Accessibility

Accessibility Statement for numc.edu

NuHealth is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

We aim to adhere as closely as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us provide a website that is accessible to all people, from the blind to the motor impaired.

 

What are we doing?

We are taking the following measures to increase and then maintain the accessibility of numc.edu:

  • Implemented on this website is a powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level every 24 hours. This AI engine remediates the website’s HTML issues, as well as functionality and behavior, to the use of individuals with impaired vision that are using screen readers, and the motor impaired that are using a keyboard to operate websites. We utilize AI for the following accessibility components:
    1. Screen-reader optimization: The AI runs in the background and learns the website’s components from top to bottom, thereby providing screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, it will provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the AI scans of all the website’s images and provides and accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternative text) tag. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn adjustments on as soon as they enter the website.2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The AI adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website fully operable by a keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the entire site using the TAB and SHIFT+TAB keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with ESC, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus (available at any time by clicking Alt+1). The AI will also handle triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.
  • Implemented on this website is an interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s User Interface (UI) and design it to their personal needs. This interface replaces the older fashioned method of providing all users with the same, lesser but accessible design or user interface. This interface offers assistive capabilities with font handling, color and contrast handling, animations, content, audio muting, cognitive disorders, and more. These capabilities are described in more detail below:
    1. Font adjustments – users can increase and decrease font size, change the font family (type), adjust spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds with multiple different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface includes videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements including links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option provides users with the ability to mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users with the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
  • Include accessibility throughout our internal policies
  • Provide continual accessibility training for our staff
  • Acquire external resources for evaluation, monitoring and issue remediation, as needed

 

Browser and Assistive Technology Compatibility

We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, Microsoft Edge and I.E 11 or above, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users. This website is operable using other platforms as well, though we are not officially supporting them and recommend users to utilize the aforementioned systems.

 

What is our conformance status?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA.

We have made and will continue to make improvements to numc.edu in order to attain and then maintain conformance with WCAG 2.1 level AA.

 

How are we doing?

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of our website at numc.edu.

Please note that despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, it is possible that there will still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are constantly improving the website and our accessibility interface, adding updating, and improving options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, at all times, and in accordance with technological advancements.

If you’ve discovered any issues with our website, discover a malfunction or find any aspect of the interface difficult to use, or if you have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you.

You can get in touch with us in any of the following ways: