Accessi­bility statement

Sisu student information system

The higher education institution aims to guarantee the accessibility of the Sisu student information system in accordance with the Act on the Provision of Digital Services 306/2019 (in Finnish).

This accessibility statement applies to the Sisu student information system and is based on an accessibility audit of Sisu’s student interface. It describes the status of the system’s accessibility and lists the content and features that do not conform to the accessibility guidelines.

Accessibility compliance status

This system does not comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WGAC) 2.1 at level AA. Non-compliances with the guidelines are described below.

Sisu’s accessibility is being constantly improved, but as Sisu is a vast system, identifying and fixing all the issues takes time. Though the sections in the following list of non-accessible content cannot be yet regarded as fully fixed, improvements are being made as the development of Sisu progresses.

Special considerations

A version of Sisu will be released in December 2025 that will introduce the following changes, which may affect the user experience and accessibility.

Timeline view

Sisu’s Timeline view has been redesigned and reimplemented to meet the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. The revised Timeline view will be available to all students with the December 2025 release, but development work on the view will continue. Any accessibility and usability gaps will be addressed and published on an ongoing basis as development progresses.

Structure of studies view

Structure of studies is one of Sisu’s key views for students and contains many important features. Given the scope of the view, it will take time to redesign and reimplement it in an accessible way. In order to make the view and its features available to users as soon as possible in an accessible form, the Sisu version to be released in December 2025 will introduce a new view alongside the original Structure of studies view. Students can choose whether they want to use the new or the old version of the Structure of studies view with the selector on the page.

The design and implementation of the new Structure of studies view has focused on meeting the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, but the new view does not yet provide all the functionality of the original Structure of studies view. Listed below are the functionalities that cannot yet be accessed through the new Structure of studies view:

• Students cannot make choices that specify their right to study in such a way that they can see their impact on the second-stage options.
• Students will not be shown a notification that they can apply for graduation when all studies have been completed.
• Students cannot search for a module assessment request.
• Students do not yet see a list of studies already completed that have not been placed on any study plan.
• Students cannot search for studies already completed in free editing mode.
• If a student has a personalised education path, they cannot see it in the selection assistant.
• Students will not see all tabs on the course information sheet. So far, only the Information sheet and Equivalences and substitutions tabs are visible.
• It is not yet possible to change the versions of modules and degree programmes.
• An equivalent course unit can be selected, but to revert the equivalence, for the time being, the course must be removed from the structure and the original course must then be re-added.
• Students cannot search for cross-institutional studies courses when searching for free electable courses.
• A minor subject cannot yet be confirmed for a study right.

The aim is to remove the original Structure of studies view from Sisu by the end of 2026, when all functionalities will be available in the renewed view. Any accessibility and usability gaps will be addressed and published on an ongoing basis as development progresses.

Non-accessible content

The service does not yet fully abide by the Act on the Provision of Digital Services 306/2019.

The following content and/or features do not yet conform to the guidelines:

1. Contrast (WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 1.4.11)
   • Issues arise from the light colour scheme of Sisu. The contrast between the main colours of the system and the background is not sufficient. Furthermore, the colour scheme causes issues with the contrasts of graphics.
   • Sisu’s colour scheme has been updated and new primary colours with better contrast have been selected. Work on fixing the colour contrasts continues and special attention is paid to checking the colour contrasts.
2. Keyboard usage (WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 1.4.13)
   • All functions are not accessible with keyboard commands.
   • All information is not accessible with keyboard commands.
   • The estimated schedule of completion is 12/2026. Corrections are made continuously as system development progresses.
3. Structure and relations of the content (WCAG 1.3.1, WCAG 1.3.2)
   • All visually presented information has not been correctly programmatically determined.
   • As Sisu includes entities that are intensive for screen reader software, using some functions and understanding some information may be difficult.
   • The estimated schedule of completion is 12/2026. Corrections are made continuously as system development progresses.
4. Scalability (WCAG 1.4.10)
   • There are issues with the scalability of visual elements. The usability of some views is impaired when used on a mobile device or when a view is enlarged by browser scaling.
   • The requirement level of the Directive cannot be reached due to the extent of Sisu’s data content, but scalability and usability with mobile devices are being improved constantly.
5. Focus order (WCAG 2.4.3)
   • The focus order is illogical in places, and the focus occasionally shifts to unexpected places.
   • Screen readers are not notified of changing pages.
   • The estimated schedule of completion is 12/2026. Corrections are made continuously as system development progresses.
6. Instructions without visual elements (WCAG 3.3.2)
   • Instructions are partly unclear and often require observation of visual elements.
   • The estimated schedule of completion is 12/2026. Corrections are made continuously as system development progresses.
7. PDF-files (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 1.3.1, WCAG 1.3.2, WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 2.4.2, WCAG 2.4.3, WCAG 3.1.1, WCAG 3.1.2)
   • Images do not have text equivalents.
   • File has no tag structure at all, so its content cannot be read with a screen reader, for example.
   • File has no title attribute.
   • File does not have a language attribute and the language of its different language parts is not specified.
   • There are shortcomings in the contrast between text and background.
   • The estimated schedule of completion is 12/2026. Corrections are made continuously as system development progresses.

Composition of this accessibility statement

This statement has been composed on August 7, 2020.

The statement is based on an evaluation by a third party of whether the website conforms to the requirements of (EU) Directive 2016/2012. The accessibility of the website has been evaluated by Eficode Oy.

The latest inspection of the statement was done on December 15, 2025.

Accessibility feedback and contact information

We are happy to receive suggestions for improvement, comments, and questions regarding this service and its accessibility by email to sisu@aalto.fi.

Accessibility support:

• Starting Point service desk for students: https://www.aalto.fi/en/support-for-studying/starting-point
• Student Information Services: sisu@aalto.fi

Supervisory authority

If you notice accessibility issues on the website, you should first send your accessibility feedback to the site administrator. Receiving a reply to your feedback can take 14 days. If you are not satisfied with the answer or you do not get an answer within 14 days, you can send a request for clarification to the supervisory authority.

Contact information of the supervisory authority