Accessibility within SIMS

The SIMS project works with GDX (Government Digital Experience Division) accessibility experts to ensure the SIMS system and applications are up to accessibility standards. The sections below outline our accessibility practices within SIMS.

Accessibility QA

The items listed below ensure SIMS accessibility standards are up-to-date as new features are added.

Technology

Modern development technology and frameworks are used (and should be continue to be used) within SIMS to ensure new accessibility technologies are included during development. Most of the time custom builds for accessibility features aren't required as they are already included OOTB (out of the box).

Design

The SIMS design system, pattern libraries, and reusable components include accessibility standards as part of the UI design process such as colour contrast checking, ensuring headers are clearly outlined in the design for content hierarchy (h1, h2, h3), etc.

Content

Content within the SIMS is written in plain language for a grade 6 reading level, if possible. There may be some words used in SIMS that reach a post-graduate level. To ensure we can keep the language accessible, a tooltip is presented beside the word to help explain its function, purpose, or meaning.

Accessibility audits

An accessibility audit of our system and applications are reviewed by an accessibility expert from GDX. The findings are added to the reports below and solutions are implemented after. The same solutions are applied to the remaining users and portals to create a consistent user experience.

• Accessibility Audit for Institution Portal (March 2022)
• Accessibility Audit for Student Portal (July 2023)

If you can't access the audit reports, you'll need to ask for permission from someone on the SIMS team or [email protected]. These documents are stored in the SIMS team channel.