Accessibility statement for Fix Desk

Fix Desk is used by students, academic staff and Estates technicians to report and manage building faults on campus. We want everyone to be able to use it, including people who use a keyboard only, a screen reader, screen magnification or a phone.

How accessible this website is

Fix Desk has been designed and tested to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA. You should be able to:

use every page and every action with a keyboard alone, with a visible focus outline at all times
zoom up to 200% without text being cut off or the page scrolling sideways
use the site on a phone screen as narrow as 320 pixels
hear form errors, saved changes and search results announced by a screen reader
understand status, priority and errors without relying on colour, because each one is also written in words
use Windows High Contrast mode and reduced-motion settings

Known limitations

We know some parts are not fully accessible yet:

Sign-in time limit: you are signed out after 1 hour without activity, with no warning and no way to extend it. Anything typed into a form that hasn't been sent is lost. This does not meet WCAG 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable). We plan to add a warning with an option to stay signed in.
Tables on small screens: on narrow screens the work order tables are shown as stacked cards. Some browsers, notably Safari, may then stop announcing them as tables to screen readers. Each value still has its label next to it.
Character counter: the count under the fault description is shown visually but not announced as you type, to avoid constant interruptions. The 1000-character limit is stated in the field's hint instead.

How we tested it

This statement was prepared on 11 November 2026. The site was tested by its developer using:

a script that measured the contrast of every piece of visible text on every page against its real background (lowest result for normal text 6.47:1, for large text 5.91:1; the minimums are 4.5:1 and 3:1)
keyboard-only walkthroughs of every task: signing up, logging in, reporting a fault, updating a job, and searching, sorting, filtering and editing work orders
page widths of 320, 375 and 640 pixels (640 pixels matches a 1280-pixel screen at 200% zoom), checking for sideways scrolling
the browser console, to confirm the pages run without errors

Results from the axe DevTools automated checker and from testing with the NVDA screen reader will be added here.

How the main WCAG 2.1 AA criteria are met

Selected WCAG 2.1 success criteria and how Fix Desk meets them
Criterion	Status	How it is met
1.3.1 Info and Relationships	Supports	Landmarks (header, nav, main, footer), one h1 per page with no skipped levels, real tables with column headers, fieldsets and legends for radio groups, and a label for every input.
1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose	Supports	Name, email, phone and password fields use autocomplete values so browsers can fill them in.
1.4.1 Use of Colour	Supports	Priority and status tags contain the words (Urgent, Done), overdue jobs say "Overdue by...", and invalid fields get an error message as well as a red border.
1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)	Supports	Every text colour pair was measured; all are 5.91:1 or higher.
1.4.4 Resize Text and 1.4.10 Reflow	Supports	Sizes use rem units and the layout uses flexbox, grid and media queries. Tables turn into cards on narrow screens, so nothing scrolls sideways at 320 pixels or 200% zoom.
1.4.11 Non-text Contrast	Supports	Input borders are 4.8:1 against white and the focus outline is a 3-pixel dark blue line.
2.1.1 Keyboard and 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap	Supports	Only native buttons, links and form controls are used. Dialogs use the HTML dialog element, close with Escape and return focus to the button that opened them.
2.2.1 Timing Adjustable	Does not support	The 1-hour inactivity sign-out has no warning or extension. See known limitations.
2.4.1 Bypass Blocks	Supports	A "Skip to main content" link is the first thing on every page.
2.4.3 Focus Order and 2.4.7 Focus Visible	Supports	Tab order follows the visual order. After an action, focus moves to the result: an error summary, a success message, or back to the item that changed.
3.2.2 On Input	Supports	Changes to work orders are only saved with an explicit Save button, never just by moving through a drop-down list.
3.3.1 Error Identification and 3.3.3 Error Suggestion	Supports	An error summary receives focus and links to each problem field. Every message says how to fix the problem, for example "Use your university email ending in @uni.ac.uk."
3.3.4 Error Prevention	Supports	Marking a job complete asks for confirmation first. Forms are checked before they are sent.
4.1.2 Name, Role, Value	Supports	Sortable column headers use aria-sort. The show-password button uses aria-pressed. Buttons repeated in each row include the work order number in their accessible name.
4.1.3 Status Messages	Supports	A polite live region announces saves, result counts ("Showing 1 to 10 of 31 work orders"), loading states and newly revealed form sections.

Report a problem

If you find something on Fix Desk that you can't use, please tell us. Use the contact form and choose the subject "Accessibility problem", or email estates@uni.ac.uk. We aim to reply within 1 working day.