Accessibility statement

Accessibility Statement for the University of Greenwich website

This website is run by the University of Greenwich. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

This accessibility statement applies to the University of Greenwich website (www.gre.ac.uk).

This website is run by the University of Greenwich. 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
  • 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

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

  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text.
  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • Some older images lack text alternatives.
  • There is a limit to how far you can magnify the embedded Google Maps in our 'How to find us' sections.
  • On mobile devices, at large magnification (approximately 400%) the live chat widget on some pages can cover content.

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:

We'll consider your request and get back to you in two working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us using  our website accessibility information form or email accessibility@gre.ac.uk including details of the issue you experienced. You'll receive conformation of our receipt within two working days, and details of the steps we will take to evaluate and, if necessary, correct the problem.

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

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

The University of Greenwich is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

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.

Older images lacking text alternatives

Some images on older articles from 2018 or earlier do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). A project is underway to update or remove old images by September 2023.

PDFs and other documents

Some older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be marked up so they are accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). As older documents are replaced, they will be updated with accessible versions.

All PDF and Word documents on the website are currently being reviewed to assess whether they are still relevant. As part of this exercise, any documents identified as failing to meet accessibility standards will either be updated to ensure they are fully accessible by December 2023, or removed.

Disproportionate burden

Interactive chat tool

On some pages related to recruitment, we include a third party 'Live Chat' tool. At higher levels of magnification, on mobile devices, this can sometimes obscure other content on the page.

This tool is hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website, and then embedded on it. We’ve assessed the cost of fixing this magnification issue with and we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in April 2024.

The disproportionate burden assessment for this issue can be found on our website.

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

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

WCAG 2.1 defines three levels of conformance: level A, level AA and level AAA. This website treats WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance as a minimum requirement and aims for AAA. As a result, we apply some level AAA success criteria to all content:

  • Images of text are only used for pure decoration or where a particular presentation of text is essential to the information being conveyed.
  • Full transcripts or captions are provided for all videos.
  • Functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

How we tested this website

This statement was prepared on 23rd November 2022. It was last reviewed on 23rd November 2022.

This website was last tested in November 2022. The test was carried out internally by the Information and Library Services Directorate within the University of Greenwich.

Our testing methodology included the use of automatic tools (notably SiteImprove and the AccessibleWeb browser plugin) to conduct a broad assessment of potential technical issues, combined with manual testing to assess more complex requirements.

Due to the volume and number of University of Greenwich website pages, non-automatic testing was carried out against a sample of pages. We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test. The sampled pages were assessed to ensure we had covered a sufficient sample of content falling into the following categories:

  • Popular Pages (based on traffic numbers or which represent a key part of a likely user journey)
  • Complex Pages  (based on reported issues, flagging by automated systems and qualitative assessment by the university Web Team)

The manual tests carried out were the following:

  • Keyboard Test
  • Colour Blindness Test
  • Zoom Test
  • Text Spacing Test
  • Colour Contrast Test
  • Screen Reader Test

A full report was created as a result of this process. Outstanding issues, once identified, were then addressed or have been flagged within this statement.