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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 public website https://heat.ac.uk, the members-only website  https://members.heat.ac.uk and all versions of the online database.

The HEAT Service want as many people as possible to be able to view and interact with its website and database. All content is designed for everyone 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 most of the website/database using just a keyboard
  • Listen to most of the website/database using a screen reader
  • Understand our complex 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 use this website and other websites more effectively.  Simple ‘how to’ guides to make your device easier to use | My Computer My Way (abilitynet.org.uk) provides advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. Explore some of our recommendations for tools that can make your online experience better.

Feedback and contact information

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 you are not happy with our response, you can contact us to register your difficulty. This helps us improve our systems. 

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

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

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The HEAT service is committed to making this website 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 (WCAG) 2.1 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 on a regular basis against WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Some parts of the website 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 missed, please contact us.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

HEAT is committed to making its websites, 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 download resources were accessibility friendly except the following identified items.

  1. Documents created prior to September 2021. The HEAT Service provides a variety of files created before this review that are not accessibility friendly. These files have been assessed and a summary of accessibility issues found can be provided. A large proportion of these resources were converted to PDF where it is difficult to assess and correct accessibility. The HEAT Service no longer converts to PDF unless necessary. It now publishes locked Word documents.
  2. Files from external sources. Documents and tables shared with the membership from external sources come pre-formatted. 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.
  3. Infographic Report. This report is currently being redesigned with accessibility as part of the update remit. Due to work scheduling, these changes will not be implemented until Spring 2022.
  4. Power BI PDFs. The HEAT Service has worked hard to ensure that all our Power BI templates are as accessible as possible. However, the option to print to PDF is present as part of the inbuilt Power BI functionality.  This functionality has not necessarily been set up to facilitate an accessible PDF.  This is Power BI functionality and out of the HEAT Service’s control. We can advise about this issue but cannot change it at present.
  5. Videos created prior to September 2021. As of September 2021, all HEAT video output will be captioned. However, all video content created before 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.
  6. ‘Welcome to HEAT’ PowerPoint. The HEAT Service Welcome PowerPoint is a useful resource for new members available via the website and File Store. At present it is inaccessible via a screen reader. It was deemed inappropriate to unlock this file and make it an editable PowerPoint. It will continue to be used with a caveat notice offering a different version upon request. Should the HEAT Service receive such a request, we will provide an accessible PDF.
  7. Sufficient Colour Contrast. The HEAT Service is aware of some text on the website lacking sufficient contrast to ensure accessibility.

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 team has been trained to create accessibility friendly resources. The next accessibility review of the HEAT Service will commence in January 2023.

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. A large proportion of these resources were converted to PDF where it is difficult to assess and correct accessibility. The HEAT Service no longer converts to PDF unless necessary. It now publishes locked Word documents.

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 from part of our ongoing and annual review.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 21 July 2020. It was last reviewed on 17th December 2021.

This website and database were last tested on 13 December 2021 by the HEAT Service.

Banner image courtesy of the University of Kent