Web accessibility statement
This statement applies to content published on:
Georeferencer
Other websites that also belong to The University of Manchester and use manchester.ac.uk sub-domains are managed locally and will publish separate statements with information relevant to them. These include websites of our academic Schools and research institutes, among others.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website and we are continually working towards improving its accessibility. We follow general principles of usability and universal design, and endeavour to meet level 2 (AA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
This website will allow you to:
- zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard or speech recognition tools
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader
- view essential audio-visual information (captions or transcriptions are provided in most cases)
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible.
Please see the Technical Information section below for more detailed information on known accessibility issues.
Making changes to your device
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Also, the University’s Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) website offers up-to-date information for prospective students and staff with specific learning difficulties, disabilities, sensory impairments, mental health difficulties and medical conditions.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
Please contact us via the ‘Library Help’ pages if you require information on this website in a different format, have an accessibility query (including about content not within the scope of the accessibility regulation), identify any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements:
Please provide the web address (URL) of the page(s) in which you find the problem, a description of the issue and your name. We will consider your request and get back to you within ten working days.
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 a complaint about accessibility please let us know. If you remain unsatisfied, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
We are committed to making our website accessible, in accordance with the accessibility regulations. This website is partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard, due to the instances of non-compliance and exceptions listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
- In the page code, some <frame> or <iframe> elements do not have a title. Users of screen readers and other assistive technologies rely on frame titles to describe the contents of frames. Navigating through frames and inline frames can quickly become difficult and confusing for assistive technology users if the frames are not marked with a title attribute. (WCAG 4.1.2)
- Some links do not have a discernible name. Link text that is discernible, unique, and focusable improves the navigation experience for users of screen readers and other assistive technologies. (WCAG 2.4.4)
- Internationalisation and localisation: in the page code, the <html> element does not have a [lang] attribute. To ensure correct pronunciation, screen readers use a different sound library for each language they support. Screen readers can switch between these language libraries easily, but only if a web page specifies which language to read for a given piece of content. If a page doesn't specify a language for the <html> element, a screen reader assumes the page is in the default language that the user chose when setting up the screen reader, often making it impossible to understand the content. (WCAG 3.1.1)
- In the page code, some heading elements are not in a sequentially-descending order. This could provide navigation issues for visitors using assistive technologies to ‘read’ the page. (WCAG 1.3.1)
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some non-essential PDF documents that were published before 23 September 2018 may not be fully accessible. All subsequent PDF documents will comply with accessibility regulations.
Third party-content
Our site uses, and / or links to third-party content which the University does not design or control and therefore accessibility standards may vary. This website is built and published on the third party, ‘Georeferencer’ platform:
Maps and reproductions of items in heritage collections
This website contains maps and archival imagery that may not be accessible to all users.
While maps and reproductions of items in heritage collections are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations we will continue to investigate ways to use emerging technology to improve the accessibility of our maps and heritage collections.
How we tested this website
This statement was prepared on 6 September 2021. It was last reviewed on 6 September 2021.
This website was last tested on 6 September 2021. The test was carried out by The University of Manchester Library. The scan report highlights any content that is not compliant with WCAG 2.1.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We have an ongoing programme of work to address any accessibility issues that are highlighted by our weekly scans. We are continually working on our content and site structure and finding ways to make the site more intuitive and easier to navigate. We are developing guidelines on how to create accessible content to help those colleagues working on our websites.