This accessibility statement applies to UBIRA eTheses, a website run by the University of Birmingham.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- 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
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
This website runs on the Open Source software EPrints version 3.4.0 and has been customised for our own requirements and branding. The parts of EPrints which are not fully accessible prior to these customisations can be found in a list of EPrints non-accessible content.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Many PDF documents included in the thesis archive are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
- Search functionality may be hard to navigate via screen reader software due to inadequate labelling of search boxes and buttons.
- Search functionality may be hard to navigate via keyboard as focus is not visible in some search buttons and options.
- Colour contrast of some text is insufficient to be easily discernible for all users.
Feedback and contact information
If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please email ubira@lists.bham.ac.uk.
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please email ubira@lists.bham.ac.uk.
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 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 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The University of Birmingham 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
The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.
This website is partially compliant with the WCAG 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 EPrints Accessibility Roadmap specifies issues which relate to the software itself.
In addition, the following issues have been found by local testing.
1.1.1 Non-text content
- Some images, such as thumbnails/previews or the 'loading' image which may display while page elements are loading, lack alt text.
- The graph of 'downloads per month over the past year' on a full record display page is not accessible to a screen reader.
1.3.1 Information and relationships
- Basic and advanced search form elements lack field labels, and their purpose has not been defined programmatically.
- Select elements (drop down menus) lack accessible names.
- Tables have been used for layout purposes and do not have defined headers, for example in the list of most downloaded theses on the landing page, the advanced search screen, or parts of the full record display page.
1.4.3 Contrast (minimum)
- Multiple page elements do not meet the required minimum colour contrast ratio.
1.4.10 Reflow
- At high levels of zoom, scrolling in two dimensions is required.
2.4.1 Bypass blocks
- Pages lack a way to skip to the main content.
2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)
- Identically named links go to different destinations. Specifically, the University of Birmingham name and logo appears twice, linking to two different places.
2.4.7 Focus Visible
- Some screen elements, such as the ‘Search’ buttons and the checkboxes on the ‘Advanced Search’ page, lack visible focus when using keyboard navigation.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
The eTheses repository hosts electronic versions of PhD theses and other dissertations produced by students in the course of their studies. These are typically in PDF format.
PDFs and other documents added to the repository before 23 September 2018 are exempt from the accessibility regulations.
PDFs and other documents added to the repository after 23 September 2018 are third-party content which we are not able to fully check for accessibility, although we provide advice to postgraduate students on good practice in relation to producing accessible documents.
If you need assistance with obtaining a thesis in an alternative format, please email ubira@lists.bham.ac.uk.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
UBIRA eTheses runs on the open source software EPrints version 3.4.0 and has been customised for our own requirements and branding. We expect to upgrade to a new version of EPrints during 2026 which will allow us to address accessibility issues. The EPrints Accessibility Roadmap further shows how and when EPrints plan to improve accessibility with their software releases.
We encourage students to consider accessibility as part of the advice on formatting a thesis for submission.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 21 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 27 November 2025.
This website was last tested on 26 November 2025. The test was carried out by university staff using a selection of automated tools (Deque Axe, Silktide, WAVE) and manual checks.
We tested the publicly available pages of etheses.bham.ac.uk as follows: