Accessibility Statement for Live Chat

This accessibility statement applies to Live Chat.

Live Chat is a third-party application.

Live Chat is provided by Salesforce to King’s College London to provide a route of enquiry for prospective students looking to study an online programme.

Current Live Chat Version: Salesforce Summer 2024 Release.

Using the application

We want as many people as possible to be able to use, read and understand the content of Live Chat.

This means that you should be able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
navigate the application using just a keyboard
navigate the application using speech recognition software
listen to most of the application using a screen reader

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this application is

We know some parts of our Live Chat solution are not fully accessible:

Alt text is not available for all elements
Information structure is not clear in some instances
Some elements have poor colour contrast
Some elements are not visible at 400% zoom
Keyboard focus is not shown on some elements
Some error messages lack clear descriptions
Some elements are not compatible with or optimised for screen readers

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed in this statement or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

If you need information on this application in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, email diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

We will consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.

If you need to escalate your issue further, contact the Director of Culture and Talent, via diversity@kcl.ac.uk. You can expect an acknowledgement of your issue within 7 days and a full reply within 14 days. If your complaint raises complex issues that cannot be answered within 14 days, we will keep you informed of progress until we can fully respond.

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 application

King’s College London is committed to making this application accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This application is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

The Kings College London Online Live Chat Widget is provided by a third party supplier which means that some aspects of accessibility are outside our immediate control.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Please note that all of the below non-compliances are issues with the core Live Chat product, and we are working with the vendor to resolve them.

1.3.1 Info and Relationships - When attempting to click the booking link, screen reader users will incorrectly hear the words "List with 10 items".
1.4.11 Non-Text Contrast - The contrast of UI components and graphical objects does not always meet the required contrast ratios. Affected elements are:
- The focus indicator on the main Live Chat Icon.
- The focus indicator when hovering over the minimise and close buttons.
- The contrast between the live chat icon and some elements of the page.
- The contrast of some URLS within the chat.
1.4.12 Text Spacing - The chatbot is not usable and accessible at 200% zoom and above.
1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus - The start conversation button, nor the Live Chat icon, have HOVER status.
2.4.3 Focus Order - All of the chat conversation is focused and announced.
2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) - Screen readers read the full booking page link, when this should say "[Name of Organisation]'s Booking Page opens in new window, external".
2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) - The link "Privacy policy" is an External link needs and need more instructions. It currently reads "Privacy policy link", when it should read "Privacy policy opens in new window, external".
2.4.7 Focus Visible - The chatbot icon does not have focus visible (border).
3.3.2 Labels or Instructions - When attempting to focus on an uploaded file within the chat, the screen reader reads the wrong instruction. It reads "[file name] remove attachment", when it should read "File(s) attached: [File name] remove attachment".
3.3.2 Labels or Instructions - Labels are not always clear. To provide specific examples: 1) The 'Close' button on the transcript banner does not provide enough context about which component will be closed. 2) the screen reader announces some components twice.
4.1.2 Name, Role, Value - The email input field does not have Label suggestion related.
4.1.2 Name, Role, Value - The screen reader returns an unexpected "Close messaging menu" instruction when the 3 dot menu (…) is open.

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.

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

PDFs and other documents

The accessibility regulations do not 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.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are working with our Live Chat vendor, Salesforce, to fix the accessibility issues identified through our testing and auditing process. We have already made significant progress towards resolving issues affecting the solution and we are set to continue at this same pace. We aspire to have all issues within our control resolved by December 2024. We will push for the issues on the vendor side to be resolved by Summer 2025.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 4th July 2024. It was last reviewed on 4th July 2024.

This application was last tested on 7th July 2024. The test was carried out manually by Accenture at the request of Boundless Learning. The business contact at Boundless learning was Ethan Venables (ethan.venables@boundlesslearning.com).

We tested:

The Live Chat Widget to the WCAG AA 2.2 standard.