The statement covers https://www.crestawards.org.

The purpose of the Crest website is to provide information about the Crest Science Awards, their benefit to student’s STEM development, and the cost of the awards. This web platform is run by the British Science Association, who are committed to making their website as accessible as possible for persons with visual, hearing, cognitive and motor impairments. The users are able to:

●       change colours, contrast levels and fonts

●       zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen

●       navigate most of the website using just a keyboard

●       navigate most of the website using speech recognition software

●       navigate the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

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

My Computer My Way has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible the website is

Although we constantly test our online platform to the WCAG 2.1 guidelines to ensure it works on both desktop and mobile devices, currently there are some barriers that may prevent disabled users’ access to the website, such as:

Decorative images have alt text

Background images across the site have been given alternative text, usually the filename of the image. This will cause confusion for many users as the image does not provide any information to the user but is decorative.

Background images should have an empty alt attribute, which will allow them to be skipped by screen readers.

Form fields do not have labels or error messages

On the Newsletter page, there is a form to encourage people to keep in contact with Crest Awards. However, this form has not been created in an accessible way. The visual labels on the form are not associated with the fields, meaning that screen reader users are not aware of the purpose of the field without navigating the surrounding content. Furthermore, it is possible to submit a blank form or one with incorrect format types. Forms should have errors that help a user to submit a form correctly.

Colour contrast issues for text and interactive components

Across the pages tested, there were many issues relating to colour contrast. This affected both text and interactive components.

In relation to text, where there is a background image with text over the top, this would lead to parts of the text falling below the required 4.5:1 contrast ratio. Some text would also fall below the requirements when there is a green background. Link text was also problematic on occasion.

For interactive components, the fields in the newsletter section had a light grey border against a white background, leading to a low contrast ratio. The “scrollspy” element, which allows for quick access points on a page, would also fall below the required 3:1 colour contrast ratio when the background would change.

There is no indication of focus

Keyboard only users navigate the page using the keyboard controls. Across the pages tested there was no focus indication, meaning that users have no certainty where they are on the page. This is a critical issue as all users need certainty regarding their location on the page.

Issues relating to keyboard controls

There are some items that could not be reached using the keyboard alone. The first example of this is the polyline scroll chevron, which begins the scrolling feature for users. This component cannot be reached. Either the component must be reached by everyone or must be removed.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in an alternative format, such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille: please contact us by using this data:

●        email beth-louise.sturdee@britishscienceassociation.org

We will consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact beth-louise.sturdee@britishscienceassociation.org.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Crest Awards Scheme (managed by the British Science Association) 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 not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances are listed below.

●       Content images don’t have appropriate alt text. This falls under: 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)

●       Decorative images should have an empty alt attribute. This falls under: 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)

●       Video with an audio track does not provide captions. This falls under: 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (Level A) and 1.2.4 Captions (Live) (Level AA)

●       Video with an audio track does not have an audio description. This falls under: 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level A) and1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AA)

●       Audio-video content doesn't have a text alternative that describes both the audio and video information. This falls under: 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level AAA)

●       Content has heading markup but is not a heading. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)

●       Heading order is illogical. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)

●       Data table cells are left empty. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)

●       List markup is missing for list items. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)

●       Neutral markup is used for interactive elements. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

●       Provide landmarks for page navigation. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)

●       Form fields are not associated with text labels. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A), 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A)

●       An input has an incorrect programmatic purpose. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA)

●       Errors are missing. This falls under: 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A)

●       Links are not visually distinct. This falls under: 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A)

●       Colour contrast of text is insufficient for users with low vision. This falls under: 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)

●       Colour contrast across borders of interactive elements is insufficient for users with low vision. This falls under: 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA)

●       Content is not keyboard accessible. This falls under: 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)

●       Keyboard shortcuts cannot be turned off. This falls under: 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts (Level A)

●       There is no indication of focus for keyboard users. This falls under: 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA)

●       Hidden elements gain keyboard focus. This falls under: 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA)

●       Reading order is incorrect or illogical. This falls under: 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A)

●       Focus order is incorrect or illogical. This falls under: 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)

●       Link text is not descriptive of the destination page. This falls under: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)

●       Link text is the same for different destinations. This falls under: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)

●       Button text is missing. This falls under: 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

●       Button text is not descriptive of purpose. This falls under: 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

●       Link text does not inform users of a change of context. This falls under: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A).

●       An interactive component is moving focus unexpectedly. This falls under: 3.2.1 On Focus (Level A) and 3.2.2 On Input (Level A)

●       There are some problems with the consistency and operation of components. This falls under: 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA) and 3.2.4 Consistent Identification (Level AA)

●       Code quality issues (parsing) mean that some of the content may not be accessible via software used by people with disabilities. This falls under: 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A)

●       Mobile menu is lacking the correct ARIA markup. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

●       Additional information should be programmatically associated with relevant data. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

●       Additional content obscures other content. This falls under: 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA)

●       Additional content cannot be hovered over. This falls under: 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA)

We plan to fix all these issues by February 2021. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

[This section is for accessibility items that will not be fixed as it would be a disproportionate burden to fix them, e.g.

●       It is not possible to change the device orientation of the league table page without making the content more difficult to view].

We have 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 make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in [rough timing].

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are doing the following to improve the accessibility of our Website:

●       We have conducted an external audit to evaluate the current state of our online platform.

●       We have had accessibility training to better understand existing accessibility issues that are currently present on our online platform.

●       We are planning to fix the issues based on the external audit in the near future.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 8th February 2021. It was last reviewed on 8th February 2021.

This website was last tested on 16th October 2020. The test was carried out by Dig Inclusion Ltd (www.diginclusion.com).

Accessibility in your CREST account

We aim to make our services accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability. We designed the CREST account to meet the AA standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by W3C. 

If you have any feedback on the accessibility of your CREST account, or on any other aspect of our site, please let us know.

Click here to view our Accessibility statement for Crest Awards Help Centre (https://help.crestawards.org).