Accessibility Evaluation

Issues:
Digital accessibility audit website rsm.nl

(Issues only)

Scope of the evaluation

Website name Rotterdam School of Management
Date 12 February 2025
Scope of the website The scope of the audit includes:
  • All pages of the website rsm.nl.
  • PDF documents on the website rsm.nl.
The scope of the audit excludes:
  • Sub-website(s) where the HTML and/or the system differs from rsm.nl.
  • All external systems and websites linked to on rsm.nl.
  • The webshop on store.rsm.nl.
  • The brochure on rsm.foleon.com/impact/rsm-impact-brochure-2023.
  • Microsoft Forms.
  • The chat behind login on rsm.nl/education/talk-to-a-current-student.
  • The pages behind login on rsm.nl/showroom en rsm.nl/plugin-testing.
    		•
    Conformance target WCAG 2.1 level AA

    Detailed audit results

    Number of findings: 32

    1. Perceivable

    1.1 Text Alternatives

    1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 1: Adjusted finding as a result of re-audit:
    On page https://www.rsm.nl/alumni/international-network/, under 'Find your local Alumni Chapter,' there is a map with links to locations. The images of the map (this applies to the images of the map, not the images in the links to locations) have no alternative text, but are also not hidden from assistive software such as a screen reader. This causes it to read out that there is an image here, which can be confusing. Hide the images by adding an alt attribute and leaving it blank.

    1.2 Time-based Media

    1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 2: On page https://www.rsm.nl/, the video near the 'About RSM' heading has text in several places, such as the text of the logo visible in the first seconds. Also, the name and position of the speakers are visible as text (they are not spoken), for example at time 0:17. The information that comes on screen from time 0:55 onward, and the slogan that appears in the last seconds, is not spoken. There is no written out text and no audio descriptor telling what can be seen on the screen. As a result, visitors who cannot see cannot know what is being shown in the video. Put this information in a transcript to meet this success criterion. Or use an additional audio track to meet success criterion 1.2.5 as well. A similar problem occurs on page https://www.rsm.nl/about-rsm/ in the video 'Positive Change' and 'History', and on page https://www.rsm.nl/education/mba/international-full-time-mba/ in the video on the 'Why This Program' tab under the heading 'Program overview'.

    1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded)

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 3: On page https://www.rsm.nl/, there is a video under the heading 'About RSM'. This video lacks audio description, which means that the information that is seen on screen at various times (for example, the first and last seconds, the names of the speakers and the information from time 0.55 onwards) is not available to visitors who cannot see. Audio description is an (additional) audio track telling what can be seen on screen. Add an extra audio track in which audio description can be heard. A similar problem occurs on page https://www.rsm.nl/about-rsm/ with the video 'Positive Change' and 'History'.

    1.3 Adaptable

    1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 4: Adjusted finding as a result of re-audit:
    The menu consists of menu items (e.g. 'About RSM') that contain submenu items (e.g. 'Organisation'). These submenu items contain nested sub-submenu items (for example, 'Leadership team'). The ul and li elements have been used for the layout, so that visitors who use assistive software are told that lists are located here and how many items they consist of. If this is formatted correctly, the visitor can get a good overview of the structure of the menu. That is not the case now. This submenu item 'Organisation' should be formatted as the first list item (<li>) of a list (<ul>) of five (instead of four) items, in which each submenu item (for example also 'Facts and Figures' and 'RSM Experience ') stands. A new list can then be nested within each of these list items, containing the sub-submenu. Make sure the lists are formatted correctly.

    Finding 5: On page https://www.rsm.nl/search/?q=housing, below the search results, it is possible to visually infer which page in the navigation system is currently active, because this page number is in bold. For visitors using assistive software such as a screen reader, this information is not available. Solve this, for example, by using aria-current on the link-element of the active page. A similar problem applies to the tabs that appear above the search results (e.g. 'All results').

    Finding 6:
    Page https://www.rsm.nl/privacy-statement/ shows a table after the 'What kind of personal data does RSM process?' link is unfolded. The headings in this table are formatted by using the strong element, rather than the th element. As a result, the relationship between the headings and data cells is not clear to visitors using assistive software such as a screen reader. Solve this by using the th element to format the table headings. Place the scope attribute in the th elements to link the heading cells to associated data cells.

    Finding 7: Adjusted finding as a result of re-audit:
    When the 'Why does RSM process personal data' link is unfolded on page https://www.rsm.nl/privacy-statement/, the text shows three visual headings (e.g., 'Education & Education-Support'). This is an enumeration of three goals, this is visually recognizable but not obvious to assistive software. Solve this by formatting the enumeration as a list (using the ul/ol element and li element), and formatting the headings as headings at the appropriate heading level (e.g., h3). Make sure the list is formatted correctly, as one list with the correct number of list-items. A similar problem occurs in the content that can be found when the 'Your rights' link is expanded.
    Headings that are not formatted as headings also occur on other pages, for example on page https://www.rsm.nl/nl/education/short-courses/finance-and-accounting/rsm-bedrijfswaardering/ at the subheadings that show up after the link 'What are the dates for this program?' is unfolded.

    On page https://www.rsm.nl/alumni/international-network/, under 'Find your local Alumni Chapter', there is a map where locations can be made visible or invisible via a check box. Visually, this check box is labeled 'Local Chapters,' but this label is not programmatically linked correctly. As a result, it is not read out when the focus here is brought to the check box. Solve this, for example, by using a combination of the for and id attribute.

    1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 8: On page https://www.rsm.nl/404 there is a form where the visitor can enter their own e-mail address and name, among other things. Is should be possible to determine the purpose of these and a number of other fields programmatically, so that fields can be filled in automatically or extra help can be given. This can be done by adding the autocomplete attribute to the input elements. For example, for email address autocomplete=“email”.
    An overview of the fields for which the autocomplete attribute is applicable and the value required in this attribute can be found on the page: https://www.w3.org/tr/wcag21/#input-purposes.

    1.4 Distinguishable

    1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 9: All findings for this success criterion were found after setting high contrast via the contrast button found in the heading.

    Finding 10: With the exception of the home page, every page (e.g. https://www.rsm.nl/contact/) has the page name ('Contact') in the breadcrumb link. The light blue (the color is actually white, but because it is semi-transparent the actual color is HEX #91B7D5) text has insufficient contrast with the blue (HEX 2871AD) background. The text corresponds to the heading that follows it, but because the text is poorly visible to some visitors due to the lack of contrast, they cannot see it and may think they are missing information. The contrast ratio is 4.4:1 where it should be at least 4.5:1.

    Finding 11: The PDF document 'Employment status 6 months after graduation' shows light blue (HEX #4F81BD) text on white background, for example, 'students found a job before graduation'. The contrast is too low. The contrast ratio is 4:1. There is also a contrast problem in the 'Average annual salary' table, with the green (HEX #00B050) numbers on the gray (HEX #E7E8EB) background. Here the contrast ratio is 2.3:1. Make sure the contrast ratio is at least 4.5:1 everywhere.

    1.4.5 Images of Text (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.4.5 Images of Text

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 12: On page https://www.rsm.nl/education/bachelor/bsc-bedrijfskunde-business-administration-ba/, under the heading 'More about the study' on the tab 'The first and second year', an image can be found containing a schematic representation of the content of the study (both for 'Bachelor year 1' and 'Bachelor year 2'). Visually impaired visitors cannot edit this text to increase readability. For assistive software, the image is hidden, so visitors who are blind do not know what information is there. The text on the image does not otherwise appear on the page. Place the text as HTML text on the page to make it available in an accessible way. This also applies to the image on 'The Third Year' tab.

    1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.4.10 Reflow

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 13: On several pages there is a slider, for example on the homepage https://www.rsm.nl/ under 'Information for'. There are two buttons here, 'Previous slide' and 'Next slide'. If the page is viewed at a screen size of 1280 by 1024 pixels and zoomed in from 150%, these buttons disappear from the page. Make sure that all functionality remains available when zooming in.

    Finding 14: At a screen size of 1280 by 1024 pixels, if the pages are zoomed in to 400% and the (hamburger) menu is unfolded, the menu items are not visible when navigated through them via the keyboard. They are covered by the search function. This makes it difficult to navigate within the menu using the keyboard. Make sure all content and functionality on the page remains visible when zooming in, even when navigating via keyboard. This also applies to the additional menu that appears at the top of the page once the visitor has navigated through the heading.

    1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 15: All findings for this success criterion were found after setting high contrast via the contrast button found in the heading.

    Finding 16: Throughout the website, contrast problems occur at the focus indicator of focusable elements. The original color of the focus indicator does have sufficient contrast, but because it is transparent it still has too low a contrast depending on the background color it is on. This makes it difficult for some visitors to see which element has focus. Some examples of this problem, where the solution is to ensure that the contrast ratio of the focus indicator is at least 3:1:

    Finding 17: On the home page https://www.rsm.nl/ there is a slider under the heading 'Information for', it is possible to navigate the buttons using the keyboard (e.g. 'Go to slide 2'). The buttons of the inactive slides are gray (HEX #ADB7C0), and the focus indicator is the same color. Because the contrast with the light blue (HEX #D8E5F0) background is too low, the buttons and focus indicator are difficult to see, if at all, for some visitors. The contrast ratio is 1.5:1 where it should be at least 3:1. The same occurs in the slider under 'Upcoming events'. A similar problem occurs under 'Discover our latest research, here the contrast ratio with the white background is 1.6:1. This occurs on several pages, for example on page https://www.rsm.nl/404 and https://www.rsm.nl/about-rsm/work-with-us/crm-application-manager/ under 'Information for' and on page https://www.rsm.nl/about-rsm/ in several places.

    1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 18: On each page, the menu can be unfolded by moving the focus here using the keyboard, or by moving the mouse pointer here. The visitor cannot remove this content without moving the mouse or moving the focus with the keyboard. Solve this by ensuring that the unfolded menu can be closed with the escape key, for example.

    2. Operable

    2.1 Keyboard Accessible

    2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 19: On (for example) the homepage https://www.rsm.nl, if the menu is unfolded, the content of the underlying page darkens and the interactive parts cannot be operated with the mouse. This is not a problem because the normal view of the page reappears when the menu is collapsed. For visitors navigating via keyboard, however, this does not apply. After they pass through the menu via keyboard and the menu folds back in after the focus leaves the menu, the page remains dark. The interactive elements cannot be controlled via the mouse, but can be controlled via the keyboard. Because some items on the page are difficult to see, this can interfere with navigating across and controlling the page. Solve this by ensuring that even when operated via the keyboard, the normal view and functionality of the page appears after folding the menu.

    Finding 20: Advice: Using the keyboard, visitors can use the tab key to move focus to any submenu item. For visitors who can see and depend on keyboard navigation, the delayed effect of moving the focus can be confusing. If the tab key is quickly moved through all menu and submenu items, the unfolded menu falls away for a moment each time. At that moment it is not visible on which item the focus is. Because eventually everything is visible when the visitor tabs more slowly, this is not a failure for this succes criteron. Still, this can get in the way of efficient navigation, so it is better to avoid a delay between the moment of focus and when it becomes visible.

    2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 21: On the home page https://www.rsm.nl/, when navigating backwards via keyboard (shift+tab), the focus also goes to the 'learn more' link under the heading that begins with the text 'Discover how RSM's HR programme...' at the time it is not visible. This link becomes visible only when the focus is brought to the heading above. Make sure that the focus cannot be brought to elements that are not visible on the page. Solve this, for example, by ensuring that when navigating backwards, the focus goes to the div element containing the heading first.

    Information about success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 22: On the home page, under the heading 'About RSM', there is the link 'Learn more'. The link text does not adequately describe the link purpose. Visually, one can understand what this link belongs to, but for visitors using assistive software such as a screen reader, this context is not immediately clear. This is also the case for visitors navigating by retrieving a list of links, as the context is then also lost. This can be solved by supplementing the link text with, for example, the heading, 'About RSM' (this need not be visually visible). The same occurs in several places, for example in the link under the heading that begins with the text, 'Discover how RSM's newest HR program will...'. A similar problem occurs with the 'View all' link under the slider at the 'Information for' heading. This also occurs on other pages, for example on page https://www.rsm.nl/404 at the links 'Learn more' and 'View all'. And on page https://www.rsm.nl/nl/education/short-courses/finance-and-accounting/rsm-bedrijfswaardering/ in the slider under 'Read what previous participants say about this program'.

    Finding 23: On page https://www.rsm.nl/about-rsm/organisation/faculty-council/, under the heading 'Meeting schedule 2023-2024,' there are multiple links named 'Agenda' and 'Minutes.' Visually, the context makes it possible to deduce which date these links belong to, but because they are in HTML in a different element, this may be unclear to visitors who get to read this via assistive software such as a screen reader. Solve this, for example, by adding an aria tag with the corresponding date to the links, possibly also adding that it is a link to a PDF document.

    2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 24: On page https://www.rsm.nl/search/?q=housing, the search results can be filtered through different tabs, for example 'People' or 'Programs'. These tabs have all been given the same accessible name via an aria label; 'refinement'. This text does not adequately describe the tab. Solve this by replacing the text in the aria label with the text that can be seen visually at the tab. See also success criterion 2.5.3.

    Finding 25: Advice: Several pages have a button in the heading that allows the color contrast on the page to be adjusted. This button has two span elements containing text that is read as a name by assistive software such as a screen reader. The function of the button does become clear from this (which is why this is not a failure for this succes criterion), but the second text can create confusion. The first name is 'Click to set normal contrast' when high contrast is set, this text suffices as a good descriptive name. The second text is 'Contrast on,' this text may be unclear. To convey the function of the button more clearly, the second text can be removed.

    2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 26: If the homepage https://www.rsm.nl/ is scrolled down (or the visitor moves the focus via the tab key from the pause/play button on the video in the heading to the next item), a blue bar appears at the top of the page in which a menu can be unfolded via the link 'Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University'. If the visitor scrolls through this menu via the tab key, the focus is not visible when navigated to this link for the second time (after the last menu item). Visitors who can see and navigate via the keyboard, therefore, do not know where the focus is at that moment. Make sure it is always visible where the focus is, for example by a focus border.

    2.5 Input Modalities

    2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 27: On page https://www.rsm.nl/search/?q=housing, the search results can be filtered through different tabs, for example 'People' or 'Programs'. These tabs have all been given the same accessible name via an aria label; 'refinement'. This text does not match the text visually visible, making it difficult for visitors using speech software to address the tabs. Solve this by replacing the text in the aria label with the text that can be seen visually at the tab. See also success criterion 2.4.6.

    3. Understandable

    3.1 Readable

    3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 28: The language of page https://www.rsm.nl/education/bachelor/bsc-bedrijfskunde-business-administration-ba/ is set to English (lang="en"). This prevents assistive software such as a screen reader from reading the text in the content, which is in Dutch, with the correct pronunciation. Solve this by changing the language code to Dutch, lang="nl". The text in the menu and footer is in English, so the English language code can be added to these elements, see success criterion 3.1.2.

    3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA)

    Information about success criterion 3.1.2 Language of Parts

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 29: Page https://www.rsm.nl/nl/education/short-courses/finance-and-accounting/rsm-bedrijfswaardering/ has Dutch-language content, but the language of the text in the menu and footer is (partially) English. Certain sections in the content of the page, such as the Frequently Asked Questions and the feedback form, are also in English. Because there is a Dutch language code (lang="nl") on the page, this English text cannot be read with the correct pronunciation by assistive software such as a screen reader. Solve this by placing a different language code on these parts, lang="en". You can also choose to have the language match the language of the page content by changing it to Dutch. On page https://www.rsm.nl/education/bachelor/bsc-bedrijfskunde-business-administration-ba/ there is a similar problem, here the different language code can be placed in the menu and footer after changing the language of the page to Dutch. For this, see success criterion 3.1.1.

    3.3 Input Assistance

    3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 3.3.1 Error Identification

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 30: Adjusted finding as a result of re-audit:
    The feedback form on page https://www.rsm.nl/404, contains a required field 'Your feedback'. The message which appears ('This field is mandatory') only contains a suggestion to fix the error and is therefore not complete. Make sure these properly describe which error was made in which place.

    Finding 31: Adjusted finding as a result of re-audit:
    On page https://www.rsm.nl/education/master/msc-programmes/brochure-request/?tx_rsmrequest_brochure%5Baction%5D=post&tx_rsmrequest_brochure%5Bcontroller%5D=Brochure&cHash=a095b14a5680a590415e4312619b5f0b a general message appears above the form with the text 'Please make sure you fill in all required fields'. From this it is not clear which fields are involved. Also a message appears above the field, for example 'The given first name was empty'. This is not a good error identification. A good error message states which error was made where. Provide a good error message above the field or programmatically linked to the field so that it is read out as soon as the focus is brought to the field.

    3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A)

    Information about success criterion 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions

    Outcome: Failed

    Finding 32: Adjusted finding as a result of re-audit:
    On page https://www.rsm.nl/404 is a form where the required field ('Your feedback *) displays an asterisk. Nowhere within the form is it stated that this asterisk means that this field is required. Because the text 'required' is added to the label, the asterisk can be removed.

    Basis for this evaluation

    The audit was conducted based on the evaluation method of the W3C, WCAG-EM. This is largely done manually by taking a sample. For a quickscan we use parts of this methodology. Despite all the researcher's care and experience, it is possible that a problem has not been identified. Keep in mind that in a next audit certain parts could be assessed differently because of further development of techniques and assistive software. Tools are used in the manual audit.

    Sample of audited web pages

    Relied upon techniques

    Resources:

    This report is mainly created with the online W3C report tool.

    Printed: 2025-03-09 22:15:16 v2.4-011