Accessibility statement for the Student Loans Company’s Online Repayment Service
This website is run by the Student Loans Company Limited (SLC) on behalf of UK Government Digital Services. It is designed to be used as many people as possible. 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet (opens in new tab)
has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- some images do not have clear and descriptive alternative text
- some older documents are in PDF format and are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- some documents in PDF format are not fully editable
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need any of our letters, forms or guides sent to you in Braille or large print, email brailleandlargefonts@slc.co.uk with:
- your address
- your Customer Reference Number
- what you need changing into Braille or large print
- for large print, include the font size and the font type you need
If there are any other parts of our website which you cannot access, please let us know by contacting us at accessibility@slc.co.uk.
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Find out how to contact us at
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company (opens in new tab).
Technical information about this website's accessibility
The Student Loans Company is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the 'accessibility regulations').
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 (opens in new tab) ('WCAG 2.1') 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
Images and non-text content
Some images do not have a clear text alternative, so the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2020. When we publish new content, we'll make sure our use of images meets AA accessibility standards.
PDFs
We're aware that some PDFs are not fully editable and the reading order when accessed using a screen reader differs from the visual reading order. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (users are required to download and complete a PDF). We'll provide either fully editable PDFs with a consistent reading order or digital HTML forms to replace all PDFs by September 2020.
Disproportionate burden
Interactive tools and transactions
When we send letters to our users, we also make them available to be viewed in their online account.
Some of the content in older documents may not read out in the correct order. This may make it difficult for screen reader users to interpret the information. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence).
We've assessed the cost of fixing these issues and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will reassess this in September 2021.
However, if you need one of these documents contact accessibility@slc.co.uk.
How we tested this website
This website was and is currently being tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA standards, and these tests have been carried out internally.
We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to test the entire service.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact accessibility@slc.co.uk.
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 the Student Loans Company respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) (opens in new tab) , or the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) (opens in new tab) if you live in Northern Ireland.
What we're doing to improve accessibility
We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.
This statement was prepared on 10 September 2019. It was last updated on 12 December 2019.