Advice Zone Online: Accessibility

Advice Zone Online Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to Advice Zone online, the first point of contact for all your student enquiries.

https://advicezone.southwales.ac.uk/

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This website is run by the University of South Wales. This service is provided by a third-party supplier Target Connect. We configure the service but do not control the underlying code. Some accessibility limitations arise from third-party components used by the supplier within the product.  

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 200% without the text spilling off the screen
• Navigate most of the application using just a keyboard
• Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• Listen to most of the application 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 can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the non-accessible content section of this statement.

• Some of the text on our website is not as easy to read as it could be due to poor contrast.
• Some of our interactive elements such as forms and buttons do not have useful labels or text, making them harder to use.
• Our page structure is sometimes not as clear as it should be making it harder to make sense of the information based on how it’s structured. 

Alternative formats

We've designed our content to be as accessible as possible. However, if you experience barriers, you can request alternate formats.

For more information, please email [email protected] or contact us. 

Feedback and contact information

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

Please contact us if you have an accessibility query, including:

• If you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
• If you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
• If you have feedback on the accessibility considerations made.

When contacting us, please provide:    

• the web address (URL) of the page where you found the problem
• what the problem is, and whether you were using a mobile or desktop device
• the name and, if possible, version of the web browser you were using
• any assistive technology you use, for example a screen reader 

Please email [email protected] or contact us. 

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The University of South Wales is committed to making this 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 (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

1. Images without alternative text: Several images lack alternative text, which is essential for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
2. Colour contrast issues: Some elements have insufficient colour contrast, making them hard to read for users with visual impairments. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast Minimum).
3. Keyboard access issues: Some controls and calendar widgets cannot be reached or operated with a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard).
4. Focus indication: Some interactive elements do not show a visible focus state. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
5. Forms without clear labels: Some form fields lack clear, associated labels. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions), and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
6. Link purpose not clear: Some links are not titled in a meaningful way when read out of context. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose).
7. Page titles: Some pages are not titled to reflect their content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled)
8. Landmark structure: The main landmark is missing on some pages, some content sits outside landmarks, and there are duplicate navigation landmarks without unique labels. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
9. ARIA and semantics: The user profile menu uses ARIA role “menu” incorrectly and misses required child roles; some list structures are not semantic. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value) and 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.

Ongoing improvements are made dynamically throughout the year following feedback from our ongoing audit processes and users.

Disproportionate burden

We are not claiming a disproportionate burden for our website.

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

At this time, we have not identified any content that is not within scope of the accessibility regulations.

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

While this website is designed to meet the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, which require compliance with WCAG 2.2 Level AA, we are actively reviewing and updating our content and services in line with the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which comes into effect on 28 June 2025.

This website is partially compliant with technical standard EN 301 549 v.3.2.1. See Non-accessibility content for more details.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

The University of South Wales is doing the following to improve accessibility:

• We are developing a Digital Accessibility Policy
• We have a Digital Accessibility Working Group to monitor and coordinate Digital Accessibility of our Services and Systems

Preparation of this accessibility statement

Pages from across the site were tested against WCAG 2.2 AA using axe DevTools Pro v4.10.3 and Chrome Lighthouse 12.8.2 Tests ran on Mac OSX and Windows in Firefox and Chrome, NVDA v2025.3.1.

This statement was prepared on 20/07/2020.

This website was last tested on 04/02/2025.

It was last reviewed on 17/02/2025.

This accessibility statement is reviewed annually.