UCD Web Accessibility Statement

University College Dublin (UCD) is committed to supporting the needs of people with disabilities and ensuring that its digital resources meet accessibility standards and international best practices. UCD follows the University for All approach to inclusion, which encompasses the entire institution.

Our websites are designed to be:

1. Technically accessible, allowing all users to access information and functionality.
2. Equally usable, enabling users with disabilities to carry out tasks without significant difficulty or time constraints.
3. Adaptable, allowing individual users to configure the websites according to their specific needs and preferences.
4. Compatible with widely available assistive technologies used by users

UCD strives to achieve "Level AA" conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and comply with the National Disability Authority's Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information Provided by Public Bodies. Additionally, we aim to ensure mobile accessibility as new devices emerge and incorporate accessibility considerations when procuring third-party systems or upgrading existing systems.

Currently, UCD monitors the accessibility of a majority of its websites (a total of 462 sites) through automated accessibility testing. These websites include all sites within the UCD domain hosted by UCD under our own DNS, as well as some externally hosted sites managed by UCD schools or units, such as research project sites.

Compliance Status

The websites affiliated with UCD partially comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at level AA. We assess compliance using the Silktide platform, which provides integral metrics used for improving the accessibility of the website.

Non-accessible content

We continuously work on improving compliance with the "A" and "AA" standards. We are actively addressing the following issues:

1. Some images lack informative and descriptive alt text.
2. Links, buttons, and controls do not change appearance when selected.
3. Insufficient color contrast in some text for visually impaired users.
4. Some PDF documents are not fully accessible.
5. Not all pages are optimized for mobile use, including those that don't require zooming or 2D scrolling on small screens.
6. Some video content lacks closed captions.

Preparation of this Accessibility Statement

To ensure accessibility, UCD employs specialist software from Silktide for automated accessibility testing. Active sites within the UCD platform are tested every five days, and audit reports are provided to site owners for necessary action.

This statement was last updated on November 30, 2021. We aim to update it whenever significant changes are required.

Reporting Accessibility Issues

We value your feedback on improving the accessibility of our website. If you have any accessibility queries or issues, please contact the respective website owner to address them.

Additional accessibility statements for individual UCD websites are listed here:

• Access and Lifelong Learning