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Moodle accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to University College London (UCL) Moodle 4.4

UCL Moodle (https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/) is run by University College London (UCL). It is designed in line with recognised good practice, and training in creating accessible content is provided to all site owners and editors. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, which means that you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate the website using speech recognition software
  • 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.

The Moodle Accessibility tool is no longer supported on UCL Moodle after the upgrade on the 27th July 2023. The Digital Learning Environment team investigated installing and updating the tool, but it was simply not compatible with the new UCL theme. There are a range of freely available tools to customise the look and feel of webpages, including Moodle. My Computer My Way offers suggestions on how to adapt colour and display settings on your device. You can also change colours and contrast to your preference by using a variety of third party tools such as Colour Enhancer for Chrome or Colour Changer for Firefox. Alternatively, a high contrast viewer such as High Contrast for Chrome may make your viewing experience easier. The Digital Learning Environment team will be working closely with the digital accessibility team to promote these and other alternatives to the accessibility tool.

How accessible this website is

Moodle is an open-source Virtual Learning Environment. This means that certain aspects of its design are not under UCL’s control. 

    We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of issues we currently know about in the non-accessible content section of this statement.

    • Some elements are not keyboard accessible.
    • Some elements do not receive focus visibility.
    • Some video and audio content may not have captions, transcriptions, or audio descriptions.
    • Some images do not have meaningful alternative text.
    • Some pages do not have sufficient colour contrast.
    • Some elements do not have accessible names.
    • PDFs (Portable Document Formats) and other documents are not fully compatible with screen readers.
    • Links are not always clearly described.

    We provide a facility within Moodle whereby resources can be downloaded in a range of alternative formats via Blackboard Ally or you can use Sensus Access for content outside of Moodle.  

    Feedback and contact information

    Should you find that some course materials are still inaccessible, you should contact the module lead in the first instance. 

    If you require technical support with UCL Moodle please contact the IT Service Helpdesk. See our Service Desk Help and Support pages for details about visiting in person.

    Resources and practical support with digital accessibility for students are available through the Digital Accessibility Hub.

    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, please contact us:

    Read tips on contacting organisations about inaccessible websites.

    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

    Resources and practical support with digital accessibility for students are available through the Digital Accessibility Hub.

    Technical information about this website’s accessibility

    University College London is committed to making its websites 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 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

    Non-accessible content

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

    Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

    This section covers issues that we need to fix and are working to do so. The issues listed in this section refer to both the UCL Moodle platform and the content hosted in Moodle. 

    Moodle is an Open Source Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) which means that some aspects of its accessibility are outside of our immediate control.  

    The core Moodle accessibility conformance report (VPAT® Version 2.4) is based on an audit of Moodle version 4.0. The audit was completed by Web Key IT in May 2022. In May 2023, Moodle 4.0 received the WCAG 2.1 Level AA accreditation. The conformance report is based on the results of an accessibility audit conducted by Web Key IT on a sample of 20 key pages. These pages were selected and agreed on by Moodle and Web Key IT as representative of the overall accessibility and functionality of the Moodle learning management system (LMS). The evaluation was completed following the WCAG Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM). The pages were audited manually and cross-checked using a team of website evaluators to ensure that the results and comments presented are valid and comprehensive. Separate and external testing of these pages has been conducted by a group of trained testers, all with disabilities. 

    We list below further areas within UCL’s implementation of Moodle (theme) that we know are not fully accessible. We plan to fix or provide alternatives for all issues that we are made aware of alongside our periodic internal testing and auditing processes. 

    Moodle Platform

    Secondary navigation tabs
    Some secondary navigation tabs can be navigated initially using the tab key but further navigation of the menus requires the use of cursor keys. So users need to use the tab key to navigate to the first tab and then switch to using cursor keys to navigate to and interact with related tabs.

    With the left hand menu there is an issue with how the collapsed and expanded nature of each section is read by screen readers. For example 'collapse General group' appears to be a label that is read beyond the immediate keyboard control to expand and collapse. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A). This issue is being addressed in the following Moodle Tracker Ticket (81703).

    Messages and Notifications
    At advanced levels of zoom the notifications and messages panels obscure some content from view when under focus. This fails WCAG 2.4.11 Focus not Obscured (AA). This issue is being addressed in the following Moodle Tracker Ticket (81702).

    Calendar
    Some presentations of the calendar (for example the mini-view in the right-hand block drawer) are not fully keyboard accessible for adding new events as is possible using a mouse unless it is a date with an existing event. For keyboard only users to add new events the Full Calendar view needs to be accessed and then the New Event button selected.  This fails 2.1.1 Keyboard (A).

    Marks Transfer Wizard
    In the Marks Transfer Wizard, the drop-down menu which allows users to jump to different module delivery tables for courses with more than one module mapping is not accessible by keyboard. Users will need to navigate to each table in the standard way. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) and 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (A).

    When linking an assessment component to a Moodle activity on the Select Existing Activity page, the filter assessments box is not accessible by keyboard. Users will need to navigate through the possible Moodle activities  in the standard way before they select one. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) and 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (A).

    Content

    In this section we have highlighted the most frequent issues reflected in UCL document content (by Anthology (Blackboard) Ally) contained in Moodle.

    Contrast - some documents contain text with low contrast between the text and its background. This can cause the text to be difficult to read, especially for those with low vision, poor eyesight, or colour blindness.  

    Images without a description - some documents contain images that don’t have a description or alternative text. People with screen readers or other assistive devices rely on these descriptions to understand the image content and purpose.  

    Document does not have a language set - some documents do not specify the language in which they have been created. Certain technologies, such as screen readers, rely on the specified language to determine how to process the content or pronounce the text inside of the document. 

    Documents untagged - Portable Document Format (PDF) tags are hidden labels that clarify the structure of the document and define what’s a heading, paragraph, table, list, etc.  

    Document is a missing a title - some PDF documents are missing a title. PDF titles are used as the document title for a PDF window or tab, making it easier to navigate to the PDF and understand the purpose of the PDF. 

    Headings - some documents may not contain marked-up headings providing structure to a document.  

    Tables - some documents contain tables that don't have or properly specify a header structure. People with screen readers or other assistive devices rely on a semantically meaningful and correct heading structure to help them navigate the table and understand the meaning of every cell, but it can be beneficial to everyone to have a clear structure in the table. 

    Course formats Onetopic/Tabs contrast
    We are aware of some colour contrast issues with Onetopic/Tabs. This is covered in the Moodle 4 – Quick tips for updating your course post. We will be addressing this as part of our specific course format work. My Computer My Way offers suggestions on how to adapt colour and display settings on your device. You can also change colours and contrast to your preference by using a variety of third party tools such as Colour Enhancer for Chrome or Colour Changer for Firefox. Alternatively, a high contrast viewer such as High Contrast for Chrome may make your viewing experience easier. This issue fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast Minimum (AA).  

    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. 

    Disproportionate burden

    At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.

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

    PDFs and other documents

    Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. We are currently working on fixing these essential documents or replacing them with accessible html web pages. 

    The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

    Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

    Video content

    We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We also have some existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the 23rd of September 2020. This content is also exempt from the regulations. All new video content we produce will have appropriate captions, audio descriptions and transcripts, as necessary.

    Online maps

    Our service includes the use of online maps to show certain geographical information. These are not used for navigational purposes and are exempt under the regulations. If you require the information presented in an online map in a different format, please contact us to discuss reasonable adjustments.

    Third-party content

    Moodle acts as a gateway for several third-party services over which UCL has no direct control e.g. Turnitin, Lecturecast, Reading List (Talis Aspire). Where accessibility issues arise in relation to third-party services and these issues are not already noted in those service’s Accessibility Statement(s), UCL will liaise with suppliers and encourage them to take remedial action.   

    This may include:   

    • Links to non-UCL websites  
    • Content/functionality on our website  
    • Content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites.   

    To help accessibility compliance across the sector, University College London supports searchBOX, a centralised, independent directory of third-party accessibility information. 

    searchBOX catalogues the contact information and accessibility statements of third-party suppliers, enables the sharing of community-generated accessibility statements, and allows users to map their supplier ecosystem. 

    Users can access third-party accessibility statements using the free searchBOX Finder service. 

    UCL encourages all our partners and suppliers to support this effort by ensuring that their accessibility information is included in the searchBOX directory. 

    The following Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) and third-party services and are integrated with UCL Moodle. UCL is working with each of the providers on accessibility improvements:  

    Our testing processes

    We referred to the Moodle accessibility conformance report (VPAT® Version 2.4) and selected a prioritised sample of UCL Moodle based on usage, criticality to the user experience and how representative it was of other pages using similar templates or covering related processes. 

    For third-party applications we have sourced accessibility statements from suppliers directly (wherever possible) and added these to searchBOX (a centralised, independent directory of third-party accessibility information) and documented this in our accessibility statements.

    What we’re doing to improve accessibility

    UCL has created a Digital Accessibility Policy to help us embed accessible by design approaches to our own development as well as externally procured digital systems and we are actively engaged in processes to assess and prioritise remediation of existing systems.

    In addition, accessibility is at the heart of our new Design System that will underpin all future digital system development. 

    Preparation of this accessibility statement

    This statement was prepared on 20 July 2023. It was last reviewed on 26 April 2024. This website was last tested on 10 February 2024. The test was carried out by UCL.