Accessibility Statement

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

This accessibility statement applies to the NCL Energy Academy website at energy.ncl-coll.ac.uk.

Compliance status

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

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Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

1. Form inputs without labels — Get Involved page

Two form fields on the Get Involved page (/get-involved/) do not have associated visible labels or accessible names. Users of screen readers cannot determine the purpose of these fields without independently identifying the surrounding context.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

2. Insufficient colour contrast — Event calendar date badges

On the Open Days & Events listing page (/open-days-events/), the month label displayed within event calendar badges uses white text on a red background (#ff004b). The contrast ratio is 3.92:1, below the required 4.5:1 for normal-sized text.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

3. Insufficient colour contrast — News article body links

On at least one news article page, hyperlinks within body content use a light blue colour (#6cc5fa) on a white background. The contrast ratio is 1.9:1, significantly below the required 4.5:1.

This text colour was applied within CMS-authored content rather than via a site-wide style rule. We are reviewing how content authors apply link colours.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

4. Scrollable region not keyboard-accessible — Homepage and About page (mobile)

On mobile viewports, the statistics timeline section on the homepage and About page contains a horizontally scrollable region (.overflow-auto) that cannot be reached or scrolled using a keyboard alone. Keyboard-only users cannot access the full content of this section.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

5. Search field relies on placeholder text only

The search field on the home page and course search field on the Course Search / Apply Now page uses placeholder text as its only visible label. Placeholder text disappears when the user begins typing, leaving no persistent visible indication of the field's purpose.

This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

We plan to fix this in a future scheduled website release.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 13 May 2026.

It was prepared following a technical audit of the website conducted by Newcastle College Group's Digital team, using automated accessibility testing via the axe-core rules engine (version 4.11) running within a Playwright browser environment. 31 pages were tested across desktop and mobile viewports against WCAG 2.2 Level AA criteria.

The statement was last reviewed on 13 May 2026.

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Feedback and contact information

If you find any content on this website that you cannot access, or if you need content in a different format, please contact us:

Email: enquiries@ncl-coll.ac.uk

We will consider your request and respond within 5 working days.

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).