Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.bas.ac.uk.

This website is run by British Antarctic Survey. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • 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)

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

How accessible this website is

Some parts of this website are not yet fully accessible:

  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Some video captions are auto generated and are not always correct
  • The YouTube video player has accessibility issues with contrast and tooltips
  • Some links do not have discernible text
  • Not all frames have title attributes
  • Some ARIA elements have not been implemented correctly

Feedback and contact information

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

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call us on 01223 221500 or email us at basrec@bas.ac.uk. We can supply verbal instructions on how to get to our Cambridge office, or see our page on information on travel options/directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: BAS Service Desk, Web & Applications Team at the following email address: servicedesk@bas.ac.uk.

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Find out how to contact us at our contact page.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

British Antarctic Survey 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 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to replace PDFs with a text-based alternative by march 2026.

Some of our older embedded videos do not have captions. This fails 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) and (Video) 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded). We have added auto-generated captions to our YouTube videos that do not have captions written by humans. We plan to add captions to all of our existing videos by March 2026.

Not all links are distinguishable other than with colour. This fails 1.4.1 Use of Color. We plan to rectify this by March 2026.

Some links do not have discernible text. This fails 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Link). We plan to rectify this by March 2026.

Not all touch targets are 24px large and may not leave sufficient space. This fails 2.5.8 Target size. We plan to rectify this by March 2026.

Not all elements meet minimum required colour contrast ratio thresholds. This fails 1.4.3 Contrast(Minimum). We plan to rectify this by March 2026.

Not all frames have title attributes. This fails 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Frames) and 4.1.2: Name, Role, Value (Frames). We plan to rectify this by March 2026.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

The table below shows the items where our website fails to conform to the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines and also has a timeline of when we aim to fix these issues.

Target Date Item Status
June 2021 Images must have alternate text Generally complete
March 2026 Ensure PDFs either are converted into or have a text-based alternative. Ongoing
March 2026 <video> elements must have captions (site-wide) Ongoing
March 2026 Links must be distinguishable without relying on colour (site wide) Ongoing
March 2026 Links must have discernible text (site-wide) Ongoing
March 2026 All touch elements must be 24px large, or leave sufficient space (site-wide) Ongoing
March 2026 Elements must meet minimum colour contrast ratio thresholds (site-wide) Ongoing
March 2026 Frames must have title attribute – Iframe(s) missing a title attribute which is necessary to describe the contents inside when navigating the page using a screen reader (site-wide). Ongoing

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 11/09/2020. It was last reviewed on 18/07/2024.

This website was last tested on 16/07/2024. The tests were carried out by The Dextrous Web Ltd (DXW).

Scope of tests

As part of this report the following pages/templates have been tested using automated and manual tests:

Tools and technologies

  • Google Chrome (macOS)
  • Firefox (macOS, Android)
  • Safari (macOS)
  • NVDA + Firefox (Windows)
  • VoiceOver + Safari (macOS)
  • TalkBack + Firefox (Android)

Automated testing

Automated checks were performed using AXE and WAVE browser extensions.

Manual testing

Manual accessibility tests were conducted using a range of adaptive technologies (hardware and software designed to facilitate the use of computers by people with disabilities). These may include:

  • Voiceover for Mac and iOS, TalkBack for Android, NVDA: screen readers and applications used by those who are blind.
  • Keyboard Only: some users with mobility impairments have difficulty making precise movements required by pointing devices such as a mouse; therefore, a keyboard is used as the exclusive input device.

Alongside these tests the front-end web developer with technical knowledge of WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), quality assessed the code in each of the pages listed for its level of compliance to these guidelines.