Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

Known Issues

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

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

Issues with Images, Carousels, Audio & Visual Content

Alt text

Some images do not have a meaningful text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1.

By September 2021 all images will:

  • Have meaningful text alternative.
  • Purely decorative images will have blank alt text.
  • Infographics and charts will have a link to a full description of the content.

All new images that are being added to the site now are compliant.

Images containing text

Some images include text as part of the image, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5.

By September 2021 all images containing text will have a suitable text alternative to include the image text. New images won’t include text that forms part of the message.

Carousels

Carousels do not have obvious controls for users to stop the auto-rotate, which can cause people with cognitive disability that affect focus and concentration to be distracted making the site less accessible. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2.

By September 2021 this will be fixed, or, if not possible, the auto-rotate will be turned off.

Video with audio content

Not all videos have audio descriptions of important visual information that doesn’t have audio, making this inaccessible to people who can’t see. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.5.

All new videos will have audio descriptions before they are published.

Contrast issues

Some elements have low contrast levels (e.g. the breadcrumb trail, event notifications), which can result in text being difficult to read, especially for people with low vision, poor eyesight or colour blindness. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3.

This issue will be fixed by Autumn 2020 as part of an accessibility upgrade of the website’s Content Management System.

Links

Link text

Some links do not use text that is meaningful out of context, which can result in users of screen readers not being able to understand the link without reading the surrounding text and users of speech recognition software being less able to target links accurately using voice commands. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4.

All links will be reviewed and fixed by September 2021

Inconsistent link behaviour

Some links to external sites open in a new browser window and some open in the same browser window making the site behaviour unpredictable, which can result in the site being less accessible for people with some cognitive disabilities and people who use screen readers. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2.

All links to external websites will be reviewed and will open in a new browser window by September 2021

Structure

Headings

Not all headings are hierarchical, making the site more difficult for users of assistive technology such as screen readers to access. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1.

Heading have on occasion been used to highlight information rather than for headings, making the site more difficult for users of assistive technology to use. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 and 2.4.6.

These issues will be fixed as part of an accessibility upgrade of the Haiku Content Management System (Autumn 2020) and as part of a review of how headings are used in the content (September 2021).

Tables

Tables don’t have a table header row, making them less accessible to people using assistive technology; also layout tables are used to create columns rather than to display tabular data. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 and 1.3.2.

This will be fixed as part of an accessibility upgrade of the website’s Content Management System to be completed in Autumn 2020, and reviewed for content by September 2021.

Page layout

The layouts of some pages don’t work as well on small devices and with style sheets turned off, which can cause issue for people using screen readers, keyboards and their own style sheets. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3.

Pages were the layout isn’t optimal will be amended by September 2021.

Keyboard operability

It isn’t possible to carry out all tasks using a keyboard (for example the dropdown navigation on the main horizontal navigation bar isn’t accessible), which can make the site less accessible to people with mobility impairments. This fails the WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1.

This will be fixed as part of an accessibility upgrade of the Haiku Content Management System to be completed in Autumn 2020.

CMS code

The CMS code is being checked to ensure that it meets the robust accessibility criteria 4.1.1, 4.1.2 & 4.1.3.

This will be done as part of an accessibility upgrade of the Haiku Content Management System to be completed in Autumn 2020.

Disproportionate burden

We do not consider any of the accessibility issues to be a disproportionate burden and aim to make the site fully compliant by September 2021.

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

Third-party content

Our site includes third party content and functionality. This may direct you to a related service, link to another site or supporting documentation. We are not responsible for the accessibility of third-party content or to other sites we link to.

This includes:

  • YouTube videos
  • Google maps

We will provide an accessible alternative to any third-party content that isn’t compliant.

Third party platforms

We often create content which is hosted on third party platforms. This includes:

  • video which we host on YouTube, SoundCloud or Vimeo

We are responsible for ensuring the content we supply meets accessibility requirements; however, we are not responsible for the accessibility of the platform itself.

Video and audio content

This site has pre-recorded audio and video content that was published before 23 September 2020, which is exempt from the accessibility regulations.