This website is run by Student Loans Company Limited (“SLC”) on behalf of UK Government Digital Services. SLC is fully committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We’re actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means 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 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.

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 unable to hear or speak on the phone.

Our offices have audio induction loops for those with difficulty hearing and are visiting our offices in person. Or, if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

SLC is committed to making its websites accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (“the Accessibility Regulations”).

We’re striving to fully adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 (“WCAG 2.1”) AA standards. We acknowledge that this website is currently only partially compliant with those standards. We’ve provided details below of current areas of non-compliance, and details of when we expect those areas to be made compliant.

Non accessible content

Text Clipping on a specific menu item

One item within the main menu within the Virtual Delegate Area clips when text reaches 300%. This does not impede the tab navigation, and will also not impede a screen reader.

While this does meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 Resize text, we are still working on improving this. By the end of 2021 a visual change to the system template will allow for longer, more complex, menu items labels.

How we tested this website

The last test on this website was run in July 2021. The test was carried out by Glasgows. We tested:

Our virtual event registrations, and management system, available at the following links: SLC Events, Virtual Hub / Registration

• Homepage
• Registration
• Login
• Virtual Hub

Tests were carried out using a combination of semi-automated tools measuring the mark-up against the WCAG 2.1 criterion, and then the required manual checks to ensure that the automated tool was not reporting false positives.

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 Accessibility Regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (“EASS”) for advice and assistance.

If you’re based in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, you can contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland, instead of the EASS and EHRC.

This statement was prepared on the 29 July 2021 and published on the 16 August 2021.