Our accessibility goals
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels, and fonts using browser or device settings
- zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver)
We also aim to:
- provide an HTML option for documents where possible
- Use the correct heading tags so screen readers can understand the page structure
- include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them understand what they’re there for
- avoid using tables where we can
- write in plain English
View our accessibility roadmap for more information.
How accessible is this website?
We know some parts of this website and the microsites listed above are not fully accessible:
- Most PDF documents are currently not accessible to screen reader software.
- Video and live streams from external sources do not have captions.
- Interactive content, i.e. digital reports, data dashboards or education resources from external sources may not be compliant.
- Interactive map features may not be fully accessible for screen reader users.
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).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The Royal Academy of Engineering 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 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.
- Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
- When we publish new content, we’ll ensure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
- Some form elements are missing labels or accessible descriptions, which makes it difficult for screen reader users to interact with forms. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).
- We are currently reviewing and updating all form elements
- Some videos are missing audio descriptions where they have been provided by third parties.
View our accessibility roadmap for our plan and target dates for resolving non compliant issues.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
- PDFs and other documents: 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. For example, we do not plan to update old versions of our annual report or policy publications published before this date.
- Live video: We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
- Increasing size of text to 200%: As a solution to not increasing text by 200% is difficult as there is no lower limit so large headings get over expanded. What we suggest is to utilise modern browser zooming as the website is responsive and all elements will scale up proportionally.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 1st September 2024. It was last reviewed on 8th October 2024. This website was last tested on 14th March 2024 against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.
Accessibility testing was carried out by the Shaw Trust Accessibility Services, with support from third-party accessibility tools. The testing included automated accessibility checks and manual reviews of the most visited pages to ensure compliance with the relevant guidelines.
The website will be tested again by 31st October 2024 against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.
The final accessibility assessment report by the Shaw Trust will be available on this page from November 2024.