Accessibility statement of the Examinarium website

By selecting a degree programme you are able to see the general content as well as the possible degree programme-specific content. You do not have to select a degree programme to see the Open University's instructions.

This accessibility statement applies to the Examinarium (EXAM) system maintained by the University of Helsinki and it was created on 19 May 2023. 

The observations in this accessibility statement are based on a third-party assessment of whether the online service meets legal requirements. We are continuously evaluating accessibility during development of the EXAM system. This accessibility statement applies to the EXAM system and not the contents, for example the attachments of a single exam.

Accessibility of the digital service

The EXAM system meets the accessibility requirements in part. The online service has some shortcomings in accessibility, which are described in more detail below.

During development of the EXAM service, we are committed to improving the accessibility of the digital service and meeting the A and AA level criteria of WCAG 2.1 contained in the Act on the Provision of Digital Services. The observed accessibility deficiencies will be corrected in conjunction with future EXAM version updates whenever possible. An effort will be made to correct the shortcomings listed in this statement by 31 December 2023.

Non-accessible content (according to WCAG 2.1 criteria)

General accessibility problems

  • The page titles in the service are not unique. (WCAG 2.4.2)
  • The parts of the web pages that are in different language do not have correct language attribute. (WCAG 3.1.1 and 3.1.2)
  • Some content does not adapt properly to smaller screens. (WCAG 1.4.10)
  • In some cases, the visible keyboard focus indicator does not meet contrast requirements. (WCAG 1.4.11)
  • The HTML code of the online service does not fully comply to the specification. (WCAG 4.1.1)

Time limitations

  • There is a general time limitation in the online service. The modal dialog for continuing the session is not at all accessible to keyboard-only users. In addition, the screen reader focus is not automatically directed to the modal, and the functionality for continuing the session does not have any role. (WCAG 2.1.1, 2.4.3 and 4.1.2)

Headings and text content

  • There are visual headings in the online service that are not programmatically marked as headings. (WCAG 1.3.1)
  • In some texts, the screen reader does not interpret line breaks correctly. (WCAG 1.3.1)

Links, buttons and forms

  • At some places, the relationships of information are difficult to understand with screen reader. The form fields and their labels are not always programmatically associated. The checkboxes and radio groups of exam questions have not been grouped correctly. In addition, the movement of screen reader focus is not correctly limited in radio groups. This makes it difficult to understand borders of a radio group. (WCAG 1.3.1 and 2.4.3)
  • There are extra stops of focus when tabbing through some user interface components. There are also non-informative arrow icons that have not been hidden from screen readers. Sometimes the screen reader reads too much information at one step. Screen reader users receive guidance on how to open a keyboard shortcut guide, but the same information is not given to sighted keyboard-only users who might also benefit from the shortcut instructions. (WCAG 1.3.1)
  • Some functionalities do not have an appropriate element or role. At many places, state of functionalities (e.g. whether an accordion is collapsed or expanded, whether a menu item is selected, or if some element is disabled) is not announced to screen reader users. Some functionalities lack an accessible name, or the name is indescriptive or written in English. Actions of these kinds of elements are difficult to understand with screen reader. (WCAG 4.1.2)
  • Some functional elements cannot bee accessed at all with keyboard. These functionalities include for example adding an attachment in the exam, the text formatting functions in the text editor, and showing the evaluation of an exam. (WCAG 2.1.1)

Calendar

  • Some functionalities of the calendar have inappropriate roles, and some functionalities do not have any role. Screen readers do not read all the content correctly. (WCAG 4.1.2)
  • Screen reader users are not notified of all visible changes happening in the calendar. (WCAG 4.1.3)
  • Using the calendar with mobile screen reader is very difficult. The screen reader does not always read all the relevant content but reads some irrelevant noise content. In addition, mobile screen reader focus often gets trapped in the calendar. (WCAG 1.3.1)

Non-textual content

  • The online service includes icons whose alt text or accessible name is indescriptive and/or in English. Some icons do not have alt text at all. There are also some decorative icons that have not been hidden from screen readers. (WCAG 1.1.1)

Modal dialogs

  • Modals for adding an attachment, confirming the sending of an exam and viewing past exam answers have accessibility shortcomings.
  • The focus is not always directed straight to modals. In some cases, the focus is directed to a position inside a modal that is not logical. When closing a modal, the focus does not always remain in the element from which the modal was opened. (WCAG 2.4.3)
  • The functionality for adding an attachment does not have any role, and attachments cannot be added with only a keyboard. (WCAG 2.1.1, 4.1.2)
  • Some headings in the modals have not been programmatically marked as headings. (WCAG 1.3.1)

Contrasts

  • There is an individual text passage that does not have sufficient color contrast. (WCAG 1.3.1)

Changes of page and other content

  • Activating navigation links does not cause ordinary loading of a new page. As a result, a screen reader user does not receive the information that a page has changed. (WCAG 4.1.3)
  • In the search of exams, there is no notification of search results for screen reader users. When changing the subject area of exams, there is no notification of the change of content. (WCAG 4.1.3)
  • Focus has not been controlled on the website, which results in illogical focus behavior during transitions especially with VoiceOver screen reader. In addition, the tab order of the exam view is inconsistent and differs from the visual reading order. (WCAG 2.4.3)

Did you notice an accessibility deficiency in our digital service?

If you observe any issues that are not described on this page, please let us know and we will do our best to fix any shortcomings. We will respond to requests and comments as soon as possible, but no later than within two weeks. You can contact us by sending an email to edutech@helsinki.fi

Supervisory authority

If you notice accessibility issues on the website, first leave your feedback with us, the administrators of the website. It may take up to 14 days to receive an answer. If you are not satisfied with the answer or do not receive an answer from us within two weeks, you may file a complaint with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland. The agency website has detailed instructions (in Finnish and Swedish only) on how to file a complaint and how the issue will be handled.

Contact information of the supervisory authority

Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland

Accessibility supervision unit

www.saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi

saavutettavuus(at)avi.fi

Phone +358 2950 16000 (switchboard)