Accessibility statement for BISA websites
This accessibility statement applies to www.bisa.ac.uk, conference.bisa.ac.uk, virtualconference.bisa.ac.uk and indico.bisa.ac.uk
These websites are run by the British International Studies Association (BISA). We want as many people as possible to be able to use these websites. 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 the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible is this website?
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Our events and conference platform - Indico - has a number of serious accessibility issues including keyboard inaccessibility, focus and labelling issues.
- The mobile menu has some labelling issues which may be confusing for people using screen readers
- Videos do not - on the whole - contain accurate captions, transcripts or audio descriptions
- PDFs are likely to have accessibility issues
- If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: office@bisa.ac.uk or fill in our contact form.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
BISA is committed to making its website accessible.
Compliance status
The websites have been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.
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
The mobile menu has a number of issues including that the button does not adequately communicate its state, and that the buttons/links in the submenus do not have unique labels. It may be difficult for people using a screen reader to understand the purpose of the buttons. This fails WCAG 2.2 criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
The upstream module maintainers are aware of this and we hope to benefit from a fix. If this is not forthcoming we’ll explore an alternative solution.
The cookie banner has some issues with the aria-roles. This may make it difficult to interact with, while using a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
The upstream module maintainers are aware of this and we hope to benefit from a fix. If this is not forthcoming we’ll explore an alternative solution.
Videos and live streams
Much of the video content is user generated, and therefore we are not able to exercise the same rigour over the content. Most videos will have automatically generated captions, but we expect these to be inaccurate. They are unlikely to have either transcripts or audio descriptions. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.2.2 (Captions), 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative) and 1.2.5 (Audio descriptions)
We do not intend to fix these, but we will provide advice and training to our users.
PDFs
Most of the PDFs on the site are user generated, and therefore we are not able to exercise the same rigour over the content. Most PDFs have accessibility issues.
We do not intend to fix these, but we will provide advice and training to our users.
Conference websites
On the conference websites, focus can become hidden behind the sticky header, which makes it difficult for people using the keyboard to navigate to stay oriented. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.11 (Focus not obscured).
The submit button on the contact us form is low contrast, so people with low vision may not be able to read this text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast - minimum).
Indico
The indico conference and events platform has a number of serious accessibility and usability issues. We are looking to replace the platform. In the meantime we are happy to assist with registering users for our conference and events, as well as with submitting abstracts, panels and roundtables.
Some of the buttons contain no text, meaning many users may find their function hard to determine. This is a failure of WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 non-text content.
Much of the text is not high enough contrast, which may make it difficult for users with low vision to perceive the text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum).
The language of the page cannot be programmatically determined. This may make it harder for screen reader users to understand the content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.1.1 Language of the page.
Many buttons in the interface are not available to keyboards. This will make it difficult for many people to use these functions. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard.
Additionally, focus is not visible on many of the links and buttons, which makes it difficult for people operating the site with a keyboard to stay oriented on the site. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
In 2024 we received a grant from the Academy of Social Sciences to audit the main and conference websites, undertake user testing, and fix many of the WCAG 2.2 failures that were found. We will continue to monitor and improve the accessibility of the website, through regular audits, user testing and training.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 29 April 2025. It was last reviewed on 29 April 2025.
This website was last tested in October 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.
The test was carried out by Agile Collective. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.