Accessibility Statement

The accessibility statement covers all information on the college website. If you have clicked on this page for information on how Student Support can help you as a student in College, please click for Student Support here.

This website is managed by Riverside College and Cronton Sixth Form College.

We are committed to ensuring as many people as possible can use the website. For example, you should be able to:

  • Change colours and contrast levels with your browser
  • ZOOM in and out using the mouse or the keyboard
  • Navigate the website using just the keyboard
  • Use speech recognition software if you have a microphone
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader if you have speakers.
  • Access alternative text for images as appropriate (not all images need alt text)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

Accessibility applications (Navigating the Website)

AbilityNet has great advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.  Click on the link Ability Net to access this advice.

There are also accessibility applications available through your browser. e.g.

  • Ctrl/+ to enlarge, or Ctrl/-
  • Windows key/+ to open the magnifier and read aloud functionality. This facility also initiates the ‘Read Aloud’ facility if you want to use it.

Also (for example), in the Chrome web store there are some free Google accessibility extensions.

There are also free tools at Call Scotland available for use with Windows.  These tools include (according to their website) an organiser, colour overlays, and a text-to-speech tool.   They can be installed on and run from a USB pendrive which is convenient.

Feedback and Contact:

Please contact us if you encounter any barriers to accessing the information you need or if you need information in a different format, such as PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille.

Also, if you have suggestions as to how we can improve accessibility, please contact us.

Please direct all accessibility related enquiries to the ‘Head of Marketing’ by:

Email: info@riversidecollege.ac.uk

Call: 0151 257 2800

We will consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days allowing for public holidays and college closures (e.g. at Christmas and over the summer break)..

Limitations to accessibility

We know that some parts of the Riverside College website are not fully accessible, for example:

  • Navigation using only a keyboard can be difficult because it is not always clear where the focus is and the focus does not always progress in a logical order
  • Older documents are not fully accessible and don’t respond to accessibility applications (e.g. to screen reader software)
  • The spacing of text cannot be altered
  • Some images do not have appropriate alternative text
  • Videos do not have subtitles

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) at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/

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.

Our contact details are at the top of this page.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Riverside College is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

The Riverside College website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-Accessible Content

Current web technology is not capable of ensuring the accessibility of specialised notations e.g. mathematical notation, music etc.   We will monitor developments and improve our services as technology matures.

Some on-line content provided by staff may not be made universally accessible. 

Where the Riverside College website provides links to third party websites these websites may not meet accessibility standards.

Some of our older documents do not meet accessibility standards because they don’t provide the information required by more recent assistive technology applications.  They may have met earlier standards.   We aim to have all essential documents available in accessible formats.

Some documents not supplied by the college web development team will not be accessible.   We will work with suppliers of such documents to improve the provision of accessible documents.

Documents created for distribution in printed form which are also available on the Riverside College website may not be accessible because of their specific design and layout.

Testing the Website

The Riverside College web presence consists of many pages across different platforms.   Many pages have been tested and some improvements have been made. We will update to WCAG 2.1 and higher standards as we update the website generally and when specific accessibility issues are identified.

Improving Accessibility

The college Accessibility Working Group is working towards implementing the Accessibility Regulations.  Since 2019 the primary websites have been improved by making it clearer and more coherent, use of colour to provide good contrast.  Most of it can now be magnified, background colour can be adjusted (using available browser extensions), and screen readers function to a degree on most pages.

We are developing further accessibility training for Riverside College and Cronton Sixth Form College staff which includes accessible content and accessible documents training. There is also an accessibility page on our intranet that staff can refer to.

We are committed to continuing to make improvements.  Web accessibility is now included in and subject to monitoring by the college’s Risk Register.  The college Risk Management Group meets termly.

Accessibility Statement updated by Riverside College/Cronton Sixth Form 12/07/2022