Accessibility statement for Mahara (King's ePortfolio Service)

Mahara is the brand name King’s uses for our King’s ePortfolio Service based on the open-source tool Mahara. Our aim is for Mahara to be accessible to all those who use the system, and we continue to work towards this. We want to ensure as many people as possible, are able to access and understand the content.

Mahara allows for embedded links to a number of complementary applications as listed below which support different aspects of teaching and learning e.g. Kaltura.

Echo 360 – Lecture Capture
Kaltura – Video on demand service
YouTube
Google Maps
Microsoft applications
Embedded PDF documents or images

Using Mahara

Mahara is run by King’s College London IT. There are some inbuilt features that will help individuals to navigate and access the content. For example, that means you should be able to:

Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen.
Set the font size and preference within your browser (except for section headings).
Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
Skip to main content using keyboard navigation.
Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software.
Use screen readers such as JAWS and VoiceOver.
Collapse the course menu to reduce the clutter on the page and help you focus on the task at hand.
Use a range of devices to access Mahara e.g. mobile phone, tablet or laptop.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Technical information about Mahara accessibility

King’s College London is committed to making Mahara accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. We work to achieve and maintain WCAG 2.1 AA standards, but it is not always possible for all our content to be accessible.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

We know some parts of Mahara are not fully accessible, due to the freedom that users are given with what they embed and add to their portfolio pages or collections, this presents difficulties in identifying all accessibility issues that may exist. Users may experience issues depending on what has been embedded, for example:

Users’ uploaded content like PDF documents, Word documents or PowerPoint presentations may not be fully accessible.
Some images don’t have a text alternative, so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
PDFs and Word documents may not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
The King’s ePortfolio pages can include 3rd party embedded content and functionality, we cannot always guarantee it’s accessibility.

What to do if you can’t access parts of Mahara

If you need information on Mahara in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille email diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with Mahara

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of Mahara. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements email diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

Escalation procedure

If you need to escalate your issue further, contact Sarah Guerra, Director of Diversity & Inclusion via diversity@kcl.ac.uk. You can expect an acknowledgement of your issue within 7 days and a full reply within 14 days. If your complaint raises complex issues that cannot be answered within 14 days we will keep you informed of progress until we can fully respond.

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).

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 23rd November 2021. The test was carried out manually by Charles Kasule from Education Applications in the IT Services team in King’s College London. We tested:

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

King’s College London has convened a college-wide action group to address the accessibility of its digital information and actions are currently being undertaken around:

Assessing, prioritising and improving the accessibility of the 100+ digital platforms in use at King’s and highest priority is being given to those holding student teaching materials;
Improving the accessibility of online teaching materials;
Ensuring all future purchases or development of digital platforms are accessible;
Ensuring that all future teaching materials being developed and uploaded are accessible.

Platform-specific action plans to ensure accessibility will be developed by specialist action groups within King’s, but include:

Regular updates to the King’s version of the Mahara platform are implemented by IT and Co-Sector, to ensure that the latest accessibility standards are in line with Mahara releases (see the Mahara Wiki Accessibility page for accessibility details).

This statement was prepared on 23rd November 2021.

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