Website Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to gsmd.ac.uk.

This website is run by Guildhall School of Music & Drama under license agreement with the application provider Numiko. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • Use pages when stylesheets are disabled

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 has been designed and built to best practice guidance around WCAG 2.1 AA standards. A phase of testing was conducted to ensure that the code meets these standards, with the accessibility testing conducted by Numiko staff.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • most older PDF and Word documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some recorded and live video streams do not have captions.

Feedback and contact information (what to do if you can’t access parts of this website)

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille: this website uses Ally. Ally creates alternative formats of website pages and files based on the originals. For example, if the original content is a PDF, Ally creates audio, electronic braille, and ePub formats of the same content.

Search for the Download Alternative Formats icon. You'll find the icon on the right side of the page.

Contact us if you have any additional needs:

  • email marketing@gsmd.ac.uk
  • call 02076282571
  • in person at the Marketing Office, Level 2, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Silk Street, Barbican, EC2Y 8DT

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in five working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed in this statement or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact our website manager at: marketing@gsmd.ac.uk

Enforcement procedure

If you are not happy with the initial response within the Guildhall School you can contact marketing@gsmd.ac.uk to escalate your request.

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 requests, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Throughout Milton Court we have an Infra-Red system for those who are hearing impaired. All floors and venues in Milton Court are fully accessible, except for the cloakroom on Level -1 – staff will arrange your cloakroom items to be taken down for you upon request at the entrance. In our Silk Street building, hearing loops are provided in the Music Hall and Theatre, with all venues suitable for wheelchair users.

Download our Milton Court Access Guides from the Visiting Us webpage to find out more about accessibility in Milton Court.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Guildhall School of Music & Drama 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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • Time-based media

Not all pre-recorded time-based media (videos and podcasts) have captions or audio descriptions/ alternative formats. This doesn’t meet WCAG success criterion 1.2 (Captions). Pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020 is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

  • Live video

Live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. However, where resource allows, we’ll ensure we consider adding captioning to live streaming. 

  • PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents.

The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

How we tested this website

Testing of the site consisted of manually testing the website to ensure it is fully keyboard navigable as well as using the following three tools:

  • WAVE accessibility plug in for Chrome to assess general accessibility issues
  • VoiceOver screen reader for iOS to ensure screen reader compatibility with mobile devices
  • NVDA screen reader to ensure screen reader compatibility for the desktop site

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 13 April 2022. It was last reviewed on 18 May 2022.

This website was last tested on 28 April 2022. The test was carried out by Numiko, and Guildhall School of Music & Drama.