View the site your way
There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use the Moodle VLE more effectively. You can change the colours, contrast levels, font styles and magnify the page to 200% or more without the text spilling off the screen.
AbilityNet provide 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.
We provide a facility within Moodle whereby resources can be downloaded in a range of alternative formats via Blackboard Ally or you can use SensusAccess for content outside of Moodle.
Feedback and contact information
Please contact us if you have an accessibility query including:
- If you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using Moodle
- If you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
- If you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made.
When you contact 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.
Alternative formats
We provide a facility within Moodle whereby resources can be downloaded in a range of alternative formats via Blackboard Ally or you can use SensusAccess for content outside of Moodle.
If you still experience barriers, contact us to request alternative format documents.
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 you can use our complaints process 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 Moodle’s accessibility
The University of Kent is committed to making Moodle accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Compliance Status
Moodle 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 and associated platforms on a regular basis against WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
Some parts of the website and associated platforms 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 an issue that we have missed please contact us.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
This section covers issues that we need to fix and are working to do so. The issues listed in this section refer to both the platform (Moodle / moodle.kent.ac.uk) and the content hosted in moodle.kent.ac.uk.
Moodle is an Open Source Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) which means that some aspects of its accessibility are outside of our immediate control.
Moodle has been working with an external auditor to review the platform since January 2020. Key pages within Moodle, which are representative of its overall accessibility and functionality, were audited with automated tools and user journey testing. The WCAG 2.1 Level A and Level AA issues raised from this audit have all been addressed in Moodle 3.10 and Moodle 3.9.3 (both released on November 9th 2020). A large number of these accessibility improvements have also been back-ported to Moodle 3.7.5+ and Moodle 3.8.2+, where possible.
On 10 November 2020, Moodle received WCAG 2.1 Level AA accreditation based on successfully resolving the issues identified in the audit.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA accreditation badge for Moodle issued on 10 November 2020
On 30 June 2021, the Moodle app also received WCAG 2.1 Level AA accreditation.
The Moodle known issues page identifies reported issues with Moodle accessibility and the Moodle accessibility standards page outlines the design principles behind it.
We list below further areas within Moodle that we know are not fully accessible at Kent. We plan to fix or provide alternatives for all issues that we are made aware of alongside our periodic internal testing and auditing processes.
Platform issues
Images without a description
Some images on our website don't have appropriate alternative text (WCAG: 1.1.1).
Incorrectly tagged decorative images
Images which are purely decorative are not identified as such as they do not have empty alt fields or relevant Aria labels (WCAG: 1.1.1).
Headings are not sequential
Heading tags are used inconsistently to create emphasis to text, rather than styling them with CSS (WCAG: 1.3.1).
Form labels
Some of the form elements are missing labels which explain the type of content to enter. Some of the forms have labels which are not persistent. These labels do not remain visible when the user begins to enter data in the fields (WCAG: 3.3.2)
Contrast Issues
Some pages contain elements with low contrast between the elements and its background particularly when under focus.
Moodle is developed by a third-party, with customisation applied locally by the University. Thus, some of the issues with the colour contrast may be fixed by Kent, however, some issues may be part of the Moodle platform that we cannot control (WCAG: 1.4.3).
Keyboard tabbing order
The keyboard tabbing order does not match the visual layout of the page (WCAG 2.4.3).
Page titles
Some of the page titles do not accurately describe the content of the page. Some of the page titles are not unique which can cause confusion (WCAG: 2.4.2).
Links without meaningful purpose
Some of the links are not labelled clearly. This means that the links do not make sense when they are taken out of context, and for some links it is not possible to know what the purpose of the link is (WCAG: 2.4.4).
Content issues
Contrast issues
Some documents contain text with low contrast between the text and its background. This can cause the text to be difficult to read, especially for those with low vision, poor eyesight, or colour blindness.
Images without a description
Some documents contain images that don’t have a description or alternative text. People with screen readers or other assistive devices rely on these descriptions to understand the image content and purpose.
Document untagged
Portable Document Format (PDF) tags are hidden labels that clarify the structure of the document and define what’s a heading, paragraph, table, list, etc.
Headings
Some documents may not contain marked-up headings providing structure to a document.
Non-Optical Character Recognised (OCR)
Some documents are either entirely scanned or contain pages that are scanned. Screen readers may therefore be unable to convert these images into words, even if the image only consists of text.
Users can create OCRed conversions of such documents using Blackboard Ally or SensusAccess.
Disproportionate burden
This section covers issues that we cannot fix right now. We’ve assessed the cost of fixing these issues but believe that doing so would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the law.
Captions
Some of our recorded content may not have captions by default. We produce fully edited captions upon request to ensure the accuracy of the information being provided.
All relevant new recordings will have automated captions from September 2020.
Please see our captions in KentPlayer guide for more information.
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.
PDFs and documents
Some of our PDFs that are not essential to providing our services were published before 23rd September 2018. We provide a facility within Moodle whereby resources can be downloaded in a range of alternative formats via Blackboard Ally or you can use SensusAccess for content outside of Moodle.
If you experience difficulty accessing these documents please refer to our list of tools that can help with access or you can request alternative formats. For more information please contact us.
Third-party content
Moodle contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of some of this content, but we make best endeavours to work with the third party to improve its accessibility. This may include:
- Turnitin for the submission and marking of assignments. Turnitin feedback studio turns submissions into an image-based PDF, which are inaccessible to people using screen readers
- Links to KentPlayer recordings (via Panopto)
- Links to external services such as Learning On Screen and Talis Aspire
To help accessibility compliance across the sector, the University of Kent supports searchBOX, a centralised, independent directory of third-party accessibility information.
searchBOX catalogues the contact information and accessibility statements of third-party suppliers, enables the sharing of community-generated accessibility statements, and allows users to map their supplier ecosystem.
Users can access third-party accessibility statements using the free searchBOX Finder service.
The University of Kent encourages all our partners and suppliers to support this effort by ensuring that their accessibility information is included in the searchBOX directory.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 15 May 2020. It was last reviewed on 22 August 2021.
Moodle was last tested on 10 May 2020. The test was carried out by the University of Kent.