Accessibility statement for Essex Blog

This accessibility statement applies to the Essex County Council Blog website located at blog.essex.gov.uk, including: -

Service Transformation blog
Essex County Council Leader and Cabinet’s blog
Insight blog
Change blog
Women’s network Essex County Council blog

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 400% 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 images alternatives do not accurately represent some of the images as they do not provide enough detail.
The banner landmark is implemented twice, potentially making it confusing for screen reader users.
Some content is not included in a landmark or is not in the right landmark meaning it could be missed by some users.
Some headings are the wrong level or heading levels are skipped.
Some links are marked as lists when they are single item links.
No autocomplete attributes are used on input fields.
Some links have poor contrast.
Images of text are used with no method of customising the text.
The focus order on the pinned item on the homepage is illogical.
Some of the links used are ambiguous and do not clearly identify where they take the user.
When using select boxes you are automatically taken to a different page without submitting your selection.
The error suggestion on forms do not always provide a clear way of resolving the error.
Some forms are missing a submit button.
Some landmarks also use a role making the attribute redundant and potentially confusing to the user.

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: Accessibility@essex.gov.uk
We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 20 working 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 the accessibility team at Accessibility@essex.gov.uk who will consider your request and get back to you within 20 working 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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) .

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-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images have incorrect alt text or alt text that does not accurately describe the image. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text content)

We aim to ensure existing images have the correct alt text and new content is added with the correct alternatives by 1 September 2021.

Landmarks are missing, or are incorrectly implemented, some heading levels are in an illogical order and some elements are used incorrectly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)

We plan to ensure all elements are correctly implement by 1 September 2021.

Some inputs do not clearly identify their purpose missing out the attributes which would help some users complete the form easier. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 (Input Purpose)

We plan to ensure all inputs are clear of their purpose by 1 September 2021.

Some text has low contrast ratio’s that fall below the required 4.5:1 ratio. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum))

We plan to ensure all items comply with minimum contrast ratios by 1 September 2021.

Some images include text that cannot be customised by the user. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of Text)

We plan to ensure that images do not include text or if they do the text is customisable by 1 September 2021.

Some non-text items have low contrast ratio’s that fall below the required 3:1 ratio. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast)

We plan to ensure all items comply with minimum contrast ratios by 1 June 2021.

The homepage is not titled clearly and descriptively. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled)

We plan to ensure all page titles are descriptive by 1 September 2021.

The focus order is illogical in places. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Focus Order)

We plan to ensure Focus Order is logical by 1 September 2021.

Some links are not clear of their destination and have limited or no context. 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 September.

When inputting information into certain form fields and select boxes a change of context occurs. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.2.2 (On input).

We plan to ensure when inputting information there is no change of context unless clearly stated by 1 September 2021.

Form inputs with errors do not offer clear suggestion on how to overcome form errors. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.3 (Error suggestion)

We plan to ensure all form errors offer clear solutions to overcome the error by 1 September 2021.

Some elements use conflicting attributes or have missing elements vital for user interaction. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)

We plan to ensure all elements are implements correctly with the correct name or role by 1 September 2021.

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

Live Video

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

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are constantly looking in to improving the accessibility of our website by liaising with our developers and web content editors on best practice and inclusive design for our users.

We will continue to monitor accessibility using automated and manual checks.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16th June 2022. It was last reviewed on 16th June 2022.

This website was last tested on 13 April 2021. The test was carried out by Essex County Council.

The sample of pages we tested was based on key functionality and high traffic pages which we discovered by using analytics tools.