Accessibility statement for Kaplan International Pathways' VLE

This accessibility statement applies to pathways.kaplaninternational.com.

We have developed this website to ensure that it is usable by everybody, regardless of age or disability. Our site is developed to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 Level AA, and we keep the site under review to improve both its accessibility and usability.

This website is run by Kaplan International Pathways. It is Kaplan International Pathways' Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and houses learning materials. The VLE suite of tools is made up of a range of integrated platforms, as outlined below. The 3rd party Accessibility statements of each can be found via the links associated to each system: 

Moodle accessibility information (docs.moodle.org)

Turnitin accessibility information (turnitin.com)

Mahara accessibility information (wiki.mahara.org)

VitalSource accessibility information (support.vitalsource.com)

Human eSources accessibility information (humanesources.com)

H5P accessibility information (documentation.h5p.com)

Articulate accessibility information (articulate.com)

Moodle is the centrally supported VLE at Kaplan International Pathways UK. Moodle is an Open Source product that is designed to provide equal functionality and information to all people. We are currently on Moodle 3.10. This version of Moodle has achieved Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA accreditation. When we make customisations to this VLE, we always try to improve the level of accessibility even more than the basic version. 

We have built our website to be accessible with common assistive technologies and different ways of using websites. This means you can:

  • zoom in up to 300% 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)
  • consume video and audio content with captions or transcripts
  • consume images or detailed content such as diagrams, with alternative text and long descriptions.

We also use plain English principles to make our content clear and easy to understand.

Visit AbilityNet's website for advice on how to make your device easier to use: My Computer My Way (mcmw.abilitynet.org.uk). This includes guidance on accessing the wide range of accessibility and personalisation tools built into computers, tablets, and mobile phones. 

We do not provide built-in accessibility tools on the VLE as we believe it is more important to support everyone's personal device settings and assistive technologies.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not currently fully accessible. For example:

  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some videos do not have captions
  • some images do not have alternative text
  • some of our course pages are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, contact your College Services Team or your Learning Advisor.

Reporting accessibility problems with the VLE

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, contact pathways-vle-accessibility@kaplaninternational.com

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Kaplan International Pathways is committed to making its website accessible and matching our University Partners' commitments, 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, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Issues with technology

  • Some of the icons on the site's main banner does not have a visible keyboard focus indicator. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7)
  • The visible keyboard focus indicator for the main icons on the Dashboard screen do not have a high contrast. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1)
  • Hyperlinks on the VLE are not underlined. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1)
  • Some of the default font colours on the VLE do not meet Level AA standard. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3)

We will assess the feasibility of changing these when we next do a major update of the VLE, which is expected to happen in 2023. 

Learning resources

Learning resources that are hosted on our VLE have been added by our staff community of around 600 staff members and approximately 250 of modules taught each academic year. The accessibility of content may vary between modules and content creators. We are currently developing a strategy that will support our content creators in the creation of accessible materials. 

Issues with text, including hyperlinks, descriptions, labels, web pages

  • Some link text does not make sense when read out by a screen reader. For example, “Click here”. 
  • There are colour contrast issues with some of the text found across the platform. 
  • Some VLE pages do not have headers to organise content. We will be working with our content creators to ensure future materials follow accessibility guidelines. 
  • Some of our learning materials using mathematical expressions are not fully accessible to a screen reader. For example, some of our modules use LaTeX equations to display mathematical expressions which cannot be read correctly using text-to-speech technology. We plan to investigate and implement a solution by September 2023. 

Issues with PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. For example, they may not be marked up so they're accessible to a screen reader. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish centrally will meet accessibility standards and we will support our content creators to use accessibility checkers prior to upload. PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 will not be fixed unless they are essential to our services.

Issues with images, video, and audio

  • Some images on our VLE do not have proper Alternative Text. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1)
  • Some of our Complex Images (for example: infographics, diagrams, or charts) on the VLE do not have long descriptions. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1)
  • Some legacy video content does not have captions. (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2)

We will add alternative text for new images added to the VLE, and long descriptions where complex images are added. We will add captions to centrally produced videos added to the VLE in the future. We will continue to encourage other staff members to do the same when they are uploading new video content or images.

Issues with interactive tools and transactions

Our VLE includes third party content and functionality, and we cannot guarantee accessibility of third-party tools. We plan to work with our suppliers to review all linked tools and ensure renewed or new suppliers meet our expectations on accessibility standards. 

Some of the Moodle plugins on our VLE were built by third party developers and may not meet WCAG 2.1 (AA) standard. For example, many of our courses use the 'Grid' format which is not fully accessible using a screen reader or keyboard navigation when displayed content in a pop-up. As part of our Curriculum Development programme, we are building future courses to display content in a page format which is accessible to a screen reader and using keyboard navigation. By September 2023 we plan to switch all existing courses to this format.  

Some of our learning materials for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) modules are not fully accessible to a screen reader. For example, some of our subjects include LaTeX equations to display mathematical expressions which are not read out correctly text-to-speech technology. We plan to investigate and implement a solution by September 2023. 

How we tested this website

This site is regularly reviewed with manual audits by our CLIQ team members and by scans with an automated testing tool. We test:

  • Our main VLE website, available at pathways.kaplaninternational.com
  • Our learning materials content

Our main VLE website is tested using the WebAIM Accessibility Checker Tool.

We are currently exploring a tool to systematically assess resources against the required criteria, as part of our new VLE upgrade. 

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We are actively reviewing and have introduced new practices with a focus on student experience and digital inclusion. 

We have invested in accessibility training and resources for our academic and College Services staff. 

We are improving our existing media assets where needed. For example, adding captioning to video content.

When new modules are created under the Curriculum Development project, as part of our quality assurance process we undertake an accessibility audit of 20% of learning materials to ensure they meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23rd May 2022. It was last updated on 24th November 2023.