Accessibility statement for Essex Safeguarding Children Board

This accessibility statement applies to the Essex Safeguarding Children Board website located at escb.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 full menu cannot be accessed with a keyboard
The location of the keyboard cannot always be seen
There is no mechanism to skip repeated content such as then header and menu
When trying to use the menu with a keyboard you cannot expand the submenus without the website taking you to another page
The cookie banner cannot be dismissed with some assistive technologies
Zooming in without dismissing the cookie banner first will make it impossible to view the page content and when dismissed some content does not fit the page
When increasing font-size some Headings are impossible to read as it overlaps other elements
The contrast for text in some links and the breadcrumb navigation is low and difficult to see
Some graphics include text with no alternative
Some images have no alternatives making it difficult to understand their purpose
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 heading orders are illogical
The search field is not labelled correctly making it difficult to identify
Some links on the homepage are ambiguous and do not describe the destination
Embedded videos on the website have no transcripts, audio description or captions

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 ESCB@essex.gov.uk
call 0333 013 8936
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: ESCB Business Unit by email escb@essex.gov.uk

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

Not all functionality is operable with a keyboard. Sub-menu items cannot be accessed with a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion (Keyboard)

We plan to ensure all functionality is operable with a keyboard by 1^st July 2022.

Some elements have no focus styles making it difficult to identify the location of the keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus visible)

We plan to add focus styles to all interactive elements by 1^st July 2022.

There is no mechanism to skip past repeated content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion.

We plan to add skip mechanisms to skip all repeated content by 1^st July 2022.

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 July 2022.

When attempting to change a dropdown you are taken to another page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (On input)

We plan to ensure changing an element does not change context by 1^st July 2022.

When zooming in to 400% some elements overflow the page meaning you cannot see the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow)

We plan to ensure that all elements reflow correctly when changing zoom levels by 1^st July 2022.

When increasing font size to 200% some text overflows other elements or is obscured. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize text).

We plan to ensure that when resizing text all content can read by 1^st July 2022.

Some items do not meet the minimum requirements for contrast making it difficult for users with visual impairments to see. This fails success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum)

We plan to improve the contrast ratios to meet the minimum requirements by 1^st July 2022.

Some images include text with no suitable alternative in communicating the text to the user. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of text).

We plan to ensure all images are free from text by 1^st July 2022.

Most images have no alternatives making it difficult to identify 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 July 2022.

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 July 2022.

The heading structure of the page is confusing as there are 2 heading one tags and the heading structure is not logical. 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 July 2022.

There are no transcripts or audio description for videos. Making it impossible for some users to work out what is going on. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.3 (Audio description or Media alternative (Pre-recorded)) and 1.2.5 (Audio description (Pre-recorded))

We plan to ensure all media has audio description or transcripts by 1^st July 2022.

There are some links that are ambiguous and do not clearly state their destination. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link purpose (In context))

We plan to ensure all links are descriptive and identify the destination by 1^st July 2022.

The search field has no label making it difficult to understand the purpose of the input field. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or instructions)

We plan to add informative labels to all inputs by 1^st July 2022.

There are no captions for pre-recorded multimedia making it difficult for some users to work out what is going on. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (Captions (Pre-recorder))

We plan to add captions to all multimedia by 1^st July 2022.

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 July 2022.

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 18^th September 2020. It was last reviewed on 1st June 2021.

This website was last tested on 14^th September 2020. The test was carried out by Essex County Council.

Essex Safeguarding Children Board