• Web accessibility training
• Web accessibility legislation
• Exemptions

Web accessibility legislative exemptions

Applying exemptions

The scope of PSBAR

PSBAR is applicable to all of the following types of University web content:

• all websites – both public facing and those behind logins.
• web applications that are only used by staff and/or students and/or other limited groups.
• web applications that are only used on campus.
• web content funded, developed or controlled by the University, even if it's hosted on a third-party website.

However, within this initially broad scope, PSBAR exempts certain types of content from compliance, as described below.

Determining exemption status

It's recommended that you read through all of the exemptions that could potentially apply to the content you're querying, before determining whether that content is actually exempt.

For example, a video on an intranet may not be exempt as intranet content, but may nevertheless be exempt as an old video, as different dates apply to each of these exemption criteria. If any of the exemption criteria apply to the content in question, then it will be exempt.

If, after reading the exemptions, you're not sure whether your web content is exempt, please contact the technical team supporting the web editing system you use.

Exemptions list

Third-party definitions

The term 'third party' (or 'third-party') is used in the explanations below as follows:

• in relation to people, 'third party' means an individual or organisation who is not employed and has not been commissioned by the University to produce work on their behalf – i.e. the content they create is not University content in any respect.
• in relation to websites and items of web content, 'third party' is legislatively defined, as that which is not funded, developed or under the control of the University.

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Maps

Maps are exempt as long as essential navigational information is provided by an accessibility-compliant digital alternative.

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Content created by a third party and uploaded or embedded into a University website

In this context, 'third party' means an individual or organisation who is neither employed nor commissioned by the University.

Any content created by a third party and uploaded or embedded to your website is exempt only if that content was not funded, developed or under the control of the University. If any of these three conditions apply, then it is not exempt under this particular criterion.

An example of this kind of exempt content would be a document:

• produced by a third party (no University development)
  and
• without input from the University (no University control)
  and
• without University funding and provided free of charge for University use (no University funding)

Where this kind of content is exempt, it's nevertheless worth enquiring of the third-party whether an accessible version is available. If the third party is a UK public sector organisation, they are obliged to provide either an accessible alternative or contact details where an alternative can be requested, unless they declare the content to be exempt (in which case they should give a reason).

When an accessible version is available

Ideally, the accessible version would be the one uploaded; exemption status is then irrelevant.

However, if a non-compliant original is still to be used on your website, one of the following should be included on any page that displays that content:

• the accessible alternative
  or
• contact details where an alternative can be sought. These contact details may be for an individual or team within the University, or the third party directly, as appropriate to the situation. There should also be contact details on the accessibility statement.

When an accessible alternative is not available

Generally, this kind of non-compliant content with no accessible alternative is to be avoided whenever possible and replaced as soon as feasible.

If the content includes messaging that is vital to fully understanding the message of the page, then some other method of communicating that message should be found.

If you intend to go ahead with using the content, ensure that the accessibility statement says that the website contains third-party content which is exempt. It's not required for the statement to specify which content this refers to, but obviously that would be useful information, so it's recommended that you do specify whenever possible, especially as there should be few instances of it.

However, if the third-party is a UK public sector organisation, and they have explained that they do not need to provide an accessible alternative by reason of another exemption, then that reason should also be on the accessibility statement in relation to that particular content.

In either case

• Even though the content itself is exempt, make sure that you're adding it to your site in an accessible way, as the method you use will not be exempt. So, for example, if you link to it or embed it under a heading, then that heading must be at the appropriate level relative to the other page content.
• It's a good idea to make clear, on the page where the content is situated, that it is third-party content. It may be necessary, in any case, to provide third-party credit or attribution. Some embedded content will do this automatically (for example, YouTube videos are often automatically labelled as such).

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Linking to content outside your website (also known as external links)

When creating external links, you only need to be concerned with the accessibility of the link itself, not the accessibility of the content you're linking to. The exception here is if your team is responsible for the content you're linking to, even if it's hosted elsewhere, in which case you should also refer to content created by the University and hosted on a third-party website.

But when simply focusing on the link, the following are best practice:

• where you have a choice, you should obviously seek to provide links to the most accessible available content.
• if the content you're linking to is vital to fully understanding the message of your webpage, then an accessible method of communicating that message should be found (i.e. you may need to find another way in addition to or instead of the link).

The accessibility statement should include a line noting that your website includes links to content created by third-parties, and that such content is exempt. This is fairly standard for accessibility statements, as most websites link to external content over which they have no control.

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Content created by the University and hosted on a third-party website

This type of content is partially exempt. It should be compliant as far as the website will allow – i.e. the elements that you are able to edit should be compliant – but the rest is exempt.

Some websites offer specific tools to make your content more accessible on their site, and these should be used where appropriate. Third-party websites should have their accessibility compliance taken into account when they are selected to host University-created content.

Examples

• On a third-party video site where you have uploaded a video, you may have no control over how the video is displayed, but the video itself should be created as compliant prior to upload.
• On a third-party social media site where you have posted a message, you may have no control over the way the message buttons work, but the message content should be as compliant as the site will allow.
• On a third-party ticket-selling site where you have added an event, you may have no control over the ticket purchasing interface, but the content describing the event should be as compliant as the site will allow.

You don't need to be concerned with an accessibility statement in this situation, as that's the responsibility of the owner of the website.

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Content created by the University and hosted on a third-party website, which is then embedded back into a University website

If you're embedding this type of content back into your own site, it will be partially exempt. Some third-party sites will be quite specific about the code you must use to embed the content into your site and, as such, any elements over which you have no control are exempt.

The elements to pay attention to are those over which the University does have control:

• the original media uploaded to the third-party site must have been compliant.
• the way in which you embed the media must be compliant, as far as the embedding code will allow. So, for example, if you embed the content under a heading, and that heading isn't part of the embed code, then the heading must be at the correct level relative to the rest of the content on the page. The embed code itself may provide options for altering the display of the content, in which case whether and how you deploy those options should be decided with accessibility in mind.
• ensure that the accessibility statement for your website includes a note about the embedded material, with an explanation that the code used to embed it is exempt due to its status as third-party content. This makes clear that the media itself is not exempt, but the code used to display it is.

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Online reproductions of items in heritage collections

Online reproductions of items in heritage collections are exempt if:

• the act of creating an accessible reproduction would somehow affect the preservation of the item (for example, the item is too fragile, or very sensitive to light).
  or
• altering the reproduction to make it accessible would affect the historical authenticity of the end result (for example, ancient text may be difficult to read due to the style of the lettering, but this is part of its authenticity).
  or
• an automated and cost-efficient solution, that would easily extract the text of the item and convert it into accessible content, is not available. It should be noted that this exemption of cost-efficiency is very specific to items in heritage collections.

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Online documents in non-web formats

This refers to documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF format.

The first choice for adding content to your site should always be as a web page rather than a document. Only where this can't be done should a document be added, and in this situation:

• the document must be made as accessible as the application will allow.
• use of this type of file must be included on the covering accessibility statement for your site, as it isn't fully compliant.
• you should be prepared to edit the document as and when new accessibility features are available for it.

For a document that is not exempt

You should:

• work to make it as compliant as possible, or replace it with something that is.
• ensure that the failing is included on the accessibility statement that covers the website containing the document.
• provide an accessible alternative, or contact details where an alternative can be sought.

For a document that is exempt

You do not need to make the content compliant. However, you must ensure that the accessibility statement explains that the website includes this type of content, and that it is exempt by reason of its date of publication and the fact that it is no longer used for any current process or activity.

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Old intranets

An intranet is exempt if:

• it was initially published before 23rd September 2019
  and
• it has not undergone a substantial revision since 23rd September 2019 (i.e. 23rd September 2019 was the last possible date for substantial revision, not initial publication).

In this context, 'intranet' is defined as a website only available to a closed group of people, which typically means via a login. Web content that is labelled as an intranet, but accessible by the general public, is not considered an intranet in this context, and so not exempt.

Exempt intranets must still be covered by an accessibility statement, which should list WCAG failings and other notes in the normal way. However, the statement should also include a clear indication that the content is exempt from accessibility compliance due to its status as an intranet with restricted access, its date of initial publication, and the fact that it hasn't undergone a substantial revision since 23rd September 2019. For this reason, it's a good idea for an exempt intranet to have its own accessibility statement, to avoid confusion.

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Archived content

Archived content is exempt. In this context, archived content is defined as that which:

• has not been edited since 23rd September 2019 (inclusive, i.e. 23rd September 2019 was the last date of permitted editing)
  and
• is not part of any current process or activity.

There's no requirement to label the content as an archive in order for it to be exempt, nor does it need to have restricted access, unlike intranet content.

Please note that there is no indication that the date of 23rd September 2019 will change, so content that is simply 'old', or no longer used, is increasingly less likely to qualify as an archive in this context.

Archived content must still be covered by an accessibility statement, which should list WCAG failings and other notes in the normal way. However, the statement should also include a clear indication that the content is exempt from accessibility compliance due to the fact that that it hasn't been edited since 23rd September 2019 and isn't part of any current process or activity. For this reason, it's a good idea for archived material to have its own accessibility statement, to avoid confusion.

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Audio and video

Audio and video content is exempt if:

• it was published before 23rd September 2020
  or
• it's a live stream (but see the note below on live-streamed content).

Live-streamed content

Once the streaming has ended, the content is no longer considered live or exempt.

UK regulations do not give any indication as to how long is permitted, after the end of the broadcast, to make the content accessible. However, the EU directive on which the UK regulations were originally based, acknowledges that time will be needed for this. It states that a period of 14 days from the date of the intial broadcast should be sufficient, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

14 days is therefore generally taken as the time limit for this task. In the meantime, a simple notice indicating the following should be included with the media item:

• that work to make the content accessibility-compliant is in progress
• the date by which it should be completed
• who to contact if a transcript is needed before that date.

Post-streamed content that can't be made accessible within 14 days of broadcast should be removed from the website until this is done.

If the content is to be uploaded to a University website, you will also need to include a note on the accessibility statement, that the website contains, or may contain, live-streamed content, and that this type of content is exempt from compliance.

As with other types of content, the Equality Act 2010 also applies to live-streamed content, both before and after it has been made compliant. This means that an alternative may be requested in formats other than a straightforward transcript (e.g. braille), and this should be supplied if the request constitutes a reasonable adjustment.

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Important: alternative versions of exempt content

It's important to be aware of this, so that anyone making such a request is not incorrectly told that the content is exempt from this requirement – this is not the case, and this response would be a confusion of the terms of two different pieces of legislation. This type of request must be fulfilled, unless doing so would not be a reasonable adjustment.

The difference is that under the Equality Act, the alternative is supplied on request, whereas the terms of PSBAR require insitutions to proactively edit their online content to make it accessible.

PSBAR-compliant content is less likely to be subject to an alternative format request, simply because it will be more accessible to begin with, but PSBAR compliance doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility.

When a request for an alternative format is made:

• if the requested material is not PSBAR exempt in its original form, then any alternative supplied in a digital format should be PSBAR compliant, as far as that format will allow.
• if the requested material is PSBAR exempt in its original form, then any alternative does not need to be PSBAR compliant. It should be noted, however, that compliance would still be considered good practice for digital alternatives in this scenario, albeit not legally required.