Accessibility

The Better Martial Arts website accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Better Martial Arts website.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our websites, and accessibility is an essential part of our mission. To adapt the content to your needs or preferences you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
  • Resize text up to 200% without impact on the functionality of the website.
  • Zoom in up to 400% without loss of information or functionality.
  • Navigate the website using just a keyboard.
    • tab to ‘Skip to content’ links at the top of the page to jump over repetitive information to the main content.
    • tab through the content; the current location will be indicated by a clear visual change.
    • control the embedded media player to play audio and video materials.
  • Use a screen reader (e.g. JAWs, NVDA) to:
    • listen to the content of web pages and use any functionality on the page.
    • list the headings and subheadings in the page and then jump to their location on the page.
    • bring up a list of meaningful links on the page.
  • Use transcripts or closed captions with most audio and video materials.
  • Download learning materials in alternative formats (e.g. Word document, PDF, ePub, Kindle eBook).
  • If you have a print disability we provide SensusAccess to students, which is an automated service that converts files from one format to another, for example, PDF to text, audio, Word or Braille.
  • AbilityNet also provides advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

We strive to exceed current accessibility standards. However, we know some elements of the website are not fully accessible:

  • Some third-party content not created by us.
  • Sites linked from Better Martial Arts but not run by Better Martial Arts.
  • Some activities (for example some of those involving maps, charts, graphs, online-experiments, interactive activities and features).
  • Some content with specialised notations, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and music.
  • Some online forms are not set up correctly to include helpful direction for screen reader users.

We aim to provide accessible alternative content or activities where we can. For more information please visit What Support is Available and for more guidance please visit Studying on a Screen.

Feedback and contact information

If you find that a certain section of our website is not accessible and you can’t get access to the information that you need please use this form to request support and we will ensure that you are provided with the information you require. You will need to provide your contact details and Personal Identifier if you are a student so we can get back to you. You should expect to hear back from us within 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our websites. If you find a problem that isn’t already listed on this page, or you think we’re not meeting the requirements of the current accessibility regulations (Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018), please use this Feedback Form which is monitored daily.

We will ask you for the web address (URL) of the page and a description of the problem. We will also ask for your name and email address so that we can contact you about your feedback. You should expect to hear back from us within 5 working days.

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 are not happy with our response and all our procedures have been exhausted, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). If you are based in Northern Ireland you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Contacting us

If you wish to contact us about anything not covered above, please email Support who will be able to forward your specific enquiry and requirements to the correct team.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Better Martial Arts 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

The website is mostly compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non accessible content

The vast majority of content elements in our websites are accessible and do not contain the problems below. This has been confirmed by internal testing and auditing.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Issues with technology

Current web technology is not capable of ensuring the accessibility of specialised notations (e.g. mathematics, chemistry, physics, music, phonetics etc.). We are monitoring developments in these areas and will improve our services as the technology matures.

Some online activities cannot be made fully accessible (e.g. categorising an image). Wherever practical, an alternative activity will be provided.

The level of accessibility during live events is limited. We are working closely with third-party suppliers and improving our internal systems to improve accessibility during live events.

The Better Martial Arts website provides links to external websites that may not meet accessibility standards.

Images

Some images which convey meaning do not have an informative text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (Non-text content).

Some purely decorative images (e.g. stock images) need to be marked as decorative within the code so screen reader technology can simply ignore these images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (Non-text content).

Meaningful links

Some link text does not provide enough information about the destination of the link. This makes it difficult for people using a screen reader to know where the link will take them, particularly if they are reading links out of context (e.g. in a list of links). This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.4 (Link purpose).

Some images which are also links do not have alternative text that describes the destination of the link. This means that screen reader software cannot use the alternative text to present a meaningful link title to users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.4 (Link purpose).

Skip links

“Skip to content” links have been added to pages which have blocks of repeated content at the top of the page, for example navigation menus. The aim of these links is to help people who use the keyboard instead of a mouse to quickly access the main content of the page. In some instances, these skip links are not working correctly, and do not take the user to the main content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks).

Navigating with the keyboard

Some interactive elements on the page such as links and buttons do not have a clear outline to show when they are in focus. This means that someone who is using the keyboard tab key to access these elements cannot be clear when a link or other element is in focus and can be activated. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).

Forms

We carry out regular site audits to identify and fix accessibility problems and when we publish new content, we strive to ensure it meets the highest possible accessibility standards.

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

The following types of content may not always be accessible, and they are not included within the scope of the accessibility regulation.

Video and audio

Wherever possible we will provide transcripts for audio, and captions, audio descriptions and transcripts for video. Sometimes these alternatives are not available.

Live audio and video

Adding captions to all live video streams is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

PDFs and other documents

We work to ensure that any PDFs or other documents that we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Maps

Online maps and mapping services are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Third party content not within OU control

Third party content that is not funded, developed by, or under our control is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.