UWTSD Moodle is a virtual learning environment run by University of Wales Trinity Saint David. We want as many people as possible to be able to use Moodle. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of Moodle using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of Moodle using speech recognition software
  • listen to most Moodle content using a screen reader

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible is UWTSD Moodle?

Moodle is open-source software that has a core development team which is constantly working on improving the interface to maximise the user experience and a large part of this relates to accessibility.

The Moodle developers follow many industry guidelines including WCAG 2.0 to make Moodle as accessible as follows. More information can be found in Moodle's accessibility section.

We know some parts of UWTSD’s Moodle aren’t fully accessible – Moodle maintains a list of known accessibility issues which they attempt to resolve on an ongoing priority basis.

UWTSD Moodle course content is prepared and provided by individual teaching staff and accordingly the University cannot guarantee that all content is compliant. However, the University has put in place VLE Baseline Standards and is in the process of publishing updated Teaching and Learning Standards for Moodle content which sets out detailed requirements for content, including in respect of accessibility.

The University regularly provides training and reminders to staff on the importance of implementing the VLE Baseline Standards when creating Moodle content. We have also published guidelines on teaching for accessibility including how to provide accessible learning in relation to individual conditions and disabilities.

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

If you need information on UWTSD Moodle in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact the relevant Module tutor in the first instance.

For general UWTSD Moodle accessibility queries and requests, or to report any accessibility problems not identified in this statement, please contact the Moodle 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).

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within five (5) working days.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

University of Wales Trinity Saint David is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

We cannot guarantee that all images have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We cannot guarantee that all headings on pages have been correctly styled to assist people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We cannot guarantee that all links are descriptive of their content and destination. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.9 (link purpose).

We cannot guarantee that section headings are used on all pages to organise the content. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.10 (section headings).

Moodle integrates with the third-party provider Turnitin to support academic integrity and online marking. Certain aspects of Turnitin’s product do not meet WCAG 2.1 and are outlined in Turnitin’s accessibility overview.

Disproportionate burden

Many of our interactive activities are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

Interactive content created using H5P which is integrated into Moodle may not be fully accessible due to accessibility issues with the H5P software itself – please see H5P’s accessibility overview. We neither pay for nor have any control over this software.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will continue to assess this situation as part of our ongoing review of Moodle as the University’s virtual learning environment.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. Therefore we do not intend to change those PDFs, but as part of our ongoing work on improving accessibility through the UWTSD Moodle Baseline Standards and Teaching and Learning Standards, we will be providing training, guidance and support to staff to maximise the accessibility of documents published after this date.

Live video

Live video streams don’t have captions. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).

We don’t plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Testing Moodle for accessibility

We use an accessibility checklist to manually check a representative sample of pages from across our VLE. This statement will be updated as soon as possible if any additional accessibility issues are identified.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are currently taking the following steps to improve accessibility:

  • Accessibility is a key element of the University’s VLE Baseline Standards which are published and available to all staff. We undertake regular training and awareness-raising events together with regular audits of compliance against the VLE Baseline Standards, the results of which are reported to Deans of the Institutes.
  • We have published a detailed guide on our Teaching and Learning Resources area for staff to understand how to improve accessibility in their teaching, including specific guides on how to improve accessibility in relation to individual conditions and disabilities.
  • Moodle 3.10 has been certified as AA compliant with WCAG 2.0 – we will be updating Moodle to version 3.10 in August 2021 to ensure that our Moodle VLE is as accessible as possible.

This statement was prepared on 1June 2020. It was last updated on 11 March 2021.