Guidance for education

NES must comply with accessibility regulations that came into force in September 2018 (for further information see Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies). The regulations require all public sector bodies to meet the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA accessibility standard. The accessibility regulations build on the Equality Act (2010), which requires that UK employers and service providers must consider reasonable adjustments to make services inclusive.  

Making information accessible ensures that we provide the best possible service to as wide a range of users as possible. Here are some key principles for accessibility: 

1. Learning resources should meet the WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard. Refer to the relevant sections below depending on the format of your learning resource. This will aid you in meeting minimum accessibility requirements. Please note: the guidance below is not exhaustive but highlights some common accessibility considerations. 

2. Further reasonable adjustments may be required by learners, as there is no one-size-fits-all solution that meets every need. Take a proactive approach to assessing learner needs by inviting reasonable adjustment requests in your communications about upcoming training opportunities and issuing learner questionnaires in advance of training events. 

3. Include contact details for alternative format requests in your resources. 

4. Consider whether the platform, format and design of your resource support a wide range of user needs. Can the resource be accessed on a variety of devices? Does the format and design support a degree of user-directed personalisation?  

5. Incorporate user testing and feedback into the development and build of your resource. 

These principles are aligned with the NES Inclusive Education & Learning Policy, which sets out our aims and expectations for the accessibility for all forms of education and training. 

This Guideline is for the attention of anyone who is: 

• Creating, reviewing or updating digital learning resources (including webpages, documents, e-Learning and multimedia) 

• hosting, organising or presenting at a webinar or other online training event 

• managing learning content on Turas Learn, NES intranet or another platform

This Guideline is relevant to a wide range of resources including the following: 

• e-Learning modules 

• Video  

• Turas Learn  

• Live or recorded online sessions  

• Presentation software  

• Collaborative tools  

• Websites  

• Documents published online  

The Guideline may also apply to Virtual Reality resources 

NES Equality, Diversity and Human Rights team / NES TEL team: general enquiries and signposting to further resources. 

NES Learn Content team: further enquiries relating to Turas Learn. 

NES UX team: further enquiries relating to the Turas style guide. 

NES e-Learning team: further enquiries relating to e-Learning. 

Provide descriptive and navigable page titles, content and hyperlinks. 

Resources must additionally be navigable by keyboard and screen reader.  

Ensure resources are compatible with different screen sizes, web browsers and devices. 

Use consistent and clean interfaces. 

Ensure interactive buttons are fully accessible (with descriptive labels and adequate size). 

Ensure that time limits can be switched off on interactions. 

There must be adequate colour contrast between text and background (meeting WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard). You can check colour contrast using online tools such as WebAIM: Contrast Checker. 

Ensure that text is not embedded in an image. This will not be detected as text by a screen reader. 

Ensure text font is a sans serif font and text size meets the minimum required for the format (see sections below for Documents and e-Learning, and Turas Style guide, note version 2 is currently in development, for Turas Learn content). 

Avoid italics, all-capitals and underlined text. 

Titles should be written in sentence case. 

Headings should be created using the built-in heading features of the software to enable screen readers to understand the page structure, and they should be nested in the correct order. This aids navigation. For further information on headings, see the webpage for the Turas Style Guide Content Structure. 

Paragraphs and headings should be left-aligned, not justified. Centred text shouldn't go over more than two lines. 

Use a single space after a full stop. 

Do not hyphenate words at the end of lines. 

Ensure that information is readable and flows easily. 

Avoid dense chunks of text. Break up extensive text with subheadings and lists. 

Use plain English. Avoid jargon and expand on acronyms. 

Provide alt-text for all non-decorative images. And provide longer, fully descriptive alternative texts for complex diagrams and graphs. 

Ensure colour alone is not used to indicate meaning. For example, different colours used to represent different sections on a graph or chart will not be perceived by all users. Using patterns will make differences clearer. 

Provide captions and transcripts for video content and provide transcripts for audio content. Further guidance can be found at NES intranet Videos and how to record. 

Avoid auto-play for video, animation and audio and ensure player controls are available. 

Ensure audio is clear and audible in both audio and video content, without distracting/unnecessary background sound. 

Avoid content that flashes more than 3 times a second. 

Text in a sans-serif font (such as Arial or Segoe UI), and a minimum size of 12pt. 

Use accessible formats for documents, including for attachments. HTML and Word documents are more responsive and more accessible than PDFs. 

Present information using a clear, logical structure. 

Avoid unnecessary tables. Tables should have a simple structure and include column and row header information. Avoid split or merged cells, blank sections or nested tables. More information on making tables accessible is available at the following website: AbilityNet Creating accessible documents. 

A note on PDFs: 

PDFs present many accessibility challenges. It is possible to take measures to make PDFs more accessible, but we encourage people to consider whether learning resources can be presented in more readily accessible formats such as Word documents or HTML alternatives. Further information on PDF accessibility is available at the following website: WebAIM PDF accessibility. 

Further information on publishing accessible documents is available at the following website: UK government advice on publishing accessible documents and Turas Style Guide Accessible documents. 

Text in a sans-serif font, and a recommended minimum size of 22pt. 

Ensure that there is adequate contrast between text and background colours (avoid themes with low contrast). 

Include meaningful slide titles for ease of navigation by screen readers. 

Use standard slide layouts where possible. For example, write the title in the ‘title’ box, and main text in the ‘content’ box.  

Check that the slide reading order is correct, so that screen readers will read elements on each slide in a logical order. More information on checking slide reading order is available at the following website: Microsoft information on slide reading order. 

See information above for making tables accessible. 

Provide alt-text for images. 

Further information on making accessible PowerPoint slides can be found at WebAIM: PowerPoint Accessibility. 

Ensure that activities and interactions are fully accessible and meet criteria in the accessible navigation and usability section (above). 

Do not lock down progress within lessons. 

Avoid the need for excessive scrolling. 

Ensure that media content, documents and text that is included in e-learning modules meets the criteria listed in sections above. 

See House Style for Rise modules at NES on Turas for further guidance on modules made in Articulate 360 Rise. (Guidance on the House Style for Rise modules at NES is in development).

Content must be provided in an alternative format when requested. 

Ensure that slides and multimedia resources meet the Guidelines above. 

If you have a defined audience for an event (for example a workshop or webinar), issue a learner questionnaire in advance to assess learner needs. This will identify requirements for any reasonable adjustments to be made e.g. a need for learning resources to be provided in alternative formats. 

Provide captions and a transcript for recordings of live events that are made available after the event. Further guidance for NES staff can be found at NES intranet Videos and how to record.