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Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Milton Keynes College Group website, located at www.mkcollege.ac.uk

This website is run by Milton Keynes College.  We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.  For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts (using our Userway accessibility widget)
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

This accessibility statement outlines the work we have undertaken, rebuilding our website to make it as usable and accessible as possible – in addition to documenting areas we still need to improve.

Naturally we want to provide the best possible browsing experience for everyone, across all types of devices and assistive technologies.  There is some useful information from the organisation AbilityNet on making your devices easier to use which may be of interest.

Where we’ve made improvements

We know parts of our previous website were not accessible, which is why we have built our new website with accessibility, usability and inclusive design at the forefront, to aim to conform to the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA underpins these regulations, and compliance ensures websites are Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust (POUR).

On our new website:

  • Images now have a text alternative, so everyone can access these descriptions.
  • ‘Skip to content’ links have been introduced to improve the navigation experience for all. You can now bypass the navigation and move straight to the main content.  
  • There are now distinguishable navigation landmarks (sections) that benefit those using assistive devices.
  • Breadcrumbs (which help signpost where users are on the website) are now present on all second-level and below pages.
  • Our forms are now much easier to navigate using just a keyboard and the descriptions/labeling for some input fields has been improved.

How accessible this website is

There are a few areas within the website that are not fully accessible.

  • some third-party embedded forms do not state attributes and have keyboard focus on hidden elements
  • some areas of the site could have their colour contrast improved
  • live video streams do not have captions
  • some links are not clearly identifiable via additional decoration
  • there are images of text on some pages that should be text or appropriate downloadable documents
  • some images are missing a text alternative
  • some link text is too generic
  • target size issues on some elements (e.g. top navigation and A-Z component)
  • some inline embedded iframes are missing a text descriptor

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, or braille:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in five working days.

Please note that arranging for alternative formats may take longer.  However, we will respond to you within the above time frame to discuss your requirements.

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 email website@mkcollege.ac.uk or call 01908 684444 and ask to speak to the website team.

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)

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired, or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us here.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Milton Keynes College is committed to making its website 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 2.1 AA standard.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

1.3.1 Info and Relationships

  • Required ARIA attribute is missing: Checkbox elements on HubSpot embedded forms should be accompanied by specific ARIA attributes.

Issue occurs on:
On all HubSpot forms that have checkboxes. Unfortunately these are third-party forms so we don’t have direct control over their accessibility.

1.4.1 Use of Colour

  • Links are not clearly identifiable: Colour alone is not enough to distinguish a link from the surrounding text.

Issue occurs on:
Standard hyperlinks throughout the site have no additional decoration (e.g. underline). Fix date: June 2025.

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

  • Color contrast does not meet minimum requirement: There is insufficient colour contrast between the text and background to meet the minimum contrast requirement. The below issue fixes are a mixture of development style additions and internal content editing.

Issue occurs on:
There are instances of white text on brand colours that do not meet AA. This is being reviewed by Milton Keynes College and appropriate components will be updated. Fix date: TBC, 2025. There are other instances such as light grey on white in the application form that will be fixed by June 2025.

1.4.5 Images of Text

  • Images with large amounts of text: Text should be used to convey information rather than images of text, to help with both readability and for users using assistive devices.

Issue occurs on:
Careers advice: There is an embedded calendar image which is hard to read. Ideally this should be a PDF download and it should
be of the electronic file rather than an image so screen readers or similar assistive technology can read the text. Fix date: TBC, 2025.

About MK College: The ‘Our Values’ section has a large image with the six values and their descriptions. This should be normal text
and not as part of the image. The icons can then be separated. Fix date TBC, 2025.

2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

  • Links should have a text alternative: If an image link is missing an accessible name, screen reader users will not know the link’s context.

Issue occurs on:
Home: The microsite image tiles at the bottom of the page are affected. Fix date: July 2025.

Link text is too generic in its current context: Some links do not contain any context to aid in identifying their purpose. Link text should
be written contextually where possible, as generic text such as ‘click here’ gives no indication to the destination. This occurs on several
pages throughout the website, e.g. A Level Staff Recruitment, which has a ‘click here’ link. These are being reviewed by Milton Keynes College. Fix date: TBC, 2025.

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value

  • Inline frame missing a text alternative: Every inline frame (iframe) should have a text alternative that summarises its content or purpose.

Issue occurs on:
Open Events: Thinglink embed within the ‘Explore our Chaffron Way & Bletchley Campuses’ section at the bottom of the page. Fix date: July 2025.

  • Role with implied hidden content has keyboard focus: Some form elements have a role that implies their internal structure should be hidden from assistive technologies.

Issue occurs on:
Some HubSpot forms. Unfortunately these are third-party forms so we don’t have direct control over their accessibility.

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

Live video
We do not plan to add captions to all live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Accessibility and inclusivity are of paramount importance to Milton Keynes College. We continually evaluate our website – working closely with our external web development agency – to make sure it conforms to accessibility standards.

We recently completed an audit of all existing PDFs on the website and corrected them all from an accessibility perspective (e.g. descriptive titles). We will ensure that all future PDF documents are fully compliant or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

We also give users the ability to use our UserWay accessibility toolbar which has numerous useful features; such as the ability to simplify the page, text-to-speech, text enlargement, screen masking and translations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in May 2021.  It was last reviewed on 12 May 2025.

This website was last tested in April 2025 by MK College’s web agency, Dream Digital, using Siteimprove.

WCAG 2.1 compliance issues have been flagged from our recent audit. All remaining issues are currently in the development roadmap to be addressed. More information and timeframes are available in the ‘Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations’ section on this page.