Accessibility & Section 508

Learn about Synap's Accessibility and relevant attestations towards WCAG / Section 508 (U.S.) standards

We regularly review the Synap platform against the WCAG 2.1 criteria, which are an internationally recognised set of guidelines regarding the accessibility of web content for users with physical, sensory and/or cognitive impairments.

Please find below a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) report attesting to Synap's conformity with the WCAG 2.1 guidelines.

• Synap Web - Student Exam Platform - WCAG 2.1 / Revised Section 508 Report (April 2024)

Based on the findings of this report, the Synap Web - Student Exam Platform is conformant with Level AAA of the WCAG 2.1 guidelines. It is worth pointing out that Level AAA includes several criteria that may be difficult for Synap Customers to achieve without significant consideration and/or changes to their assessment policies (e.g. the use of untimed exams, and requiring exam content to be easily understood). For this reason we generally suggest that Synap is compliant with Level AA, as when used in conjunction with most commonly accepted examination practices, or without significant and explicit consideration regarding how a set of online assessments should be adapted, it is likely that it would fail to meet Level AAA criteria.

To summarise the above, if you are delivering exams to students using Synap, you can expect WCAG 2.1 Level AA (and by extension, U.S. Section 508) compliance 'out of the box' as long as you use our authoring tools appropriately. If Level AAA compliance is important to you, then Synap does provide the foundational structure and tools for this, however you will need to take additional steps to ensure your content, and the configuration of your exam maintains that level of compliance.

Please note that this evaluation does not cover Administrator areas of the platform though this part of the site uses the same underlying methodologies and technologies as the Student platform. We aim to complete a formal evaluation in Q4 2024.

Notes on U.S. Section 508

The Revised 508 Standards incorporate by reference the WCAG 2.0 Level AA Success Criteria, and apply the WCAG 2.0 Level AA success criteria and conformance requirements to both web and non-web electronic content. Our understanding of this is that conformance with WCAG 2.0 (and by extension 2.1, which is a superset of 2.0) Level AA, meets the criteria set out by Section 508. Please seek independent legal advice about this if Section 508 is applicable to you.