Accessibility

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

1. Insufficient colour contrast

Several brand and interactive colours used across the site fail minimum contrast requirements:

· White text (#ffffff) on a green background (#42e2a4) achieves a contrast ratio of 1.66:1, well below the required 4.5:1.

· White text (#ffffff) on a blue background (#2393f6) achieves a contrast ratio of 3.19:1.

· Dark navy text (#1a2d59) on a bright blue background (#2393f7) achieves a contrast ratio of 4.21:1, just below the required 4.5:1.

These issues are present across a large number of pages, including on call-to-action buttons and highlighted content sections.

These fail WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

2. Buttons without discernible text

Pagination controls on course listing, search results, and other listing pages contain icon-only buttons that have no visible label, aria-label, aria-labelledby, or title attribute. Screen reader users cannot determine the purpose of these buttons.

This affects a large number of pages across the site, including /courses/ and course application pages.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

3. Links without discernible text

A number of links across the site use only an SVG icon as their visible content. Where the icon has aria-hidden="true" and no aria-label, aria-labelledby, title, or screen-reader-only text is provided, these links have no accessible name. Screen reader users cannot determine the destination or purpose of these links.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A) and WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

4. Select element without an accessible name

A sort-order dropdown on search and course listing pages has no associated label, aria-label, or aria-labelledby attribute. Screen reader users cannot determine the purpose of this control.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

5. Touch target size below minimum

A number of interactive elements across the site — including links and buttons — have a clickable/touch target area smaller than the 24×24 CSS pixel minimum required by WCAG 2.2. This can make navigation difficult for users with motor impairments on touch devices.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (Level AA).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

6. Navigation menus and interactive content not keyboard accessible

Several areas of the site cannot be reached or used with keyboard navigation alone. The Tab key skips past navigation dropdown sections on the Home Page, and pressing Enter or Space does not open these menus. On the Support page, section navigation arrows only appear visually when the mouse hovers over a section — they are absent during keyboard navigation and only the first section heading remains accessible. On the About page, the Term Dates dropdown and other expandable content require a mouse to operate. The home page image carousel is also keyboard inaccessible: pressing Enter on a carousel arrow causes the next slide to display as blank before the page skips to the next section entirely.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

7. Cookie consent banner not fully keyboard accessible

The cookie preferences panel cannot be dismissed using the Escape key and must be closed by pressing Enter on the close (×) button only.

This may involve a third-party cookie management component; we are investigating what direct control is available.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

8. Hover-triggered content cannot be dismissed and hover-only interactive elements

Navigation dropdown content on the Home Page, once opened via keyboard navigation, can only be dismissed by pressing Enter — not by pressing Escape. On the Support page, section navigation arrows are only rendered when the mouse hovers over a section; they are not visible or operable via keyboard, meaning keyboard users cannot see or access these navigation controls at all.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

9. Keyboard focus indicators have insufficient visibility

When navigating the site using a keyboard, the visible focus indicator is difficult to distinguish on several element types: a black outline against dark navy radio button controls is not sufficiently distinct; red and blue borders around arrow-style links are barely visible against similar background colours; and focus indicators on the About page's arrow buttons are unclear. At higher zoom levels, the focus indicator on the cookie preferences panel also overlaps surrounding content.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA) and WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.11 Focus Appearance (Level AA).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

10. Images without meaningful alternative text

A number of images across the site do not have an alt attribute where one is needed, or have alt text that is present but not meaningful — for example, images labelled with generic values such as "NewcastleCollege Adults 8". These descriptions do not convey the content or purpose of the image to screen reader users. The home page image carousel also lacks alternative text labels and cannot be navigated past the first slide using keyboard only.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

11. Search field relies on placeholder text only

The search field on the home page and course search field on the Course Search / Apply Now page uses placeholder text as its only visible label. Placeholder text disappears when the user begins typing, leaving no persistent visible indication of the field's purpose.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

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).

Feedback and contact information

If you find any content on this website that you cannot access, or if you need content in a different format, please contact us:

• Email: enquiries@ncl-coll.ac.uk

We will consider your request and respond within 5 working days.