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Accessibility statement

If part of Pathway Skills is hard to use, this page tells you what we know about and how to ask for help. You don’t need to explain why.

This website is run by Pathways+ Limited. We want as many people as possible to be able to use it. You should be able to zoom in to 200% without text running off the screen, navigate the whole platform using only a keyboard, and use it with a screen reader.

We are not there yet. The table below lists the accessibility problems we currently know about, and what you can do in the meantime.

Last reviewed
26 August 2026
Next review
By 26 February 2027, and sooner if the platform changes significantly
Scope
pathway-skills.com and the signed-in platform at /learn and /provider.

How accessible this website is

Some parts of this website are not fully accessible. The problems most likely to affect you are:

  • Pictures, charts and diagrams inside questions are not described, so a screen reader cannot tell you what they show.
  • In topic practice and topic tests, a screen reader will not tell you which answer you have selected, and does not announce the next question when it loads.

Mock exams and practice exams are in considerably better shape than topic practice. Where a workaround below points you towards those, it is a genuine alternative rather than a way of moving you along.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format — a described version of a question, larger print, an accessible PDF, an easy-read version, or audio — tell us or your tutor. We will consider your request and get back to you within 2 working days.

If you find a problem that is not listed on this page, or you think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please tell us. It helps if you say what you were trying to do, which page you were on, and what software you were using — but none of that is required.

How to ask

Through your tutor — tell your tutor, and they can contact us for you. You don’t need to get in touch yourself.

Direct to us — email help@pathway-skills.com. We aim to respond within 2 working days.

If you are not happy with our response

If you have raised an accessibility problem with us and you are not happy with how we responded, reply to us and say so. It will be looked at again by someone who has not already handled it.

You also have rights under the Equality Act 2010 that do not depend on us at all. For free, independent advice about those rights, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) opens in new tab, or in Northern Ireland the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland opens in new tab.

Equality Act 2010 — reasonable adjustments

If something on the platform gets in your way — a screen-reader problem, text that is too small, not enough time on a mock exam — tell us or your tutor. You don’t need a diagnosis or a letter.

Some things you can change yourself, straight away. Use the accessibility menu — the round button at the bottom right of the screen — or go to Settings, then Accessibility. You can change the text size, use a dyslexia-friendly font, add a coloured overlay, reduce motion, or choose a light or dark theme. You can also turn on Read aloud, which reads lessons and topic practice out loud. It turns off during tests. In a timed mock exam in Exam Mode, the clock runs to the end with no pause, unless your tutor has added rest breaks for you. Then you can press Rest break to stop the clock for up to 30 minutes at a time. If you might need to stop for longer, choose Practice Mode. It has no timer.

The same menu has a High contrast switch. It makes grey text darker (or lighter, in the dark theme) and outlines stronger, so words and boxes stand out. Where it works, text is at least 7 to 1 against the background — the highest level in the web accessibility guidelines — and outlines are at least 3 to 1. It does not yet work fully on the screens where you practise and take tests. They are listed under “Non-accessible content” below, with what to do instead.

Your tutor can add extra time (25% or 50%), rest breaks, or both to your timed mock exams. If a disability, health condition or learning difficulty makes timed exams harder for you, talk to your tutor about it before you start a timed mock exam. You don’t need a diagnosis to ask. Other arrangements, such as a reader or a scribe, aren’t built into the platform yet, so talk to your tutor about how to practise with them. Practice Mode on a mock exam, practice exams and topic practice have no time limit, but Practice Mode does not count towards your Exam Ready checklist.

The Equality Act 2010 asks organisations that provide services to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and to think ahead about the barriers people are likely to meet. If something on the platform stops you using it, we will work with you and your provider on what we can change, and tell you plainly if something cannot be changed yet.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Pathways+ Limited is committed to making this website accessible. We measure ourselves against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 Level AA.

We are a private company, so the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 do not apply to us. We publish this statement voluntarily, in the shape those regulations use, because the colleges and training providers we sell to are generally bodies governed by public law and are therefore in scope themselves — so it slots into their own compliance file. The duty that does apply to us is the Equality Act 2010.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 opens in new tab AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

What we have tested

  • Automated WCAG 2.2 checks (axe-core) run in CI against the public pages on every change to the main branch
  • The same axe-core checks are run by hand against signed-in pages — the learner dashboard and course pages, and the provider dashboard, reports and student list — because those need a seeded database and are not yet part of the automated run
  • Manual review of learner-facing screens from screen-reader, voice-control, switch-access, keyboard-only, low-vision and dyslexia/ADHD user perspectives
  • Keyboard-only navigation across the platform
  • Colour contrast against the WCAG 2.2 AA thresholds
  • prefers-reduced-motion — animation is suppressed when your device asks for reduced motion

Accessibility work is done in-house rather than outsourced, and it covers the platform’s source as well as the running site. We have not yet commissioned an independent external audit. When we do, we will say so here and link the report.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. We are honest about what is not yet there. An empty table would not be a claim of zero issues — every accessibility statement has open work in progress.

Target fix dates are set at each review. Where a row says “Not yet scheduled”, we have not yet committed to a date, and we would rather say so than publish one we are not confident of. Dates will be added by the next review on 26 February 2027.

Known accessibility problems, the WCAG 2.2 success criterion each one fails, how serious it is, what you can do in the meantime, and when we plan to fix it
The problemWhat it failsHow seriousWhat you can do nowTarget fix
Where a question includes a picture, chart or diagram, a screen reader only says “Question image”. It does not describe what the picture shows. If you cannot see the picture, you may not be able to answer that question. This affects mock exams, practice exams, topic practice and the Initial Assessment.1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)BlockerAsk your tutor to describe the picture, or to give you a described version of the question. If you have a reader for your real exam, tell your tutor — they may be able to read for you in mock exams too.Not yet scheduled
In topic practice and topic tests, the multiple-choice answers are buttons, and the only thing that changes when you choose one is its colour. A screen reader will not tell you which answer is selected, so you cannot check your choice before you submit.4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A); 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A); 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)BlockerUse Practice Exams from the course menu, or a Mock Exam, instead. Those use standard radio buttons that your screen reader will read correctly.Not yet scheduled
In topic practice, topic tests and practice exams, when you submit an answer and the next question loads, a screen reader does not announce it and your cursor does not move to it. It can seem as though nothing happened.4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA); 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)HighAfter you press Submit or Next, use your screen reader’s heading key — H in NVDA or JAWS, or the Headings rotor in VoiceOver — to jump to the new question.Not yet scheduled
In topic practice, after you submit an answer the “Correct” or “Incorrect” message appears on screen but is not read out, and your cursor is left with nowhere to go because the Submit button disappears. You have to go and find the result yourself.4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA); 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)HighAfter submitting, navigate back to the question card using your screen reader’s heading key, as above.Not yet scheduled
If your connection drops while you are submitting a topic test, the page is replaced by a short error message. Your answers so far are lost, there is no “try again” button, and a screen reader will not announce that it happened.4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA); 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)HighReload the page and start the topic test again. If you lose a test this way, tell your tutor — they can see that it did not save.Not yet scheduled
If you turn on Dark mode in the accessibility menu, the question text on topic practice, topic tests and practice exams stays dark grey on a dark background, which is very hard to read.1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)HighSet Theme back to Light in the accessibility menu, at the bottom right of the screen. Light mode is fully readable.Not yet scheduled
The “High contrast” switch in our accessibility menu does not yet reach every screen. On topic practice, topic tests, practice exams, mock exams, the Initial Assessment, the Diagnostic Assessment and parts of your Today page, some text and outlines keep their usual colours when it is on.Not a WCAG failure — this falls below our own standard rather than the guidelines’.MediumOn those screens, use your device’s own high-contrast setting as well. On Windows: Settings, then Accessibility, then Contrast themes. On a Mac: System Settings, then Accessibility, then Display, then Increase contrast. These work on every page.Not yet scheduled
The outlines around answer boxes and multiple-choice options are very pale. If you have low vision they can be hard to make out against the page.1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA)MediumUse your browser’s zoom — Ctrl and + on Windows, Cmd and + on a Mac — or your device’s high-contrast setting.Not yet scheduled
On topic practice, topic tests and practice exams, the typed-answer box has only faint grey placeholder text (“Type your answer…”). That text disappears as soon as you start typing, so there is no permanent label.3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A)MediumNone needed — the box is reachable by keyboard and works normally. This falls below our own standard rather than being something that will stop you.Not yet scheduled
Every page starts with a “Skip to main content” link. On the three Initial Assessment pages, pressing it does not take you anywhere.2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A)MediumPress Tab once more. The assessment content starts straight away, so there is nothing to skip past.Not yet scheduled
The accessibility menu — text size, motion and theme — is not shown on the Initial Assessment pages. Settings you have already chosen still apply, but you cannot change them while you are doing your assessment.Not a WCAG failure — this falls below our own standard rather than the guidelines’.MediumUse your browser’s zoom during the assessment, or set your preferences from your dashboard before you begin.Not yet scheduled

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Two pieces of work sit behind most of the table above, and we are treating them in this order:

  1. Descriptions for question images.There is currently nowhere in our data to store a description alongside a question’s picture. Adding that, and then writing a description for every affected question, is the single biggest accessibility improvement available to us.
  2. Bringing topic practice up to the standard of the mock exam. Our mock exam is the surface we are proudest of — properly grouped answer options, announcements that fire at meaningful moments rather than flooding you every second, and a confirmation step before you submit. Topic practice was built earlier and never caught up. Most of the remaining rows are that gap.

Automated WCAG checks run on every change to the main branch. They run alongside the deploy rather than blocking it, so a new page can reach you before its scan finishes — and automated checks catch only a fraction of accessibility problems in any case, which is why the manual review matters more.

Standards we follow

WCAG 2.2 Level AA. We also reference the GOV.UK Service Standard, AbilityNet, and RNIB guidance. Where the Equality Act and an awarding body’s access-arrangement rules diverge, we follow the awarding body for assessment-validity reasons. Speak to your provider for assessment access arrangements (extra time, modified papers, reader/scribe).

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 26 August 2026. It was last reviewed on 26 August 2026.

This website was last tested on 20 June 2026 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by Pathways+ Limited— we did our own testing. It combined automated checks across public and signed-in pages with a manual review of learner-facing screens from the perspectives listed under “What we have tested”.

We review this statement at least every six months, and whenever the platform changes significantly. The next review is due by 26 February 2027.

External resources