Turnitin (Moodle Plugin) accessibility statement

Using this service

This third-party service is provided via the University of Glasgow Moodle Virtual Learning Environment. Turnitin’s Feedback Studio interface, which includes similarity checking, is owned, supported, and managed by the third-party external vendor, Turnitin.

They are keen to ensure that as many people as possible are to be able to use their services and are continually looking to improve accessibility features.

Reporting accessibility problems with the Turnitin Feedback Studio / Similarity Checking Service

If you encounter any problems using the Turnitin Feedback Studio or Similarity Report interfaces, in the first instance please use the contact details below to report problems. These will be passed on to the vendor for review.

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 5 days. However, further engagement with the vendor may be required which may take longer to provide feedback.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print; easy read, audio recording or braille:

British Sign Language

BSL users can contact us via contactSCOTLAND-BSL, the online British Sign Language interpreting video relay service.

Find out more about BSL assistance: contactSCOTLAND

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Turnitin Accessibility Guidance

Turnitin conforms to WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 AA standards and continues to look at ways to improve the accessibility of their product.

Turnitin partnered with Level Access, experts in user accessibility and compliance, to produce a set of Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) for distinct parts of their product.

Turnitin's website has information for the most up-to-date version, and full results of accessibility testing.

The VPAT documents which are of relevance for the University of Glasgow's usage are listed below.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

The University of Glasgow is committed to making its web based services accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. This also means that for any vendor products which are offered as services, for staff and students, we will endeavour to work with those 3rd parties to ensure their services are made accessible.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Turnitin has indicated in their own guidance that they endeavour to ensure compliance with the WCAG 2.1 AA regulations, albeit they are not a service provider who has a legal obligation to confirm to these standards. Please refer to the vendor VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates) listed above where an indication of non-compliances (support/partial support) may be provided.

Level Access testing on behalf of Turnitin shows accessibility is graded as “supported” in most areas, but graded as “partial support” in some, for example:

Use of colour Colour is sometimes used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. A rating of Partially Supports has been given for the following reason(s):

The Upload Submission and Text Input controls on the TFS Submission Flow screen have the functionality of tabs but are coded as links.

Structure and relationship information in the product is sometimes conveyed through presentation and cannot be programmatically determined. A rating of Partially Supports has been given for the following reason(s):

  • Many fields are lacking valid labels.
  • Content visually appears as a table but is not marked up as such.

Non- text content - the product sometimes provides sufficient text alternatives for most non-text content, such as icons and images. A rating of Partially Supports has been given for the following reason(s):

Content is visually hidden on some pages but is still available to assistive technologies.

On the TFS Submission Flow screen, decorative images have unnecessary alternate text while informative images on the TFS Submission Review Flow screen, informative images are missing alternate text.

Custom controls on several pages do not 4 Level Access | Client – Confidential VPAT® Version 2.4 (Revised) – March 2022 “Voluntary Product Accessibility Template” and “VPAT” are registered service marks of Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) Criteria Conformance Level Remarks and Explanations provide proper textual name, role, and state information.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Turnitin have a committed focus on accessibility for their product offerings. They aim to incorporate accessibility into the entire product development lifecycle to ensure that their websites and applications are accessible and usable by everyone regardless of disability or circumstance. We will continue to engage with the vendor, providing feedback where felt required to help improve the product offerings.

When the services were last tested and who conducted the tests:

Turnitin partnered with Level Access to carry out accessibility testing.

Please refer to the VPAT documents which are listed below which relate to the usage of Turnitin’s Feedback Studio interfaces, including Similarity Reports.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1st September 2020. It was last updated and reviewed in October 2023.

This page was last updated 27 October 2023.