Accessibility Statement

We are committed to ensuring our website is accessible to the widest possible audience, including individuals with disabilities. This statement outlines our efforts to improve accessibility and our compliance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Scope of this Accessibility Statement
This accessibility statement applies to the main website at https://www.preston.ac.uk/. It covers all pages and services that are hosted on this domain and excludes third-party services not under our control.

Compliance Status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

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

• Focus visibility in ‘Related Courses’ section – On the T-Level in Digital Production, Design & Development Course listing page, the keyboard focus becomes lost when tabbing between the next arrow and the ‘Concept4’ link in the footer. Additionally, when accessing the ‘Related Courses’ carousel, focus moves to links not visible on the screen, and the navigation buttons lack focus. At 200% and 400% zoom, there is also no visible focus on the hamburger menu icon. This fails WCAG 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
• Keyboard accessibility for navigation controls – On the home page, the navigation controls in the banner slider cannot be accessed using a keyboard, including radio buttons and tabs like ‘Find your career’ and ‘Search our courses.’ At 200% and 400% zoom, the ‘Search our courses’ tab remains inaccessible by keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
• Images of text – The main banner on the home page includes images of text, such as ‘NEW! ADULT COURSES GUIDE…’ and ‘NEW! FOUNDATION DEGREE…’, which may not be accessible to screen reader software. This fails WCAG 1.4.5 (Images of Text).
• Insufficient color contrast – On the home page, various elements lack sufficient color contrast, affecting readability. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 (Contrast – Minimum):
  • ‘View all news’ and ‘View calendar’ links when selected by mouse.
  • ‘Got it!’ button in the cookie pop-out.
  • Links in dropdown menus in the header, such as ‘Leadership Team’ in the ‘The College’ dropdown, and links like ’14-19 School leavers’ and ‘Apprenticeships’ in the navigation bar.
  • ‘Search our courses’ tab header, date text in ‘News’ slides (e.g., ‘3 July 2024’ in news entries), ‘Events’ heading, and links within the carousel (e.g., ‘Apprenticeship open event 2024’).
  • Card links for ‘Sports Centre,’ ‘Elements Training School,’ and ‘Room Hire.’
  • Footer links such as ‘Concept4’ and ‘Accessibility’ on hover.
• Content dismissal on hover or focus – There is no mechanism to dismiss additional content that appears when hovering over navigation bar dropdown links, such as ’14-19 School Leavers’ and ‘Employers,’ without moving the pointer. This affects multiple pages, including the Home, Contact, Online Application, Apprenticeship Courses, T-Level Course listing, and Accessibility Statement pages. This fails WCAG 1.4.13 (Content on Hover or Focus).
• Reflow issues at high zoom levels – At 400% zoom, several elements are inaccessible or unclear. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 (Reflow):
  • Links in the hamburger menu are limited to ‘Student’ and ‘Staff,’ and other links are no longer available, especially on smaller screens (e.g., 320×256).
  • The ‘01772 22 50 00 (General Enquiry),’ ‘01772 22 55 22 (Course Enquiry),’ and ‘01772 22 57 68 (Employer Enquiry)’ phone links in the header are replaced by a single icon, limiting context and choice for users.
  • The ‘Accessibility’ toolbar and specific options within it, such as ‘Increase Text,’ are not visible.
• Multimedia – Some videos do not have captions, audio descriptions, or suitable alternatives. This fails WCAG 1.2.2 (Captions) and 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative).
• PDFs – Not all PDFs published before 23 September 2018 are fully accessible to screen reader software. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
• Forms – Some forms are built using third-party software and may be difficult to navigate using just a keyboard. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).

We are actively working on addressing these issues and are committed to improving our website’s accessibility.

Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared on Thursday 17th October 2024, following an internal accessibility audit. The audit involved both manual and automated testing using tools.

Review of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was last reviewed on Wednesday 30th October 2024 and will be updated annually or as significant changes to our website are made.

Feedback and Contact Information
We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our website. If you encounter any problems not listed on this page, or if you need content in a different format, such as an accessible PDF, large print, audio CD, or braille, please contact us at:

Email: marketing@preston.ac.uk
Phone: 01772 225000
Postal Address: Preston College, Fulwood Campus, St. Vincents Road, Preston, PR2 8UR

When you contact us, please provide:

• The web address (URL) of the content
• Your name and email address
• The format you require – for example, plain text, braille, BSL, large print or audio CD

Enforcement Procedure
If you are not satisfied with our response to your accessibility query, you can contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). They are responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

For more information, visit the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) website at https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/.