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Accessibility Statement

Find advice on using our website and database, and guidance on overcoming known accessibility issues. 

Icon of a User, representing HEAT's accessibility statement.
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Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT) Accessibility Statement

 

The HEAT website and database is run by the Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT) Service. It is a national non-profit-making collaboration between outreach providers that is owned and developed by its membership. This accessibility statement applies to the HEAT website https://heat.ac.uk and all versions of the online database https://data.heat.ac.uk.

The HEAT Service wants as many people as possible to be able to view and interact with its website and database. All content is designed for everyone to be able to find, read, and understand. It is compatible with assistive technologies and developed to meet the accessibility standards outlined in this statement. This means that you should be able to:

  • Zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen.
  • Navigate the vast majority of the website and database using just a keyboard.
  • Listen to most of the website and database using a screen reader.
  • Understand our policies and procedures, as they have been written in clear English and made as simple as possible to understand.

View the site your way

There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you to use this website and others more effectively. Simple ‘how to’ guides to make your device easier to use, available from My Computer My Way (abilitynet.org.uk), provide advice on making your device easier to use if you have a specific need. You can also explore some of our recommendations for tools that can improve your online experience.

Please email us if you have any problems, such as:

  • If you are experiencing issues with accessing information. Please let us know what information you are having difficulty with and where this information is located.
  • If you find an accessibility problem not listed in this statement.
  • If you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made.
  • If you have reported a problem with the HEAT website (heat.ac.uk), or asked for an alternative format, but are not happy with our response. Registering your difficulty helps us to improve our systems. 

When you email us there is a process in place that will acknowledge your communication, tell you who is dealing with it, and give you a timescale by which you can expect to receive a reply.

Reporting Accessibility Problems with this Website or Database

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, contact us to register your difficulty. This helps us improve our systems.

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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 how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical Information about this Website’s Accessibility

The HEAT Service is committed to making this website and database accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance Status

This website and database are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-Accessible Content

We formally test the accessibility of key user journeys that represent the breadth of content across our website and database on a regular basis, against WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

Some parts of the website and database may not work for everyone. Below are known issues that we either need to fix, cannot fix, or do not need to fix right now. If you find something that we have missed, please contact us.

The content listed below is non-accessible, and the reasons are outlined below.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

HEAT is committed to making its website, database and all resource outputs accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. All online and downloadable resources were accessibility friendly except for the following identified items:

The HEAT Service provides a variety of files which were created before our 2021 review that are not accessibility friendly. These files have been assessed and a summary of accessibility issues found can be provided by contacting support@heat.ac.uk. A large proportion of these resources were converted to PDF format where it is difficult to assess and correct accessibility. The HEAT Service no longer converts files to PDF format unless necessary.

Documents and tables shared with the membership from external sources come pre-formatted and some of the tables and documents do not adhere to accessibility guidelines. The HEAT Service cannot change these but still needs to make them available to the membership.

This Report is currently being reviewed. We are aware of its limited accessibility and are assessing suitable alternative formats.

The HEAT Service has worked hard to ensure that all of our Power BI templates are as accessible as possible. However, the option to print to PDF is inbuilt Power BI functionality which has not necessarily been set up to facilitate an accessible PDF. This is Power BI functionality and is out of the HEAT Service’s control. We can advise about this issue but cannot change it at present.

As of September 2021, all HEAT video outputs will be captioned. Video content created prior to this date is not. We will recommend that persons needing captions watch any pre-September 2021 videos via a web browser that provides captioning facilities.

This accessibility review is run in conjunction with the University of Kent.  All new development is accessibility checked as part of the design and development process.  The HEAT Service team has been trained to create accessibility friendly resources. The next accessibility review of the HEAT Service will commence in February 2026.

Content that’s Not Within the Scope of the Accessibility Regulations

This section covers issues that we do not need to fix right now. The law calls these exemptions.

Portable Document Formats (PDFs) and Documents

Some of our PDFs that are not essential to providing our services were published before 23 September 2018. These files have been assessed and a summary of accessibility issues found can be provided by contacting support@heat.ac.uk. A large proportion of these resources were converted to PDF format where it is difficult to assess and correct accessibility. The HEAT Service no longer converts to PDF format unless necessary.

If you have trouble accessing these documents, please refer to our list of tools that can help with access. For more information please contact us.

How we tested this Website and Database

We run an annual accessibility check in conjunction with the University of Kent. Any new developments to the database and website will be accessibility checked as part of the design and development process.  We are currently discussing setting up an Accessibility User Tester role which would form part of our ongoing and annual review.

Preparation of this Accessibility Statement

This statement was prepared on 10th December 2024. It was last reviewed on 17th February 2025.

This website and database were last tested on 14th January 2025 by the HEAT Service.

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