Accessibility Statement for Centre for Protecting Women Online

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

This accessibility statement applies to the Centre for Protecting Women Online.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our websites and mobile apps, and accessibility is an essential part of our mission. On our Accessibility hub, you’ll find everything you need to answer any questions you have about accessibility, whether you’re a student or a member of staff.

To adapt the content to your needs or preferences, you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels, and fonts.
  • Resize text up to 200% without impact on the functionality of the website.
  • Zoom in up to 400% without loss of information or functionality.
  • Navigate the website using just a keyboard.
    • Tab to ‘Skip to content’ links at the top of the page to jump over repetitive information to the main content.
    • Tab through the content; the current location will be indicated by a clear visual change.
    • Control the embedded media player to play audio and video materials.
  • Use a screen reader (e.g., JAWS, NVDA) to:
    • Listen to the content of web pages and use any functionality on the page.
    • List the headings and subheadings in the page and then jump to their location on the page.
    • Bring up a list of meaningful links on the page.
  • Use transcripts or closed captions with most audio and video materials.
  • Download learning materials in alternative formats (e.g., Word document, PDF, ePub).
  • If you have a print disability, we provide SensusAccess to students, which is an automated service that converts files from one format to another, for example, PDF to text, audio, Word, or Braille.
  • AbilityNet also provides advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and/or the exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

External websites

The Open University provides links to external websites that may not meet accessibility standards.

Ensure pages don’t scroll in two dimensions on small screens:

When viewed on small screens (like mobile phones) content must fit without requiring scrolling in two dimensions. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.4.10: Reflow (Level AA) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Ensure controls change appearance when they are selected:

All controls on the page – including links, buttons, and fields – should show when they have been selected by the keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.7: Focus Visible (Level AA) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Ensure interactive components are far enough apart:

All interactive components on a page, such as buttons or menus, should be far enough apart from other interactive areas, to avoid them being used by mistake. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (Level AA) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Ensure links explain their purpose:

The purpose of a link should be clear from the text inside the link. Links like “learn more” are not helpful to users with accessible technology. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027

Ensure headings include text:

Heading elements (<h1>, <h2>, …) must contain some machine-readable text content. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Avoid using the same link text for different destinations:

Screen reader users will see links on a page listed without context, so you should ensure the same link text is not used to point to different web addresses. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Avoid alternative text that is the same as nearby text:

An <img> element inside a link must not specify alternative text that duplicates the content of a text link inside or beside it. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.1.1: Non-text Content (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Add headers to tables:

Tables which contain information should have clear headers defined. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Combine adjacent links with the same destination:

Two adjacent links should not point to the same destination. You almost always want to combine the two links. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.1.1: Non-text Content (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Write lists or groups of links semantically:

Lists of related items should be written semantically as a list. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.3.1: Info and Relationships (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Ensure links can be used by screen readers:

Links must be defined in a specific way to be accessed by screen readers, which are used by blind and the partially-sighted. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Images with empty alternative text must not specify titles:

An image with empty alternative text (e.g. <img alt="">) should not specify a title attribute, or if specified, the title should be empty. This fails WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 1.1.1: Non-text Content (Level A) and will be resolved by February 2027.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 11 February 2026.

This statement was last reviewed on 11 February 2026.

This website was last tested on 18 November 2025. The test was carried out by the STEM Technical Services DDS team.

The following accessibility testing methods and tools were used:

  • W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) checks (alternative text, content structure, language of page, keyboard navigation, skip links)
  • Silktide (a continuous site-wide monitoring tool that regularly scans/crawls pages to surface accessibility and quality issues e.g., broken links, readability/content checks, usability and compliance risks, so they can be tracked and remediated over time).
  • Manual checks (content resizing, captions)

This included the following test methods:

  • WAVE, Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
  • Keyboard-only testing
  • Zoom testing.

Feedback and contact information

If you find that a certain section of our website is not accessible and you can’t get access to the information that you need please use the Open University Accessibility Feedback Form to request support and we will ensure that you are provided with the information you require. You will need to provide your contact details and Personal Identifier if you are a student so we can get back to you. You should expect to hear back from us within 5 working days. 

The OU is very experienced in meeting accessibility needs for our students. In many cases we are able to provide module and other study support materials in alternative formats for students who indicate a need for this when completing a Disability Support Form.

In addition, some module materials are available in different formats and can be downloaded from module websites. Students can contact their Student Support Team for advice.

If you are a student, or someone who has had contact with the University before, and have a complaint about the accessibility of our websites, you should raise a complaint via the complaints and appeals process.

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 are based in the UK, and you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).