Accessibility statement for the quality and standards assessor secure online portal

This is an accessibility statement for the quality and standards assessor secure online portal. 

This portal is run by the Office for Students. We want as many people as possible to be able to use the portal. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• 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)

The text on the portal is sometimes about complex regulations, but we have written it in clear English and made it 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

Parts of the portal are not fully accessible. For example: 

• some headings are not correctly labelled and ordered
• the portal is not accessible for keyboard users
• the text contrast with the background is not always sufficient
• portal messages do not display when JavaScript is disabled
• some links do not highlight in high contrast mode
• some images do not contain alternative text
• scroll bars appear vertically and horizontally on mobile screens 
• some data cells are not assigned to the table headers.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

• email digitalpublishing@officeforstudents.org.uk
• call 0117 931 7317

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email the OfS's digital publishing team or call our general enquiries line on 0117 931 7317.

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 Office for Students 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

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

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• Headings: The headings are not correctly labelled and are out of order, with Heading 2 being the top-level header.
• Keyboard accessibility: The portal lacks functionality for keyboard users.
• Text contrast: The text colour does not have sufficient contrast with the background.
• JavaScript dependency: In the assessor portal, messages do not display when JavaScript is disabled, and there is no warning indicating that the page won't display properly.
• High contrast mode: When high contrast mode is enabled, some links are not highlighted to indicate they are links.
• Alternative text: Images lack alternative text when images are turned off.
• Mobile view: On mobile screens, scroll bars appear in two dimensions instead of the page fitting the screen.
• Table headers: In the provider evidence page, data cells are not assigned to the table headers.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

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Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 17 February 2025. It was last reviewed on 17 February 2025.

The quality and standards assessment portal was last tested on 17 February 2025. The test was carried out by the Office for Students using the website governance tool, Silktide. We run weekly crawls of the portal, and will update this statement as any issues are resolved or identified.