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SharePoint Online accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to SharePoint Online.

SharePoint Online is run by University College London (UCL). We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website, which means that you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader

There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively. AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. We have provided accessibility guidance on how to navigate SharePoint pages via our Microsoft 365 Accessibility hub site. The Creating Accessible Content section has information on best practice when designing an accessible site and the tools to use to check this. We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a full list of issues we currently know about in the non-accessible content section of this statement.

Feedback and contact information

Please contact us if you have an accessibility query including:

  • If you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the service
  • 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:

The IT (Information Technology) Services Service desk aims to respond to emails within one business day. 

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF (Portable Document Format), large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact us.

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, please contact us:

Read tips on contacting organisations about inaccessible websites.

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).

If you are in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland who are responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

University College London is committed to making its websites 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 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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.

Non-text Content

  • Page authors are able to mark images as decorative. However, the focus is landing on the images via tab key even after marking them as decorative. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A).

Info and Relationships

  • Many Web Parts introduce a level 2 heading to pages without providing a means for users to change that heading level.
  • SharePoint does not allow users to control headings level in section names.
  • Screen Readers are not announcing tooltip information of 'General' Control while navigating using tab/shift tab key.

This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).

Sensory Characteristics

  • There is no control for the user by which the user can define the tooltip content so that once the end user navigates, they get the proper help text in the form of a tooltip. This fails WCAG 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (A).

Keyboard

  • Permalinks of all the expandable/collapsible sections such as 'Section1', 'Section2' etc. present on the page are not keyboard accessible because of nested interactive controls.
  • Keyboard focus is not moving to the 'Edit' control present at left pane while navigating using tab/shift tab key.
  • Event cards and the controls present inside the cards in the page are not accessible with keyboard.
  • Tooltip of the links present in the footer section are not accessible with keyboard.

This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A).

No Keyboard Trap

  • Keyboard focus sticks on the 'Stock Images' page. This fails WCAG 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (A).

Focus Order

  • Focus moves to the browser controls after pressing Tab key from the 'Resources' dropdown present in the header section on the page.
  • After adding an image focus is incorrectly moving to 'Add image' button.

This fails WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order (A).

Label in Name

  • Visual name and programmatic name is not the same for the 'Learn to use conditional formulas in a list form' link. This fails WCAG 2.5.3 Label in Name (A 2.1 only).

Language of Page

  • SharePoint allows site owners to set the language at a site level and create translated versions of full pages. This fails WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page (A).

Name, Role, Value

  • Names, Roles, and Value are not properly defined for the text editor in the Code Snippet Webpart. However, screen reader users are able to include and edit code snippets in SharePoint pages using the Markdown webpart. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

Contrast (Minimum)

  • Default SharePoint themes adhere to contrast ratio rules, but there are some links/areas where the contrast ratio doesn't meet the requirement. Site creators are responsible for ensuring custom themes comply with colour contrast guidelines. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA).

Resize Text

  • Users are unable to edit the SharePoint page at 200%. This fails WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text (AA).

Reflow

  • Reflow is supported for all scenarios except for page editing, which requires a two-dimensional layout for meaning and usage.
  • Document Libraries are accessible at 400% zoom but require two-dimensional scrolling for meaning and usage.

This fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow (AA 2.1 only).

Non-text Contrast

  • Contrast ratio for the focus indicator on links does not meet the contrast guidelines. This fails WCAG 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (AA 2.1 only).

Focus Visible

  • Keyboard focus is not visible on 'See all link' throughout the page. This fails WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA).

Language of Parts

  • SharePoint does not provide a way for page authors to set the language of specific parts of the page. This fails WCAG 3.1.2 Language of Parts (AA).

Consistent Navigation

  • Inconsistent navigation observed while navigating on the cards present in the highlighted content webpart. This fails WCAG 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (AA).

SharePoint is a third-party application, and these issues require fixes to be applied by Microsoft. We have contacted Microsoft asking for an update on when these issues will be fixed and will provide updates based on their roadmap.

Whilst the SharePoint platform is largely compliant, we have no control over the content uploaded to sites by users which may make a site inaccessible.

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. We are currently working on fixing these essential documents or replacing them with accessible html web pages. 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Video content

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We also have some existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the 23rd of September 2020. This content is also exempt from the regulations. All new video content we produce will have appropriate captions, audio descriptions and transcripts, as necessary.

Online maps

Our service includes the use of online maps to show certain geographical information. These are not used for navigational purposes and are exempt under the regulations. If you require the information presented in an online map in a different format, please contact us to discuss reasonable adjustments.

Third-party content

Our websites contain third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we make best endeavours to work with the third-party to improve its accessibility. This may include:

  • links to non-UCL websites
  • content/functionality on our website
  • content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites
  • documents which are sent to us and uploaded, or comments left on pages by members of the public

To help accessibility compliance across the sector, University College London 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. 

UCL encourages all our partners and suppliers to support this effort by ensuring that their accessibility information is included in the searchBOX directory. 

Our testing processes

We referred to the Microsoft SharePoint conformance report found on the Microsoft Accessibility Conformance Reports pages.

For third-party applications we have sourced accessibility statements from suppliers directly (wherever possible) and added these to searchBOX (a centralised, independent directory of third-party accessibility information) and documented this in our accessibility statements.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

UCL has created a Digital Accessibility Policy to help us embed accessible by design approaches to our own development as well as externally procured digital systems and we are actively engaged in processes to assess and prioritise remediation of existing systems.

In addition, accessibility is at the heart of our new Design System that will underpin all future digital system development. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 27 November 2023. It was last reviewed on 27 November 2023. This website was last tested on 27 November 2023. The test was carried out by Microsoft.