Web Accessibility Training

Supported and unsupported web editing platforms

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Overview

If you're creating a website that represents the University, you are strongly recommended to do so using a University-supported web editing platform.

Your website must be compliant with accessibility regulations. Very broadly, this comprises three aspects:

  • An accessibility statement
  • Compliant design
  • Compliant content

When a website is created on a University-supported platform, the technical team providing support for that platform will look after the accessibility statement and the compliance of the design, as well as providing training and guidance for whoever edits the content.

Site editors, however, will still need to familiarise themselves with the training in order to maintain compliance for their content.

When web accessibility regulations change, a website may need some amount of redesign in order to remain compliant. The technical team managing the relevant platform will provide this, but the work may incur a charge, depending on the type of website and arrangement that you have.

If, on the other hand, you use an unsupported platform for your website, these additional responsibilities will be part of the role of the site owner.

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Supported platforms

Contacting technical support teams

Please note that 'the Digital Team', 'the Digital Learning Team' and 'Digital' are three separate teams.

Contact details

If you're not sure which team to contact, please refer to the list below to see which team supports the platform you're working with.

Terminalfour (T4)

Most of the University's websites are built in T4. The Digital Team oversee web accessibility for T4 websites.

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WordPress

Please note that the following are the only two options for supported WordPress sites. If you commission or create a WordPress site independently, it will fall under the category of unsupported platforms.

Staff and postgraduate students have the option to use WordPress to create a simple website or blog. There are two options for this:

  • A free option, using a standard set of templates. The Digital Team oversee web accessibility for these sites, but they do not build or edit the content.
  • A charged option, using bespoke templates. The Multimedia Design Studio oversee web accessibility for these sites. They will build the site, but do not provide a content editing service.

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ELE

Online teaching sites are built using ELE. The Digital Learning Team oversee web accessibility for ELE websites.

If you edit webpages using ELE, the following may be helpful background reading if you'd like to understand more about web accessibility, but there's no expectation to read them:

This website does not contain any practical training materials for your platform. Instead you will find these within the ELE training on SharePoint (staff only – link opens in new window).

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SharePoint

SharePoint hosts content for staff only. IT Services oversee web accessibility for SharePoint websites.

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Foleon

Some bespoke web content is built using Foleon. The Multimedia Design Studio oversee web accessibility for these sites.

Please note that these websites are specially arranged with the Design Studio. If you commission or create a Foleon site independently, it will fall under the category of unsupported platforms.

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PS Connect

PS Connect is managed by Business Technology Services.

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Database-driven web content

Bespoke database-driven content and apps are managed by IT Services and/or Digital, who also oversee their web accessibility.

Please note that for security reasons, database-driven web content on any University-hosted website must only be developed in consultation with IT Services and/or Digital.

Any instances of this type of content that have been developed without consultation and hosted on a University-supported platform, will be removed without prior notice.

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Unsupported platforms: stand-alone websites

In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to commission an external individual or organisation to create a bespoke website. If this is undertaken without the oversight of one of the technical support teams, it is considered to be a 'stand-alone website', which will entail additional responsibilities for the website owner (i.e. the person responsible for commissioning the site). These responsibilities should be considered before embarking on this course of action.

To find out more about how these sites are managed, please see stand-alone websites.

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