Aula strives to ensure that all learners, regardless of age, ability or situation, are empowered and engaged in their learning experience. The purpose of this document is to describe Aula’s approach to accessibility, as well as the current state of accessibility in the Aula platform.
Conformance to Standards
Aula is designed and developed in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level A and AA. All areas where Aula does not fully support WCAG 2.1 standards are transparently reported in this document and remediations are prioritised highly on our roadmap. As acknowledged by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), the complexities of a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform such as Aula make the clear delineation of compliance or non-compliance difficult to achieve. To counter this challenge, Aula strongly believes that accessibility is not an end state, but a commitment to a continuous process of vigilance and improvement reflected in our approach.
Aula’s Approach to Accessibility
Aula’s designers and engineers are dedicated to building software for all users by considering accessibility throughout the process. By following best practices and internationally recognised standards, Aula ensures that the platform works with a large array of assistive technologies, including those that rely on keyboard-only interactions, various mobile and desktop screen readers, and native zoom and contrast capabilities. Importantly, this means that users can use the technologies that they’re used to and comfortable with.
In order to maintain a level of certainty around Aula’s continued accessibility, we conduct audits leveraging impartial, third-party experts to evaluate the platform’s conformance with WCAG 2.1 A and AA standards, using the following tools:
- Screen reader testing using JAWS on Win 10/ Chrome
- Keyboard-only testing on Win 10/ Chrome
- Color contrast testing on Win 10/ Chrome
- Full browser zoom testing on Win 10/ Chrome
- Testing using an automated tool - aXe
Aula also recognises that accessibility is more than just compliance, accessible software needs to be easy to use. That’s why Aula tests our software with users that use assistive technologies in their daily lives, helping to ensure that Aula isn’t just accessible on paper, but in practice as well. And if any user encounters a situation where they cannot equitably use the Aula platform, we encourage them to reach out to our support team who will be able to assist where possible and escalate to the development team where necessary to remediate the issue in a timely fashion.
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®)
The VPAT is a standard format for reporting accessibility conformance, widely used by administrators and decision-makers to evaluate the conformance of software products to internationally recognised standards.
See Also:
Aula Education Ltd. Accessibility Conformance Report, Sept 2020