AI experiments

Accessibility Statement

Introduction

This accessibility statement applies to the website at the address below, which is owned and operated by Oak National Academy Limited. https://labs.thenational.academy

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Change colors, contrast levels, and fonts;
  • Read and use most of the website while zoomed in up to 400%;
  • 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.

There are many options for you to customize your web browser and device to help you navigate this (and other) websites more easily. AbilityNet has helpful advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Feedback and contact information

We appreciate your feedback and your understanding, particularly if you are experiencing a frustrating problem with accessing parts of our website, including our lessons. We are keen to offer a service that supports as wide a set of needs as possible.

If you need information on this website in a different format, like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, or braille:

Report an issue by completing the short form found on our contact-us page, https://www.thenational.academy/contact-us

Please also contact us if you find any problems which are not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements.

How accessible is our website?

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (“the accessibility regulations”). We build our site to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and the Draft Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2. We are compliant with these standards except as highlighted below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Controls for a 'Feedback' widget component are not keyboard accessible;
  • Skip links are missing which should allow users to bypass repeated elements such as the page navigation;
  • Some form fields are missing required attributes to let users know they are needed along with labels stating the fields are also required;
  • Text can be found styled as a heading but does not have the appropriate HTML tag along with some pages having illogical heading hierarchies;
  • Several buttons have generic label text which does not specify the button's purpose;
  • Buttons that control interactive elements are missing appropriate attributes or labels;
  • Content is presented visually as a list, but the HTML structure does not reflect this;
  • Pages contain multiple header elements, but they have no unique names or labels to help differentiate them;
  • At 400% zoom there are some reflow issues with elements and when adjusting the text spacing some content is clipped off the page;
  • Error suggestion text is not specific about how to resolve issues.

Disproportionate burden

We've assessed the cost of fixing the issues listed below with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

Navigation and accessing information

  • It's not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content;
  • It's not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping in some circumstances.

Interactive tools and transactions

We use Hubspot to host a support knowledge base at support.thenational.academy. Some pages on this subdomain fail some automated accessibility checks.

What are we doing to improve accessibility

As highlighted above, we have work planned to address areas of non-compliance (except for cases of disproportionate burden).

The website currently undergoes daily automated quality assurance testing during our deployment process. We also do regular manual quality checks with Gov.uk's published list of modern browsers. We regularly commission an independent accessibility audit on a sample of pages to highlight areas requiring improvement.

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).

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 27 September 2023 and is amended regularly, in line with any changes we make to our website.