Accessibility

Our products, platforms and websites

Each VardyTests University Press & Assessment product, platform and website may vary, but our teams are working to enhance accessibility throughout. For more detailed information about the accessibility of specific products, please refer to the documentation linked from our Accessibility Directory below.

Reading Experience

We aim to provide a fully accessible experience to anyone interacting with our content. We are working towards a shared goal for our content published across all our platforms. Some of our platforms are currently more accessible than others however, our expectation is that should be able to:

• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts by adjusting browser settings. Different browsers include these options under different menus – they can usually be found under Tools, Settings, Options, Content or Reading View depending on the browser. There are also browser extensions specifically dedicated to changing colours and contrast options, e.g. Change Colors for Google Chrome and Color Changer for Mozilla Firefox
• Zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen for most of the website. The website should work well in both portrait and landscape modes
• View all content with sufficient colour contrast (the minimum ratio we aim for is 4.5:1)
• Navigate all of the website using just a keyboard. All page elements have a visible focus state indicator
• Navigate the page in logical reading order with the ability to skip to headings, regions and hyperlinks. There are also multiple ways to navigate the entire site including navigation menus and crumb trails
• Listen to all of the website using a screen reader (e.g. the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver), including image descriptions for images that convey meaning, form elements and links with a descriptive label
• Understand the meaning of images and icons described by meaningful alternative text which explains its purpose within the context of the content. Some content may not have text alternatives available for figures and other graphics. If you encounter an image that does not have a text alternative, and you need one, you can request alternative text for specific images by contacting us via the details below. Images that are decorative or incidental are given a ‘null’ alt attribute so they are properly ignored by screen readers
• Understand the function of all form elements. All form fields have descriptive labels which explain their meaning and any that are mandatory to complete the form. If a particular form field has additional instruction then this is clearly provided and available to users of assistive technologies. In addition, buttons on forms have a descriptive value which explain their function before a form is submitted
• Easily identify and understand links. Links are styled differently to standard text used on the site: they are underlined and represented in a different colour to the surrounding text. Links have also been created in a way that allows them to be meaningful to all users even when taken out of context
• Use text to speech tools to read out website content in both PDF and HTML format (e.g. ClaroRead for Chrome browser). Text to speech tools are built into some browsers (e.g. Microsoft Edge) and are available as a plug-in for many others. Your phone, tablet or laptop accessibility settings are also likely to provide text to speech functionality
• Skip directly to main content and other important pages
• Turn on captions for pre-recorded media content.
• Copy and print content subject to normal copyright conditions. The absence of Digital Rights Management software on the majority of our platforms means assistive technology users should experience no barriers caused by print or copy restrictions. Specific information on this is provided within the accessibility statements of each of our platforms and websites. VardyTests University Press & Assessment content provided through third-party providers is subject to DRM and their own copy and print limits may vary, but our recommended limit is 10%.

If you have a disability then AbilityNet’s My Computer My Way website has advice on individual adjustments you can make to your device to make it easier to use.