Accessibility statement

The University of Birmingham is committed to making its Admissions Portal accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to the Admissions Portal and https://admissions.bham.ac.uk. It does not cover other University of Birmingham websites including www.birmingham.ac.uk which has its own accessibility statement.

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 using browser or device settings.
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen.
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software.
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including NVDA).

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.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible.

  • Some pages are less accessible for screen reader users because of incorrectly labelled form controls and fields not properly identified in the legend.
  • Some pages use the same link text for different destinations.
  • Some elements do not have accessible names.
  • Some PDFs (Portable Document Formats) are not correctly formatted and fully compatible with screen readers.

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: pgadmissions@contacts.bham.ac.uk

If you need information on this website in a different format like an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact pgadmissions@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call 0121 387 5910 (option 3).

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in five working days.

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

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The University of Birmingham 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliance(s) listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reason(s)

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Non-compliance issues listed here are being included in our product roadmap. Whilst we work on fixing issues, you can email us directly at pgadmissions@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

  • Not all our form controls have labels on the sign in and registration form. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (AA) and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, role and Value (A).
  • A form label is present, but it is not correctly associated with a form control. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content, 1.3.1 Info and Relationships, 2.4.6 Headings and Labels and 3.3.2 Labels and Instructions (A).
  • There are some orphaned form labels. This fails 1.1.1 Non-text content (A), 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA) and 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (A). This may cause confusion for screen reader users.
  • A fieldset is missing a legend. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text content, 1.3.1 Info and Relationships, 3.3.2 Labels and Instructions (A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA). This can cause confusion when using a screen reader.
  • A layout table is present. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) and 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A).
  • Some pages use the same link text for different destinations. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A) and means some pages are less accessible to screen reading software.
  • A * (star) before the comment is being read out instead making content mandatory.
  • Some of our modal headings do not get read out first and the focus jumps to the close button instead. This fails 2.4.3 Focus Order (A).
  • Keyboard focus gets lost after selecting ESC key on first input edit field under 'Create' dialog. This fails 2.4.3 Focus Order (A).
  • Heading levels are skipped on some forms. This fails 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) and 1.3.1. Info and Relationships (A).
  • Some headings contain no content. This fails 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA).
  • Some alert messages are not receiving focus. This fails 4.3.1 Status Messages (AA). This may cause confusion for keyboard and screen reader users.
  • Some lists are not structured correctly. This fails 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A). This can cause confusion when using a screen reader.
  • Broken aria references are present on some pages. This fails 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) amd 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A). This may cause confusion for screen reader users.
  • A JavaScript menu may be present on some dropdown select fields. This fails 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) and 3.3.2 On Input (A). This may make keyboard navigation more difficult on some pages.
  • Some elements use non-supported ARIA attributes. This fails 4.1.2 Name, Role and Value (A).
  • PDF content might be missing some tags which may cause confusion for assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Information and Relationships (A).
  • Screen readers may not correctly interpret tables in the PDFs because of limitations in the software used to generate them, potentially affecting users relying on assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Information and Relationships (A).
  • Some content in PDF may not read in the expected order which may cause confusion when using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A).
  • When PDF content is zoomed to 400% it may require the user to horizontally scroll to see all the content. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow (AA).

Our testing processes

This website was last tested during September 2025 against the WCAG 2.2 Level AA standard.

Testing was carried out by the University of Birmingham product team using a variety of automated and manual testing tools. A further audit of the website was carried out with a screen reader.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We continue to prioritise addressing non-compliance items and areas we want to improve to ensure we are compliant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

We will re-test the website and update this statement under the following circumstances:

  • When Microsoft releases an accessibility fix.
  • When the University of Birmingham releases an accessibility fix.
  • When we release a new feature or design in the Admissions portal.
  • When there is an update to the WCAG standard.
  • Annually, if none of the above occur sooner.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 4 May 2023.

This statement was last reviewed in September 2025.