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Accessibility statement for Future of Essex

 

This accessibility statement applies to the Future of Essex website located at www.essexfuture.org.uk/

This website is run by Essex County Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

 

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Some fields have no labels
  • When zooming in the content becomes difficult to view across the whole site
  • Increasing font size can make it difficult to read the text
  • Contrast on text, especially links is difficult to read and falls below the minimum contrast ratio
  • Graphics are difficult to perceive as the contrast ratio is low and they include text
  • There are no alternatives for images
  • Some videos do not include transcripts or audio description
  • Some links are ambiguous and can be difficult to understand their destinations
  • The titles of pages do not accurately describe the page
  • Carousels are automatic and cannot be paused
  • Some abbreviations are used making it difficult to understand their meaning

 

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:

  • email essex.partners@essex.gov.uk
  • call 03330 136 550
  • We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 days.

 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact Essex Partners at essex.partners@essex.gov.uk or on 03330 136 550.

 

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Essex County Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

 

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

 

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The sequence of content is not always logical. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus Order).

We plan to fix the focus order of all elements on the website by 1st June 2021.

The search field has no label meaning interactive technology cannot interact with search. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or instructions)

We plan to add accurate labels to all inputs by 1st June 2021

When zooming in up to 400% the header banner overtakes the whole window making it impossible to view any content. The menu icon that is displayed when zoomed in is not operable with a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterions 2.1.1 (Keyboard operable) and 1.4.10 (Reflow).

We plan to ensure that when zooming in all content and functionality is available by 1st June 2021

When increasing text size some elements overflow their containers making them impossible to read. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize text)

We plan to ensure that when resizing text there is no loss of content or functionality by 1st June 2021.

Contrast for reading text in some parts of the website falls below the contrast ratio of 4.5:1. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum))

We plan to ensure minimum contrast ratios are met by 1st June 2021.

Contrast for graphics in parts of the website fall below the contrast ratio of 3:1. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text contrast)

We plan to ensure minimum contrast ratios are met by 1st June 2021

Some graphics use text which cannot be read out by screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of text)

We plan to remove all images of text by 1st June 2021.

Many images do not have any alternatives making I difficult for users to understand the purpose of an image. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content)

We plan to add informative alternatives to all non-text content by 1st June 2021.

Headings are not used logically and are sometimes empty, most of the content is not included in landmarks and there are empty lists. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships)

We plan to ensure all elements ae used correctly to help users of assistive technologies by 1st June 2021.

Some videos offer no transcripts or alternatives making it difficult for some users to know what is going on. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 (Audio description or media alternative).

We plan to add media alternatives or audio description by 1st June 2021.

Some links are URLs, this can make it difficult to understand exactly where the link takes you. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link purpose (In context))

We plan to ensure all links have a clear purpose by 1st June 2021.

Page titles are not unique and do not have any useful information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page titled)

We plan to add unique and useful page titles to all pages by 1st June 2021.

The content uses some abbreviations that could be confusing. This fails WCAG 2.12 success criterion 3.1.4 (Abbreviations)

We plan to remove any unnecessary abbreviations by 1st June 2021.

The homepage carousel is automatic and doesn’t give you time to read before changing. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.1 (Timing adjustable)

We plan to ensure all items have enough time to be read by 1st June 2021.

 

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix [example of non-essential document].

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live Video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23/09/2020. It was last reviewed on 01/10/2020.

This website was last tested on 04/09/2020. The test was carried out by Essex County Council.