Accessibility

Website Accessibility Statement

Our commitment to digital accessibility for this conference website.

About this statement

This accessibility statement applies to the SEFI 2027 Annual Conference website. It is published by the University of Sheffield on behalf of the SEFI 2027 organising committee.

It covers the website only. For access requirements at the conference itself, see Accessibility and inclusion on our Contact page.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. That means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate all pages and controls using a keyboard alone
  • navigate using a screen reader
  • read all content with the site's animations and motion effects disabled
  • use the site comfortably on a mobile device without loss of information

We have built a first-class Simple Mode — a toggle available in the navigation bar on every page at all times, including on mobile — that replaces the site's animated, photo-driven presentation with a static, high-contrast layout. Simple Mode removes the animated hero image, countdown clock, scroll-reveal effects, and hover-dependent navigation to provide a calmer, lower-stimulus experience. Your preference is saved automatically and remembered on your next visit.

Legal framework

This website is published by the University of Sheffield, a public sector body. As such it is subject to the following legislation and standards.

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

These Regulations (SI 2018/952) implement the European Web Accessibility Directive (EU 2016/2102) in UK law. They require public sector websites — including those of UK Higher Education Institutions — to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA and to publish an accessibility statement. This conference website, hosted and published by the University of Sheffield, falls within scope of these Regulations.

The Equality Act 2010

Under Part 3 of the Equality Act 2010 (Services and Public Functions), service providers — including universities organising public events — have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for disabled people. This duty extends to digital services and information provided in connection with those services. Failure to make reasonable adjustments is unlawful disability discrimination.

WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)

Published by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, WCAG 2.1 is the internationally recognised technical standard for web accessibility. It is organised around four principles — Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust — and defines three conformance levels: A (minimum), AA (standard target), and AAA (enhanced). Level AA is the required standard under the Accessibility Regulations 2018.

EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021)

This European harmonised standard for ICT accessibility incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements and is the technical reference used by both the UK and EU Web Accessibility Regulations for assessing web content.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. We addressed a number of conformance failures in June 2026 following an internal code review; these are listed in the Recently addressed section below. Known remaining issues are listed in the Issues being worked on section.

Our assessment is based on an internal review of the site's HTML, CSS, and JavaScript source code. This review has not yet been independently audited. We will commission an independent audit ahead of the conference and update this statement accordingly.

Recently addressed

The following issues were identified during an internal review in June 2026 and corrected in the same review cycle. They are documented here as examples of the kind of issues that can arise in a site of this type, and as a record of what has changed.

Skip-to-content link added

Was failing: WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A)

There was no mechanism for keyboard users to skip past the navigation bar. A keyboard-only user arriving at any page had to Tab through six primary nav links, the Simple Mode toggle, and the burger button before reaching page content.

Fix: A "Skip to main content" link is now the first focusable element on every page. It is off-screen by default and becomes visible when focused via the keyboard, dropping in from the top of the viewport. It targets the <main> landmark, which is set programmatically on page load. The link is generated by the shared navigation script so it is automatically present on every current and future page.

Decorative emoji icons removed

Was failing: WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)

The 17 conference theme cards on the homepage (🔨, ⚡, 📚, etc.) and the 4 transport mode icons on the travel page (🚃, 🚶, 🚌, 🚕) were inside plain <div> elements with no ARIA attributes. Screen readers would attempt to read each emoji's Unicode description — for example "hammer and wrench" or "tram car" — immediately before the heading that already communicates the same meaning.

Fix: Following a further design review in July 2026, the decorative emoji icons on the conference theme cards were removed from the HTML entirely. The transport mode icons on the travel page retain aria-hidden="true". In both cases, the headings and labels alongside them provide full meaning without the decorative icons.

Colour contrast failures corrected

Was failing: WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)

WCAG 1.4.3 requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for small text (below approximately 19px bold or 24px normal). Three areas of the site failed this threshold because CSS opacity was used to create visual hierarchy, which reduces contrast relative to the element's background.

  • Programme day labels ("Day 1", "Day 2" etc.) were at opacity: 0.5 against a white card background — effective contrast approximately 3.0:1. Raised to opacity: 0.75, giving approximately 7.5:1.
  • Footer column headings ("Navigate", "Information", "Contact") were originally at opacity: 0.45 against the dark footer — effective contrast approximately 3.8:1. Raised to opacity: 0.55 in June 2026, then further to opacity: 0.8 in July 2026 following user feedback that the headings remained hard to read in practice.
  • Footer copyright text was originally at opacity: 0.4 against the dark footer — effective contrast approximately 3.7:1. Raised to opacity: 0.55 in June 2026, then further to opacity: 0.7 in July 2026 for the same reason.

All three areas are now above the 4.5:1 minimum required by WCAG 1.4.3. The visual change is subtle — the text is slightly more prominent — but the design hierarchy is preserved.

Keyboard focus indicator added

Was failing: WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA)

The site's CSS contained no explicit :focus or :focus-visible rules, leaving keyboard focus indicators entirely to browser defaults. Against the dark navy navigation bar, some browsers render a default outline that is nearly invisible. Against lighter content backgrounds, defaults were generally adequate but inconsistent between browsers.

Fix: A :focus-visible rule has been added to the shared stylesheet. It renders a 3px solid outline in electric violet (#7000FF) with a 3px offset — clearly visible against both light and dark backgrounds. A lighter powder violet variant (#A78CFA) is used on the dark navigation and sub-navigation bars, where the electric violet outline would have lower contrast against the dark background. :focus-visible applies only to keyboard navigation (not mouse clicks), which is the correct and expected behaviour for focus indicators.

Issues being worked on

The following issues remain open. They are more complex to address than the fixes above — each involves a change to the site's navigation architecture or requires cross-browser testing before deployment. We are committed to resolving them before the independent audit, which will be commissioned ahead of the September 2027 conference.

Sub-navigation links are in the keyboard tab order when visually hidden

Criterion: WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A), WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)

The sub-navigation bar below the main nav is shown and hidden using CSS max-height and opacity transitions. Because neither display: none nor visibility: hidden is applied when the bar is closed, the links inside remain in the keyboard Tab order even when they are not visible on screen. A keyboard user could Tab into these invisible links with no visual indication of where focus has gone.

The fix requires replacing the max-height/opacity approach with visibility: hidden (which removes elements from the tab order) combined with a CSS transition — or managing the tabindex attribute of sub-nav links via JavaScript when the bar opens and closes. This needs careful testing to ensure the animated transition still works correctly across browsers, and that the Simple Mode override that hides the sub-nav entirely is not affected.

Current workaround: Activate Simple Mode. It hides the sub-navigation entirely, removing these links from the tab order for the remainder of your session.

Cross-page sub-navigation not reachable by keyboard

Criterion: WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)

When hovering a primary nav item that is not the current page, the sub-navigation items for that page are temporarily shown. This interaction is mouse-only: there is no keyboard event that triggers the same behaviour for keyboard users, who cannot preview sub-navigation items for pages they are not currently visiting.

The fix requires adding keyboard event handlers (e.g. focus on primary nav items) that replicate the hover behaviour, and ensuring that focus can move into the displayed sub-nav before it disappears. This is an architectural change to how the sub-nav responds to user interaction and needs to be tested across keyboard-only and screen-reader browsing modes.

Current workaround: Navigate to the relevant page first using its primary nav link. That page's own sub-navigation will be visible and keyboard-accessible.

Operating system reduced-motion preference not automatically honoured

Criterion: WCAG 2.3.3 Animation from Interactions (Level AAA) — not required at AA, but widely considered best practice

Users who have enabled "reduce motion" in their operating system settings (macOS, Windows, iOS, Android) expect websites to respect that preference automatically via the CSS prefers-reduced-motion: reduce media query. This site does not currently include such a media query. Users with this preference set will still see the animated hero, scroll-reveal effects, and countdown clock on their first visit.

Our manual Simple Mode toggle addresses the same need — it strips all animation site-wide and remembers the preference in local storage — but requires the user to actively discover and activate it. A prefers-reduced-motion query would reduce friction for users who have already expressed this preference at the OS level.

We plan to add a @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) block that automatically activates the same set of overrides as Simple Mode for users who have set this preference. We are taking care to test the interaction between this automatic behaviour and the manual toggle (for example, if a user has the OS preference set but wishes to see the animated version, the toggle should still allow them to do so).

Current workaround: Activate Simple Mode using the toggle in the navigation bar. Your preference will be remembered on future visits.

Accessibility features of this site

The following accessibility decisions have been deliberately built into the design and code of this site.

Simple Mode

A Simple Mode toggle is permanently visible in the navigation bar on every page and at every screen size, including on mobile. It is designed as a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. Activating it applies a dedicated accessibility stylesheet that:

  • removes all CSS animations and transitions site-wide
  • disables smooth-scroll behaviour, making anchor link navigation instant
  • forces all scroll-reveal elements to display immediately, without waiting or motion
  • replaces the animated photo hero with a static soft lavender background
  • replaces the animated gradient page banners with the same lavender background and dark text
  • hides the animated countdown clock
  • hides the hover-dependent sub-navigation
  • replaces frosted-glass effects with solid opaque backgrounds
  • replaces the animated liquid-glass CTA button with a plain high-contrast alternative
  • enforces a single sans-serif typeface throughout

The soft lavender background used in Simple Mode (#f0ecff) was chosen in preference to pure white. Pure white can cause visual stress for some users, particularly those with dyslexia, photosensitivity, or visual processing sensitivities. The tint is light enough for comfortable reading while being gentler on the eye and connected to the site's colour palette. White card panels remain white so they read as distinct elements against the lavender base.

Your Simple Mode preference is stored in your browser's local storage and remembered on your next visit. The toggle carries aria-pressed state updated dynamically, and activation is announced via an aria-live="polite" banner.

Skip-to-content link

A "Skip to main content" link is the first focusable element on every page. It is visually hidden until focused, then appears at the top of the viewport. It allows keyboard users to bypass the navigation bar and reach page content directly, satisfying WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks.

Alternative text for images

Every image carries descriptive alt text. Purely decorative layers — the hero background photo, gradient overlays, the page banner texture, and icon containers — are marked aria-hidden="true" so screen readers skip them.

Semantic HTML and landmark structure

Every page uses the correct HTML5 semantic elements: <nav>, <main>, <footer>, and <section>. Both navigation bars carry role="navigation" and distinct aria-label values. The <main> landmark is present on every page and can be jumped to directly using screen reader landmark navigation.

ARIA attributes on interactive controls

The Simple Mode toggle carries aria-pressed and aria-label. The mobile burger menu carries aria-expanded and aria-label. The Simple Mode banner carries aria-live="polite". Decorative elements (countdown separators, animated timeline nodes) carry aria-hidden="true". Data tables carry aria-label on the table element.

Visible keyboard focus indicator

A :focus-visible rule applies a 3px electric violet outline to all interactive elements when navigated by keyboard. A lighter powder violet variant is used on the dark navigation bar for adequate contrast. Focus indicators do not appear on mouse clicks, which is the expected and accessible behaviour.

Semantic date markup

Key dates on the For Authors page use the HTML <time> element with machine-readable datetime attributes (e.g. datetime="2027-01-31"), allowing assistive technologies and calendar applications to interpret dates correctly.

Date formatting

Dates across the site are written without ordinal suffixes — "14 September 2027" rather than "14th September 2027". This follows GOV.UK style guidance, which recommends plain numeric dates for clarity and to avoid ambiguity for international readers and screen reader users, who may hear ordinal suffixes read aloud inconsistently depending on the assistive technology in use.

Accessible data tables

Tables use <thead>, <th>, and <tbody> structure with descriptive aria-label attributes. On narrow screens, tables scroll horizontally within a wrapper rather than collapsing or hiding content.

Consistent heading hierarchy

Every page uses a single <h1> for the page title, <h2> for sections, and <h3> for sub-sections. No levels are skipped. Screen reader users can navigate using heading shortcut keys.

Consistent navigation

Navigation and footer are generated from a single source file and injected identically on every page. Their position, labelling, and keyboard behaviour never vary between pages.

Viewport and zoom

The viewport meta tag does not prevent user scaling. Layouts are fully responsive, with fluid font sizes using CSS clamp(). Anchor link targets use scroll-margin-top to account for fixed navigation bars.

Language declaration

The page language is declared as English (lang="en") on every page.

Feedback and contact

We want to hear from you if you experience a barrier or cannot access any part of this website. You can also request information in a different format — for example large print, plain text, or audio — by contacting us.

Please contact the SEFI 2027 conference team:

sefi2027@sheffield.ac.uk

Please include the URL of the page you were trying to use, what you were trying to do, and what happened instead. We will aim to respond within five working days.

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 in England, Scotland, and Wales.

If you have raised an accessibility issue with us and are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

If you are based in Northern Ireland, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Technical information

How this site works

This website is built using plain HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript with no framework or build pipeline. It is hosted as static files on shared hosting. There are no server-side components, tracking cookies, or forms. The only data stored in your browser is the Simple Mode on/off preference, held in local storage under the key sefi27-simple.

JavaScript dependency

The navigation bar, footer, skip link, and Simple Mode toggle are injected by JavaScript at page load. Users with JavaScript disabled will see page content but without navigation, footer, or skip link. Simple Mode cannot be activated without JavaScript. We recommend enabling JavaScript for the best experience.

Tested browsers and assistive technologies

  • Google Chrome (current) with NVDA on Windows
  • Mozilla Firefox (current) with NVDA on Windows
  • Apple Safari (current) with VoiceOver on macOS and iOS
  • Microsoft Edge (current)
  • Chrome on Android; Safari on iOS

Internet Explorer is not supported.

Non-HTML content

There are currently no PDFs or downloadable documents on this site. When paper templates and author guidance are published, we will ensure they meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements for PDF accessibility, including tagged document structure, reading order, and alternative text for figures.

Preparation of this statement

This statement was first prepared on .

It was last updated on to clarify its scope: it covers this website only, and enquiries about access at the conference itself are now directed to the Contact page.

Before that, it was reviewed and updated on , following a further design review that made two additional changes: the decorative emoji icons on the conference theme cards were removed from the HTML entirely (superseding the earlier aria-hidden fix); and footer text contrast was further improved following user feedback that the earlier opacity values remained hard to read in practice.

The initial review in June 2026 examined: HTML structure and semantic markup; ARIA attributes and landmark roles; image alternative text across all eight published pages; colour contrast ratios calculated using the WCAG 2.1 relative luminance formula; keyboard tab-order analysis; and the behaviour of the Simple Mode accessibility feature across all pages and screen widths. That review identified and addressed four conformance failures (skip link, emoji alt text, colour contrast, focus indicator) and logged two further issues as known backlog items.

We plan to carry out a further review as additional content is published through 2026 and 2027. An independent accessibility audit will be commissioned before the conference opens in September 2027. This statement will be updated following each review.