Need Help Applying for a course?
Student Handbook
Funding Support for Students
This accessibility statement applies to content published by SWC’s Content Management System on the www.swc.ac.uk domain.
This website is run by South West College. Digital accessibility is a primary consideration in our web development practice as we want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.
For example, that means you should be able to:
change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 400 per cent 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
listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Every effort has been made to make this website accessible and easy to use for everyone, no matter what browser you choose to use, and whether or not you have any disabilities.
We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. However, we welcome any feedback on areas you think are unclear. Contact us by email: web@swc.ac.uk
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
Some tables within PDF documents do not have row or column headers
Some video content does not have a text alternative
live video streams do not have captions
Some pages contain text which is not as simple as possible to understand
Several links on a page share the same link text, but go to different destinations
Some pages contain links to external websites which will display in a new window
Some of our pages contain content from systems provided by an external supplier, such as our Facebook Messenger chat facility
The Facebook messenger chatbox is not accessible using the keyboard
At 400% reflow and in mobile view, the Facebook messenger chat covers some page content
Some iframes (linked to Facebook messenger chat) do not have accessible names
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
Email: web@swc.ac.uk
Call 028 8255 0109
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.
If you cannot view the map on our campus pages, call or email us for directions.
We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.
If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please get in touch via email web@swc.ac.uk
The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your request or complaint, please call ECNI on 028 9050 0600 and ask to speak with one of their Discrimination Advice Officers in their Legal Division, or email mailto: information@equalityni.org. Find out more about the enforcement procedure.
SWC is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
We are actively working to address these issues as part of an ongoing programme to improve the accessibility of this website. We aim to resolve outstanding issues by 30th September 2023.
We are not claiming disproportionate burden for this website.
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.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions-live). We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
The SWC website contains some content that is externally embedded or integrated, including Facebook messenger chatbox. As noted above, this embedded content fails some WCAG accessibility criteria. This is third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the public sector body. We will continue to investigate alternative options which are more accessible.
A high standard of quality control was conducted to ensure usability, accessibility and functionality of the SWC website.
Both a mix of manual checking by expert developers and automated software (SortSite and Axe) to fully scan the website for accessibility issues.
In October 2022 the Government Digital Service conducted an audit of the site.
Pages checked included:
Following the audit conducted by the GDS in October 2022, we have urgently addressed the issues which fail to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.
The site was retested on 17th April 2023 by the GDS.
We are continually reviewing the accessibility of our website. This will provide us with the insights required to assess and improve aspects of our websites that do not conform to level AA of the WCAG 2.1.
Documents which are not accessible (reasons listed above) will be reviewed and replaced with accessible versions where possible by 31st December 2023.
We have scheduled quarterly accessibility reviews of the website and accessibility statement.
This statement was prepared on 6th December 2022. It was last reviewed on 20th September 2023.
This website was last tested on 17th April 2023 by the Government Digital Service.
Our website support company Green17 is responsible for implementing accessibility fixes. This statement will be reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis.