Accessibility Statement for the Associate Lecturer (AL) Recruitment website

The Open University is committed to making its websites and mobile applications accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to the Associate Lecturer (AL) Recruitment website.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our websites and mobile apps, and accessibility is an essential part of our mission. On our Accessibility hub, you'll find everything you need to answer any questions you have about accessibility, whether you're a student or a member of staff.

To adapt the content to your needs or preferences you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
  • Resize text up to 200% without impact on the functionality of the website.
  • Zoom in up to 400% without loss of information or functionality.
  • Navigate the website using just a keyboard.
    • tab to ‘Skip to content’ links at the top of the page to jump over repetitive information to the main content.
    • tab through the content; the current location will be indicated by a clear visual change.
    • control the embedded media player to play audio and video materials.
  • Use a screen reader (e.g. JAWs, NVDA) to:
    • listen to the content of web pages and use any functionality on the page.
    • list the headings and subheadings in the page and then jump to their location on the page.
    • bring up a list of meaningful links on the page.
  • Use transcripts or closed captions with most audio and video materials.
  • Download learning materials in alternative formats (e.g. Word document, PDF, ePub).

If you have a print disability we provide SensusAccess to students, which is an automated service that converts files from one format to another, for example, PDF to text, audio, Word or Braille.

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

Compliance status

This website application is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Info and Relationships

Some ARIA parent role values applied to elements must contain specific child elements and role values to perform intended accessibility function. Some elements have children which are not allowed. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships (Level A) standard and will be resolved by the end of September 2025.

Colour Contrast

Some links have insufficient colour contrast of 1.17:1 with the surrounding text. (Minimum contrast is 3:1, link text: #0e56a7, surrounding text: #4d4d4d). This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA) standard and will be resolved by the end of September 2025.

Use of colour

Some links have no styling (such as underline) to distinguish it from the surrounding text. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.1: Use of Color (Level A) standard and will be resolved by the end of September 2025.

Language of page

Some pages do not properly identify the language that content is written in. This can cause screen readers and other assistive technologies to mispronounce words or struggle with interpreting text in different languages. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A) and will be resolved by the end of September 2025.

Link text

Some link text does not provide enough information about the destination of the link. This makes it difficult for people using a screen reader to know where the link will take them, particularly if they are reading links out of context, (e.g., in a list of links). This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (Level AA) and will be resolved by the end of September 2025.

Keyboard navigation

Some interactive controls (links, buttons, and form fields) do not have a clear visible focus. People using a keyboard will find it difficult to understand where they are on a page. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.7: Focus Visible (Level AA) and will be resolved by the end of September 2025.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16 January 2025.

This statement was last reviewed on 31 March 2025.

This website was last tested on 16 January 2025.

This website was tested using the Accessibility Compliance Toolkit (ACT) which is an internal toolkit used to identify and check web pages for accessibility by conducting basic accessibility testing. This basic testing covers essential aspects of accessibility, but it doesn’t include all the WCAG 2.2 Level AA Success Criteria. Using the ACT combines manual checks with automated tests across a sample of pages identified as being representative of most or all of the components used on the website. The accessibility testing conducted on this website includes evaluating alternative text, colour contrast, content resizing, content structure, form labels, language of page, link text, keyboard navigation, captions and skip links.

The following accessibility testing methods and tools were used:

  • W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) checks (alternative text, content structure, language of page, keyboard navigation, skip links).
  • Axe DevTools automated checker (colour contrast, form labels, link text).
  • Manual checks (content resizing, captions).

Accessibility testing was conducted by the People Services Hub.

Feedback and contact information

If you find that a certain section of our website is not accessible and you can’t get access to the information that you need, please use the Open University Accessibility Feedback Form to request support, and we will ensure that you are provided with the information you require. You will need to provide your contact details and Personal Identifier if you are a student so we can get back to you. You should expect to hear back from us within 5 working days.

The OU is very experienced in meeting accessibility needs for our students. In many cases, we are able to provide module and other study support materials in alternative formats for students who indicate a need for this when completing a Disability Support Form.

In addition, some module materials are available in different formats and can be downloaded from module websites. Students can contact their Student Support Team for advice.

If you are a student, or someone who has had contact with the University before, and have a complaint about the accessibility of our websites, you should raise a complaint via the complaints and appeals process. 

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 are based in the UK, and you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).