Accessibility statement for Essex Records Office

This accessibility statement applies to the Essex Records Office website located at essexrecordoffice.co.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:

• The location of the keyboard is not visually obvious on breadcrumb links
• There is no skip link to skip repeated content
• The cookie banner cannot be dismissed with some assistive technologies
• You cannot zoom in to 400% without some elements obscuring some page content
• When increasing the font-size of the page some navigation and some links are obscured
• The contrast for some links have low contrast
• There are some graphics with text with no suitable alternatives
• When adding text buffers, the footer links become obscured and difficult to use
• Some images have no alt text
• Not all content is included in landmarks making it difficult for users of assistive technologies to navigate between sections on the page
• Headings are used incorrectly and could confuse users as to the pages purpose
• Some links use ambiguous text, and you cannot tell where the link takes you.
• Page titles are not unique and could make it difficult for users to understand the purpose of the page
• Videos have no captions, transcripts or audio description

 

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 ero.enquiry@essex.gov.uk
• Call 03330 132500
• We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 20 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: 

• email ero.enquiry@essex.gov.uk
• Call 03330 132500
• We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 20 days 

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 location of the keyboard is not always visually obvious. This Fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus visible)

We plan to ensure all focus styles are visually obvious by 1^st June 2021

 

There is no mechanism to skip past repeated content making it difficult for keyboard only users to navigate the website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks)

We plan to ensure that there is functionality to skip repeated content by 1^st June 2021

 

There are instances where the visible label does not match the accessible name making it difficult for users of assistive technologies to interact with certain elements. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion (Label in name)

We plan to make the accessible name identical to the visible label by 1^st June 2021

 

When zooming in to 400% the cookie banner overlaps most of the page and is fixed meaning you cannot use the webpage unless you agree with cookies. You also cannot access any menu items. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion (Reflow)

We plan to ensure all elements reflow so that there are no negative effects on the webpage by 1^st June 2021

 

When increasing text size to 200% some elements overflow their parent elements and make them difficult to read.  This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text)

We plan to ensure that all text can be read after being resized by 1^st June 2021.

 

Some text contrast is very low making it difficult to read. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum))

We plan to ensure all text meets minimum contrast requirements by 1^st June 2021

 

Some graphics are used for text with no suitable alternative making it impossible for users of assistive technologies to understand their purpose. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of text)

We plan to ensure all graphics are free from text by 1^st June 2021

 

Some images have no suitable alternative making it impossible for some users to understand the purpose of the image. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text content)

We plan to add accurate alternatives to all images by 1^st June 2021

 

When the line height is adjusted some text overlaps other text making it impossible to read. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.12 (Text-spacing)

We plan to ensure when adjusting line-height and spacing between words and letters that text is still legible by 1^st June 2021

 

Some content is not included in landmarks and some landmarks do not exist making it difficult for users of assistive technologies to navigate. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)

We plan to add the correct landmarks to all content by 1^st June 2021.

 

The heading structure of the page is confusing as there are skipped heading levels and empty headings. This can confuse users to the purpose of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels)

We plan to ensure headings are all used correctly by 1^st June 2021

 

Some links use ambiguous text making it difficult to understand the destination of the link. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link purpose (in context))

We plan to ensure all links are clear of their destination by 1^st June 2021

 

Page titles are not unique and do not help to identify the purpose of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled)

We plan to ensure all pages have unique and useful titles by 1^st June 2021

 

Some non-standard elements do not use WAI-ARIA and can be confusing for users of assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)

We plan to ensure the correct attributes are in place for all non-standard elements by 1^st June 2021

 

Some embedded videos have no captions, audio description or transcripts. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (Captions (Prerecorded)) and 1.2.3 (Audio description or Media alternative (Prerecorded))

We plan to ensure all prerecorded videos have the correct alternatives by 1^st June 2021.

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

 

PDFs and other documents

Most of our older PDFs and downloadable documents do not meet accessibility standards. However, we plan to ensure that moving forward all PDFs meet WCAG 2.1 Accessibility standards.

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 documents that are essential to providing our services, such as: -

• Information on how users can access our service
• Forms published in word documents and PDFs

we are developing a strategy to ensure that they are made accessible.

The strategy prioritizes PDFs that are opened/used regularly or have information that is a statutory requirement. We are also developing training and guidance to help all document creators develop accessible documents.

Our plans are to ensure that all essential PDFs meet accessibility regulations by 1^st June 2021.

 

 

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 28/09/2020. It was last reviewed on 28/09/2020.

This website was last tested on 21/09/2020. The test was carried out by Essex County Council.