Web accessibility statement

This website is hosted by Oxfordshire 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 per cent 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.

We have designed this website with features that make it easier to use by everyone, including those with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, or neurological disabilities. We aim to reach the level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These are the international standard for accessible websites and content.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible, for example:

  • many older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some videos don’t have captions
  • some images don't have descriptions of what the image shows
  • colour contrast makes it hard to read text in some parts of the website
  • some pages show a Google map which screen reader users and keyboard users can find difficult to use
  • information about external links that open in a new window are not communicated to touch screen readers and may cause an unexpected change in context.
  • embedded YouTube and Vimeo video iframes do not always contain a title and this content may be difficult to perceive for screen reader users.

Reporting problems

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility and usability of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Digital Content Team by emailing webmaster@oxfordshire.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

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

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.

Some pages have the same link text going to different destinations, so people might not know the difference. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 2.4.4 (link purpose, in context).  We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.  

A number of images do not have appropriate alt text. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.1.1 (non-text content). When we publish new content we'll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Some images contain text this fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.4.5 (images of text). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020. 

Some input fields do not have a description. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions) and 4.1.2 (name, role and value). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Some links are only identified by colour. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.4.1 (use of colour). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Some element IDs are not unique. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 4.1.1 (use of colour). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

HTML is used to format some content. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Some iFrames are missing a title. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Some video captions are auto-generated and are not always accurate. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.2.2 (captions (prerecorded)). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Video controls do not have enough contrast. This fails WCAG 2.1 level AA success criteria 1.4.11 (non-text contrast). This is an issue with the YouTube or Vimeo video player and not within our control.

Some elements are not highlighted on focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 level AA success criteria 2.4.7 (focus visible). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Some forms don't have buttons. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 3.2.2 (on input). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

Some tables don't have summaries or headings. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.3.1 (info and relationships). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

The tabbing sequence isn't always logical. This fails WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 2.4.3 (focus order). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

On some pages the colour of the text and the colour of the background are not in sufficient contrast to each other. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.3 (Contrast, minimum). We'll try to fix this issue by September 2020.

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services, but may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criteria 4.1.2 (name, role value).

By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible versions.

Disproportionate burden

We believe that the cost required may be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We are currently making an assessment of all issues identified so far.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

The accessibility regulations don’t 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 don’t plan to fix old PDF newsletters, posters or campaign materials that might still be published and accessed through our website. 

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

How we tested this website

This website was last tested in September 2020. The test was carried out by manually by our Digital Content Team as well as using SiteImprove Accessibility Checker for automated testing of the full website.

We are testing:

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We're doing our best to try fix the issues outlined above. We continually monitor the accessibility compliance of our site and have weekly automated updates. Improving our site is part of the Digital Teams' daily work.

This statement was prepared on 4 September 2020. It was last updated on 4 September 2020.