark-up languages like ARIA, form labels, frame titles and more doesn't always follow correct practice. User of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech navigation software, may find the correct information or operation isn't always clear. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). This affects all sites in this group.
These non-compliances apply to the public-facing IT site, it.leeds.ac.uk.
The IT site is underpinned by a third-party platform, ServiceNow. This means the University has limited control of some of the features and their compliance. However, we are maintaining a dialogue with the vendor with a view to achieving full compliance in those areas.
The features that are in the University’s control and aren’t compliant will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
The main navigation bar uses code that might mean the sub items don’t work as expected for users of assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
The ‘Options’ area of cookie acceptance pop-up has an unusual focus order that might make it confusing to navigate. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
Landmark regions aren’t applied correctly around the main navigation area of each page. This can make navigation more difficult for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
The homepage features an article carousel with ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ controls that are not sequential in the focus order. Their sequence is also inconsistent with those in the carousel on the main University site. This is likely to cause confusion for keyboard and assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A) and 3.2.2 Consistent Navigation (Level AA). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
The homepage features two H1 headings, which may cause confusion for users of assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
Some text in the ‘Quick Links’ area of the homepage doesn’t appear when the text has been resized. This can cause issues for people with visual impairments. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
Some forms feature options that cause previous form fields to change unexpectedly and without explanation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.2.2 On Input (Level A). This will be addressed by the University as soon as possible.
Forms feature the ability to trigger a pop-up that shows additional information. This information features a focus order that doesn’t reflect the order of the content on the page. That may make operation more difficult for some assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A). This will be addressed by the University as soon as possible.
Although form entry errors are presented to the user, it may not always be clear how best to resolve these issues. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA). The University has requested a fix from the platform vendor but cannot provide an estimation for when this will be addressed.
The form ‘Submit’ button does not respond to text spacing adjustments. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.12 Text Spacing (Level AA). The University has requested a fix from the platform vendor but cannot provide an estimation for when this will be addressed.
Form field dropdowns trigger on the down event of a pointer interaction, such as a mouse click. It's not possible to undo/abort after the down event, and completing the function on the down event is not essential. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation (Level A). The University has requested a fix from the platform vendor but cannot provide an estimation for when this will be addressed.
Small parts of the focus indicator around the ‘Add favourite’ button in the header area on may not have strong enough contrast against the background image in some screen sizes. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA). This will be addressed by the University and a third-party supplier as soon as possible.
These non-compliances apply to the following sites and URLs:
As all sites are owned by the University but controlled by third-party suppliers, the University will address these non-compliances with the suppliers with the expectation that all problems could be resolved by 2026.
Some images and graphical content don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content (Level A). This affects the Sport and Good Food at Leeds sites.
Page regions are poorly defined, lists aren’t always marked correctly and sometimes there’s a lack of relevant headings. People who are blind or have low vision may struggle to always understand what the page is communicating. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This affects the Sport, Great Food at Leeds sites.
Navigational order isn’t always clear. This can create difficulty people who rely on assistive technologies that read content aloud. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A). This affects the Facilities Directorate, Sport and Great Food at Leeds sites.
Autocomplete could be set on some input fields but isn’t. his may reduce ease of use for people with learning disabilities or cognitive or motor impairments. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA). This affects the Sport and Great Food at Leeds sites.
Colour is used as the sole way of distinguishing links in some cases. This can cause difficulties for people who are colourblind or have low vision. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A). This affects the Facilities Directorate and Great Food at Leeds sites.
Text doesn’t always have high enough contrast against its background. People with low vision may have difficulty reading some text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA). This affects the Sport site.
Content doesn’t always adjust well to page zoom or smaller screens. Users may find this site isn't always optimised for mobile viewing and those who need to zoom in to view content might not see all the information. suitable This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA). This affects the Sport site.
Buttons and some links don’t have strong enough contrast against their backgrounds. People with low vision may have difficulty perceiving parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA). This affects the Sport site.
It’s not possible to dismiss some hover-over content. This may disadvantage users with low vision, users who increase mouse cursor size, and those with motor difficulties. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA). This affects the Sport site.
Some functionality isn't accessible by keyboard. This may mean the site isn't fully operable by people with no vision and those who rely on keyboard navigation/operation or similar. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A). This affects the Sport and Great Food at Leeds sites.
There's no way to skip repeated navigation and other repeated parts of a page. This could make it more difficult to reach the main content of a Web page for people using screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A). This affects the Sprot and Great Food at Leeds sites.
Page titles aren't always descriptive enough to indicate to people where they are and what is available on the page. This may make the browsing experience difficult for blind people, those with low vision, people with cognitive disabilities and those use voice navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A). This affects the Facilities Directorate, Sport and Great Food at Leeds sites.
The navigation order of links isn't always intuitive. This can make the experience confusing for screen reader and screen magnification users, as well as people who otherwise rely on keyboard navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A). This affects the Great Food at Leeds site.
Link purpose isn't always clear from each link's text. This can be confusing for keyboard and screen reader users as the function or purpose of the link will not be obvious. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A). This affects the Facilities Directorate and Great Food at Leeds sites.
There might not always be more than one clear route to a page. Not all our sites have sitemaps, for example. People with cognitive impairments or who use assistive technology may find it's harder to get to the information they need. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA). This affects the Great Food at Leeds and Facilities Directorate sites.
Page headings and labels for interactive elements aren't always intuitive. This can make things more challenging for screen reader users or those who have cognitive disabilities. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). This affects the Great Food at Leeds site.
It's not always completely clear which part of the page has focus. People who rely on keyboard navigation may struggle to move around some parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA). This affects the Sport, Facilities Directorate and Great Food at Leeds sites.
Some buttons don’t have sufficient alternative text and labelling. This may cause problems for people using screen readers and speech navigation software. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A). This affects the Sport and Facilities Directorate sites.
Labels and instructions on input fields could better describe what users should do. People who use screen readers or have cognitive or learning disabilities may struggle to always enter the correct information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A). This affects the Sport, Facilities Directorate and Great Food at Leeds sites.
Use of mark-up languages like ARIA, form labels, frame titles and more doesn't always follow correct practice. User of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech navigation software, may find the correct information or operation isn't always clear. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). This affects the Facilities Directorate, Sport and Great Food at Leeds sites.
There are several links where the link text isn’t descriptive enough. This can make a site harder to navigate for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships and 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context). This affects the Facilities Directorate site.
These non-compliances apply to the following sites and URLs:
Accommodation - accommodation.leeds.ac.uk
Course Finder- courses.leeds.ac.uk
Library - library.leeds.ac.uk
PHD - phd.leeds.ac.uk
Application - application.leeds.ac.uk
Careers at the University of Leeds - jobs.leeds.ac.uk
Design System work for the Accommodation site has been completed but implementing this on the live site has been delayed. The Careers site uses a third-party browser-based system that isn’t controlled by the University but was subject to accessibility improvements in 2024. The Application site is partly controlled by the University in collaboration with a third-party supplier, and subject to limitations of the system on which it is built. It has been subject to accessibility testing with some improvements likely to be made in 2025. Other sites in this group will be updated as soon as we are able.
Some images and graphical content don’t have a text alternative. Some information may be lost for people who are blind or have low vision. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A). This affects the Accommodation, Library and Application sites.
Page regions may be poorly defined, lists aren’t always marked correctly and sometimes there’s a lack of relevant headings. People who are blind or have low vision may struggle to always understand what the page is communicating. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This affects the Accommodation site.
Navigational order isn’t always clear. This can create difficulty for people who rely on assistive technologies that read content aloud. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A). This affects the Accommodation and Library sites.
Text doesn’t always have high enough contrast against its background. People with low vision may have difficulty reading some text or links in some states. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA). This affects the Accommodation and Application sites.
Page titles aren't always descriptive enough to indicate to people where they are and what is available on the page. This may make the browsing experience difficult for blind people, those with low vision, people with cognitive disabilities and those use voice navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A). This affects the Accommodation, Library and Application sites.
The navigation order of links isn't always intuitive. This can make the experience confusing for screen reader and screen magnification users, as well as people who otherwise rely on keyboard navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A). This affects the Accommodation and Library sites.
Link purpose isn't always clear from each link's text. This can be confusing for keyboard and screen reader users as the function or purpose of the link will not be obvious. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A). This affects the Accommodation and Application sites.
There might not always be more than one clear route to a page. Not all our sites have sitemaps, for example. People with cognitive impairments or who use assistive technology may find it's harder to get to the information they need. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA). This affects the Accommodation site.
Some buttons don’t have sufficient alternative text and labelling. This may cause problems for people using screen readers and speech navigation software. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A). This affects the Accommodation site.
Use of mark-up languages like ARIA, form labels, frame titles and more doesn't always follow correct practice. User of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech navigation software, may find the correct information or operation isn't always clear. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). This affects the Accommodation sites.
On the Careers site, the job vacancy tables do not contain table headers. This will make it harder for screen reader users to understand the content and navigate to sections correctly. This fails WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). A fix has been identified and will require significant development work to address. This issue is part of the third-party supplier’s backlog.
On the Careers site, candidate brief PDFs contain issues such as having no headings, no document title, no PDF tagging, images without alternative description, and tables without table headers. This fails WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A). As vacancies are continually closed and opened, the University will focus on addressing these issues in new PDFs. However, the complexity of internal processes means this will take several months. This issue is expected be resolved by the end of 2025.
On the Careers site, vacancy pages frequently contain empty headings, incorrect heading structure or use visual styling to achieve the appearance of headings without applying a heading. This fails WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). As vacancies are continually closed and opened, the University will focus on addressing these issues in new job listings. This issue is expected to be resolved by the end of 2025.
These non-compliances apply to the following sites and URLs:
Communications - comms.leeds.ac.uk
Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence - teachingexcellence.leeds.ac.uk
Digital Education Service - digitaleducation.leeds.ac.uk
Equality Policy Unit - equality.leeds.ac.uk
Organisational Development and Professional Learning - peopledevelopment.leeds.ac.uk
Sustainability - sustainability.leeds.ac.uk
Governance and Compliance - secretariat.leeds.ac.uk
Finance - finance.leeds.ac.uk
Strategy and Planning - stratplan.leeds.ac.uk
An update of the University-branded WordPress theme was applied to several hundred sites between Q1 and Q3 2023 with the aim to achieve compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA. This solved all code-based issues. However, the release of WCAG 2.2 in October 2023 resulted in some new non-compliances. These code-related non-compliances will be addressed when the WordPress theme is next refreshed.
Some images and graphical content don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content (Level A). This affects the Equality and Inclusion Unit, Organisational Development and Professional Learning, Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence, Digital Education Service and Sustainability sites.
Lists aren’t always marked correctly and sometimes there’s a lack of relevant headings. People who are blind or have low vision may struggle to always understand what the page is communicating. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A). This affects the Organisational Development and Professional Learning, Digital Education Service and Sustainability sites.
Link purpose isn't always clear from each link's text. This can be confusing for keyboard and screen reader users as the function or purpose of the link will not be obvious. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A). This affects the Organisational Development and Professional Learning and Sustainability sites.
Page headings aren't always intuitive. This can make things more challenging for screen reader users or those who have cognitive disabilities. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). This affects the Organisational Development and Professional Learning site.
The cookie consent banner fully obscures the keyboard focus indicator on some pages and/or some display sizes. However, this can be remedied by selecting ‘I’m OK with that’ in the cookie consent banner, whether a user has consented to unnecessary cookies or not. Without doing this, however, users who rely on keyboard focus indicators will not always be able to see the item with focus. As such, they may not know how to proceed, or may even think the system has become unresponsive. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (Level AA). This affects the full WordPress estate.
Some links send people to other University sites that have a different navigation structure but the link might not make it clear this change will happen. Users with cognitive limitations or visual impairments may find their experience is sometimes unpredictable. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA). This affects the Sustainability and Organisational Development and Professional Learning sites.
University Declaration Portal
All the following non-compliances apply to the University Declaration Portal. All issues are on our backlog with fixes and were expected to be implemented by the end of Q1 2025.
Some icons and images do not have a text-based alternative. Some information may be lost for people who are blind or have low vision. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A).
Screen reader issues
Screen reader users may not be able to access all headings and labels for input fields and may have to rely on placeholder hint text to identify input fields. This can cause confusion for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A).
Screen readers aren’t fully compatible with the platform’s date pickers and don’t announce selections and potential selections while users navigate. This may cause problems for people using screen readers and speech navigation software. Users are recommended to type dates into the relevant fields instead of using the date picker. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) and 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A).
Labels and text are announced to screen readers as being buttons when they do not function as a button. This may make the site confusing to operate for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).
Keyboard control issues
Keyboard focus order is not always in a consistent, logical and intuitive sequence. This is likely to cause confusion for keyboard and assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A).
On some screens it is possible to tab to controls that aren’t visible. When tabbing after opening a pop-up or form, users can navigate behind the window without explicitly dismissing it. This is likely to cause confusion for keyboard and assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A).
Keyboard focus is not consistently visible on all parts of the portal. People who rely on keyboard navigation may struggle to move around some parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA).
These non-compliances apply to the following sites and URLs:
Leeds Child Development Unit (CDU) - leedscdu.org
Chaplaincy - unichaplaincy.org.uk
As these sites are owned by the University but controlled by third-party suppliers or via a third-party codebase, the University will address these non-compliances with the suppliers with the expectation that all problems could be resolved by 2026.
Some images and graphical content don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy and Leeds CDU sites.
Autocomplete could be set on some input fields but isn’t. his may reduce ease of use for people with learning disabilities or cognitive or motor impairments. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA). This affects the Chaplaincy site.
Colour is used as the sole way of distinguishing links in some cases. This can cause difficulties for people who are colourblind or have low vision. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy and Leeds CDU sites.
There is some content that moves automatically that cannot be paused. This can be challenging for neurodivergent people. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy site.
There's no way to skip repeated navigation and other repeated parts of a page. This could make it more difficult to reach the main content of a Web page for people using screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy site.
Page titles aren't always descriptive enough to indicate to people where they are and what is available on the page. This may make the browsing experience difficult for blind people, those with low vision, people with cognitive disabilities and those use voice navigation. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy and Leeds CDU sites.
There might not always be more than one clear route to a page. Not all our sites have sitemaps, for example. People with cognitive impairments or who use assistive technology may find it's harder to get to the information they need. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA). This affects the Chaplaincy site.
Page headings and labels for interactive elements are't always intuitive. This can make things more challenging for screen reader users or those who have cognitive disabilities. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA). This affects the Leeds CDU site.
It's not always completely clear which part of the page has focus. People who rely on keyboard navigation may struggle to move around some parts of the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA). This affects the Chaplaincy site.
Some buttons don’t have sufficient alternative text and labelling. This may cause problems for people using screen readers and speech navigation software. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy site.
Labels and instructions on input fields could better describe what users should do. People who use screen readers or have cognitive or learning disabilities may struggle to always enter the correct information. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy and Leeds CDU sites.
Use of mark-up languages like ARIA, form labels, frame titles and more doesn't always follow correct practice. User of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech navigation software, may find the correct information or operation isn't always clear. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). This affects the Chaplaincy and Leeds CDU sites.
Mobile applications
We know there are University mobile applications that are not fully compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines. See our ‘Mobile app accessibility statements’ page to better understand the accessibility of this part of the University’s digital estate.
PDFs and other office file formats
We are always taking steps to reduce the number of PDFs and other office file formats we provide digitally – opting to create web pages instead where possible.
Teaching staff also have access to Blackboard Ally, which helps them provide more accessible learning materials through Minerva and automatically gives students access to files in multiple formats, such as html, mp3 audio and braille.
Inaccessible documents may remain live where an accessible alternative is also available.
Some of our PDFs and Word documents published before 23 September 2018 are essential to providing our services and are in scope of the accessibility regulations. For example, the web estate may contain some PDFs with important education information, and forms published as Word documents. We have and are working to either fix these, replace them with accessible HTML pages, or create replacement Microsoft Forms that meet accessibility standards.
Although effort has been made to address non-compliant documents, some may remain.
If you need information from this digital estate in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact IT Services:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as we can.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other office file formats
Documents published before 23 September 2018
Our digital estate contains thousands of PDFs and other documents created over several decades. These include things like past exam papers, posters intended for printing and forms.
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 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).
Inaccessible PDFs may remain live where an accessible web page accessible alternative document version is also available.
Media content
Pre-recorded time-based media
We haven’t added text and audio alternatives to all our time-based media published before 23 September 2020 because this is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Some non-live audio and video content does not have a descriptive text transcript or audio description. This will make it harder for blind or partially sighted people to access information in this media content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (Level A).
Some non-live video does not have synchronised captions. It will be harder for Deaf/deaf people and those who are hard of hearing to access information in this media content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (Level A).
Some non-live audio doesn’t have a descriptive text transcript or audio description. It will be harder for blind and partially sighted people, Deaf/deaf people and those who are hard of hearing, as well as those with cognitive and motor impairments to access information in this media content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level A).
Audio descriptions are not provided for all video content. It will be harder for blind and partially sighted people to access information in this media content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AA).
We have worked, and will continue to work, to ensure pre-recorded media published from 23 September 2020 is provided with transcriptions, captions and/or audio description as appropriate.
Recordings of teaching provided via digital education systems offers some capacity for closed captions. For example, video captures of timetabled lectures conducted via Mediasite and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra are processed for automated closed captioning.
Manual closed captions can be added to recordings of sessions conducted via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra and recordings of ad-hoc teaching through Mediasite.
Disability Services can support students with disabilities who require closed captions on recordings. Disability Services can be contacted via phone, email, or in person:
It’s possible some of our live time-based media, such as video streams, do not have synchronized captions. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.4 Captions (Live) (Level AA).
Technologies used by the University, such as Microsoft Teams, do provide automatic captioning although we recognise these aren’t always accurate.
Our online maps are not all accessible. The regulations do not apply to online maps as long as the essential information they contain is provided in an accessible format for maps intended for navigational use.
We know that some of the third-party content included in our digital estate is not accessible.
The accessibility regulations do not apply to third-party content that is not funded, developed, or controlled by the University, and many of these sites have their own accessibility statements. The searchBOX finder tool allows users to search for third-party accessibility statements. This also extends to some PDFs and other office file formats available throughout our estate.
We will work with our suppliers to make sure they know about any accessibility issues we find.
On the Careers site, when a reCAPTCHA expires, there is no ability to extend the timeout before it occurs, but users can reselect the ‘I’m not a robot’ checkbox to re-verify their session. However, screen reader users are unable to access the ‘Verification expired. Check the checkbox again’ expiry notice at all; they will be unaware verification has expired. This fails WCAG 2.2 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (Level A) and 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A). As this functionality is necessary for security, the reCAPTCHA cannot be removed. As the reCAPTCHA is controlled by a third party, neither Stonefish nor the University can apply a fix. Due to this being third-party content, not funded or controlled by the University, it falls under the exemptions permitted by regulations.
On the Careers site, the white text inside the Facebook ‘Share’ button at the end of job vacancy pages has a contrast ratio of 4.23:1 against the button’s blue background. As this doesn’t meet the 4.5:1 ratio, this text may be harder to perceive for some users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA). As the share button is controlled by a third party, neither Stonefish nor the University can apply a fix. Due to this being third-party content, not funded or controlled by the University, it falls under the exemptions permitted by regulations.
Reproductions of heritage items
Our Library website has lots of images of our archives that have not yet been transcribed, and we do not yet have a way to extract the text from all our manuscripts and other heritage items efficiently. Our online archives are not fully accessible, and fail almost all testing with accessibility tools. The accessibility requirements do not apply to heritage items that cannot be made fully accessible for this reason.
Our web estate contains many websites and sections of websites we consider to be archived.
Government accessibility regulations define an archived website as one that only contains content not needed for active administrative processes and is not updated or edited after 23 September 2019. The regulations state we do not need to fix archived websites.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Our accessibility roadmap, How we’re improving accessibility, shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility across the digital estate.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was first prepared on 12 September 2019. It was last reviewed on 22 August 2025.
Testing of the digital estate
The University of Leeds hosts over 2,000 websites and applications. Testing of all these areas of the estate is part of continual effort to improve digital accessibility throughout.
2019
A test of the University of Leeds digital estate was conducted between August and September 2019 by a third-party auditor, Accenture. Some of the non-compliances in this statement are informed by that report where sites haven’t substantially changed since this time.
To test our compliance with the WCAG 2.1 Conformance Level AA Guidelines, we chose a sample of these websites and applications based on factors such as how many people use the product and how often, how important it is, and where it is in the student journey.
Between 5 August and 6 September 2019, we tested our main website and a range of websites, applications, and mobile applications.
The testing process
We selected 61 applications, and the auditor tested a subset of pages (two, three, or four) from each application. Large, third-party applications had their accessibility statements used to document their compliance levels.
We selected 82 websites. The auditor tested each website’s home page and a subset of pages within each website.
The auditor also tested seven mobile applications.
All products were tested against the WCAG 2.1 AA Guidelines, and using three assistive technologies:
We used these tests to make an overall assessment about the University of Leeds’ websites and applications and to prioritise how we make them compliant.
2022
A digital accessibility audit of the main University site, and select other websites, was completed by Shaw Trust and delivered in July 2022. We are addressing all of the issues (see the earlier heading ‘Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations’).
A combination of automated evaluation tools and pan-disability user testing with assistive technologies was used to conduct a comprehensive accessibility audit. Testing was performed to WCAG 2.1 AA conformance.
A representative sample of the website was tested along with some specific pages requested by the University.
The testers used multiple browsers, browser tools and assistive technologies in an aim to locate issues. They then reported their findings and provided constructive feedback to help pinpoint and provide solutions to accessibility barriers.
2023
Internal digital accessibility testing formed part of the development process of a new version of the IT site.
An updated theme applied to the University’s WordPress estate in 2023 was tested to ensure it met WCAG 2.1 AA before implementation.
A test of the Leeds International Medieval Conference website was completed by Shaw Trust and delivered in 2023.
2024
In May, an internal accessibility audit was conducted on the Careers at the University of Leeds website, testing it against WCAG 2.2 AA. A representative sample of pages were assessed using automated, guided and manual testing. This included the use of assistive technologies across desktop and mobile devices.
A series of issues were identified and most of these resolved in June 2024. Remaining issues either have dates for when they are expected to be resolved, or are exempt under regulations. However the University is working to mitigate the impact to users of issues regarded to be exempt.
Evergreen testing
A high-profile portion of the University’s digital estate is monitored against some WCAG 2.2 AA criteria by an automated digital accessibility tool that is regularly checked. Valid issues inform parts of this statement.
Digital accessibility testing forms part of the development process for the University’s Design System used by, and planned for use by, several sites. This ensures new patterns meet WCAG 2.2 AA.