This accessibility statement applies to the IT instruction website maintained by the ICT services of Oulu universities (ict.oulu.fi). We have assessed the accessibility within ICT services. This statement was last updated on January 2, 2025.
Partial Compliance with Accessibility Requirements
We have self-assessed the service’s accessibility.
The website was implemented in the summer of 2021. The user interface accessibility is at a good level, but there are still accessibility issues with instructions transferred as-is from the old instruction site.
Old Instructions Not Initially Designed for Accessibility: Content is being corrected as instructions are updated.
Most of the instructions transferred from the old Oamk IT instruction site were created before accessibility requirements were in place. Therefore, these older instructions, transferred as-is to the new site, do not meet the requirements. Training has been provided to those creating instructions on how to make them accessible. All new instructions are made accessible, and when old instructions are updated, they are corrected for accessibility at the same time. The service uses an “accessible instruction” category for instructions made accessible by their creators. This means that updated pages should no longer have accessibility issues.
Images Without Appropriate Alternative Descriptions
Old instructions contain images without appropriate alternative descriptions. The web editor used on the site automatically creates an empty alternative description for images if the content creator does not provide one. This is problematic if the image content is not described in the instruction text (WCAG 1.1.1: Non-text Content). All new and recently updated instructions should have proper alternative descriptions.
Program Instructions May Refer to Visual Features
Some instructions on the site rely on the reader seeing the target system and its icons. When a screen reader user uses the target system, the icons described in the instructions may not be clear to them. For example, an instruction might say “click the gear icon,” while for a screen reader user, the same function is labeled as “settings” (indirectly against WCAG 1.3.3: Sensory Characteristics).
Embedded Videos Not Fully Accessible
All videos published on or after September 23, 2020, must be accessible. For this instruction page, we have decided to offer all IT instructions primarily in text form. Additionally, the site contains videos we have created that support the instruction text or serve as an alternative to reading the instructions (our videos are considered media alternatives to text instructions, so accessibility requirements do not extend to them).
Furthermore, the site offers some videos as additional resources, which we do not provide as text instructions. These videos are not created by us, and we cannot influence their accessibility. It is clearly stated that these videos are additional resources for those who want more information. Practically, the videos are links to YouTube, but the editor used to create the pages automatically embeds YouTube video links on the instruction page, making the video viewable on the instruction page, so they cannot be offered as traditional links.
Provide Us with Accessibility Feedback
Please provide us with feedback on the accessibility of ict.oulu.fi. For example, you can request the correction of a specific instruction on the website to make it accessible. Send your request via email to ict@oulu.fi – Please use the subject “Accessibility Feedback (ict.oulu.fi),” and if your feedback concerns a specific instruction, please provide a direct link to the instruction page in question.
Supervisory Authority
If you notice accessibility issues on the site, please provide feedback to us first (see the previous section). It may take up to 14 days to respond. If you are not satisfied with the response or do not receive a response within two weeks, you can file a complaint with Traficom. Traficom’s website has detailed information about your rights.
Contact Information for the Supervisory Authority
Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom Unit for Monitoring Digital Accessibility
https://www.saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi/en
saavutettavuus@traficom.fi
Phone number: 029 534 5000 (switchboard)
Our Commitment to Accessibility
Please note that this statement only applies to pages at ict.oulu.fi, and linked sites should have their own statements if required.
Our goal is to actively improve the accessibility of all our online services. We strive to make our online services easy to use and work to ensure that accessibility becomes an integral and natural part of the design, implementation, procurement, and quality assurance of online services.
We offer accessibility-related instructions for web content creators on this ict.oulu.fi site. Additionally, the joint Moodle of Oulu universities offers an online course on web service accessibility, which can be completed independently at a convenient time. The course is open to both staff and students (no credits are awarded, but those who complete the course will have a good basic understanding of accessibility).