Accessibility Statement

This website is run by University of the Arts London (UAL). This accessibility statement applies to the Comics Research Hub. Other websites and browser-based systems on the arts.ac.uk domain have their own accessibility statements.

This website uses HTML 5 (HyperText Mark-up Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to render content.

We commit to ensuring this website is as accessible as possible and we want as many people as possible to be able to use it. This means you should be able to:

  • access the website regardless of the device and browser you are using
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate some of the website using just a keyboard
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader

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 the website are not fully accessible:

  • This website uses the Auberge WordPress theme and we are unable to adjust the code of this theme to make it more accessible.
  • Navigating parts of the website using a keyboard or voice input may be difficult.
  • Where headings are used they are not always logical.
  • There are duplicate links on each page which may be confusing.
  • Some text is very small and may be hard to read.
  • Some images do not have alternative text.
  • The downloadable membership form is an accessible Word file. If you have problems completing the form please contact us and we will be able to help you further.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in an alternative, more accessible format please contact the Comics Research Hub at comicsresearch@arts.ac.uk.

Please include details of the content you need and the required format or the service you are trying to access. We will then work to get you the content or provide the service you need.

We aim to provide you with an initial response within two working days and will provide you with clear information about how we deal with your request.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Comics Research Hub at comicsresearch@arts.ac.uk.

We aim to provide you with an initial response within two working days and will provide you with clear information about how we deal with your request.

If you feel we have not answered your enquiry or complaint satisfactorily, please contact us again. We will escalate your complaint to UAL Research at research@arts.ac.uk, who will work with the team who provides the service/content to get you a response.

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

For information about contacting us by phone or to arrange a visit to our offices please visit the Contact Us page on our main website.

More information about accessing our buildings is available from AccessAble.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

UAL 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

  • The decorative images on the front page do not display alt-text due to the website theme. We have not met WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content (Level A).
  • In some cases, headings are not logical and pages may have multiple h1 headings. We have not met WCAG success criteria 1.3.1 Info and relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and labels (Level AA).
  • The menu items in the header do not have the required WAI-ARIA labelling. We have not met WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 Name, role, value (Level A)
  • The website does not have a skip to content link. We have not met WCAG success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass blocks (Level A).
  • Where text is rendered automatically by the website theme, some is very small and may not have sufficient colour contrast. We have not met WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum) (Level AA)
  • Because the theme automatically links the header logo to the home page, there are duplicate links to the Home page on each page. We have not met WCAG success criterion 2.4.4 – Link purpose in context (Level A).

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to make content fixes where possible and are considering whether using the Auberge WordPress theme is viable long term. We also plan to update our downloadable form so it is accessible.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on the 15th of September 2020.

Testing was carried out in-house. We used the following automated accessibility tools, assistive technology and manual testing methods to test a sample of pages of our website. These included:

  • WAVE from WebAIM
  • Manually auditing the alt text of all images
  • Manually checking colour contrast of text

The selection of pages we tested were:

  • Connections
  • Contact
  • Homepage
  • How to Join CoRH
  • Images
  • Outputs
  • Resources
  • Selected examples of Member and Associate Member profile pages