About

Umibot was created by a small team of interdisciplinary feminist researchers from the Social and Global Studies Centre at RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia). The research team hopes that Umibot will be particularly useful to people who might find it difficult to talk to another person about intimate images, or to people who are unsure about what their options are and where to go for help.

Umibot's Purpose

Umibot provides information, support and general advice on non-consensual intimate images (including digitally altered photos or videos). Anyone, including victim-survivors, bystanders and perpetrators, can chat with Umi to learn about:

  • Laws, both criminal and civil, at the Australian national and state/territory levels;

  • Reporting options, including those for digital platforms, the police and the Australian eSafety Commissioner;

  • Support services, such as hotlines, counselling services and legal aid;

  • Capturing evidence of image-based abuse;

  • Cybersecurity measures that users can take to protect their devices and privacy; and

  • Keeping safe online.

Umibot is not a formal or official tool for reporting image-based abuse. Instead, Umi is here to talk to people who don’t want to speak to a human person or might not yet be ready to do so. Umi can be used as a one-stop, comprehensive, empathetic and non-judgmental digital tool for Australian and other users seeking help for image-based abuse.

Research Funding

Umibot is funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship project entitled "Detecting, Preventing and Responding to Image-Based Abuse: The Role of Digital Platforms and Services" (FT200100604). The project investigates the effectiveness of digital tools and interventions to detect, prevent and respond to image-based abuse. 

Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement is for “Umibot” (“the chatbot”), as developed by the Umibot Project Team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia (we, us or our). Umibot is a “pilot” chatbot which means that we aim to improve Umibot’s content, features and design over time.

Measures to Support Accessibility

To ensure that Umibot is as accessible as possible, we:

  • Included accessibility as one of the guiding principles for this project; and

  • Commissioned a formal, expert and external audit of Umibot before its public launch. 

Assessment Approach

Intopia, a digital accessibility consultancy, audited the pilot version of Umibot in line with the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 1.0.

Conformance Status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) define the requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Umibot is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA, which means that some aspects of the chatbot do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Compatibility with Browsers and Assistive Technologies

Umibot has been tested with the following assistive technologies:

  • Chrome browser (v105) on Windows 10; and

  • JAWS 2020 on Windows 10.

Umibot is not compatible with:

  • Browsers with a current zoom level higher than 150%.

Technical Specifications

For Umibot to be accessible to people using assistive technologies, and to conform with accessibility standards, it relies on the following technologies:

  • HTML;

  • WAI-ARIA;

  • CSS; and

  • JavaScript.

Additional Accessibility Considerations

Umibot provides the following accessibility support features:

  • HTML5 landmark elements to identify the purpose of page regions;

  • Instructions for help in context, as well as in the support material; and

  • There are no time limits or constraints on using Umibot

Known Issues and Temporary Solutions

There are several known issues with the current pilot version of Umibot that users should keep in mind. Below, we outline each known issue, as well as provide temporary solutions to these issues. Please feel free to contact us if you observe any issues not listed in this Statement.

Known issues:

  1. When Umibot’s website is zoomed above 150%, some features cannot be used, such as the Survey, Quick Exit button and mobile menu. A temporary solution, for people who use high zoom levels, is to use a magnifier tool on this website. If this is not practical, or possible, please contact us for alternative methods of support.

  2. Umibot does not tell screen reader software which messages are sent by/from the chatbot, as distinct from those sent by/from a user, which can make it difficult to understand the flow of conversation. Screen reader users may need to rely on memory and context for this information.

  3. Screen readers cannot notify users of new messages from Umibot. We suggest that users manually check for new messages, keeping in mind that Umibot generally responds within seconds of your last message.

  4. Some links open in new tabs without warning. We suggest that people who prefer links to open in the same window use their browser context menu (right-click for mouse users) to open links. 

  5. The input between the picture of Umibot’s face and the Send button uses placeholder text as a label. Please note that the input between the picture of Umibot’s face and the Send button is where you can type your question for Umibot to answer. 

Our aim is to fix all known issues in the next phase of Umibot’s development. 

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Umibot. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers while chatting with Umibot or attempting to access any of the resource materials. Our contact details follow:

We will try to respond to feedback within two business days.

Latest update: 02/02/24