Accessibility statement for Walsall Insight

This accessibility statement applies to Walsallintelligence.org.uk

This website is run by Walsall 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:

  • Forms without labels will cause issues to screen reader users
  • Buttons without labels will cause issues for screen readers
  • Low colour contrast against the background will cause issues for the visually impaired
  • Links incorrectly labelled will cause issues for all users, but especially the visually impaired
  • PDF’s without Titles, Alternative text, Bookmarks, Headings and Page language may cause problems for all users, especially for those with visual or cognitive impairments

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: insight@walsall.gov.uk
  • Call: 01922 650000
  • Address: Walsall Insight, Walsall Council, The Civic Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP

We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

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: insight@walsall.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

Walsall 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

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA.
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

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

Contrast

Some parts of the website do not have sufficient contrast. Between the text and background colours. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)). We plan to amend the colour contrast by January 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of colour meets accessibility standards.

Links

Some of the purpose of a link cannot be determined from the link text. This doesn’t meet WCAG success criteria 2.4.5 (Multiple ways). We plan to amend the links by January 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of links meets accessibility standards.

Language

On some pages the language has not been set in a way that can be understood by a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (language of page). When we review existing content and publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Navigation

On some pages the tabbing order is not logical when navigating using a keyboard. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 focus order. When we review existing content and publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

You cannot skip to main content when using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 focus order. When we review existing content and publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

HTML

On some pages HTML is used to format content rather than CSS. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 information and relationships. When we review existing content and publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

PDFs and non-HTML documents

Some of our PDFs and other documents are not formatted so they’re accessible to a screen reader. Some errors may include, missing:

  • Page titles. PDF documents should have titles that describe the topic or purpose of the page. If these are missing this doesn’t meet WCAG success criteria 2.4.2.
  • Non-text content. All non-text content presented to the user should have a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose. If these are missing this doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1
  • Headings and labels. Headings and labels describe topic or purpose. If these are missing this doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.6
  • Name, role, value. For all user interface components, some of which are essential to providing our services (for example, forms published as Word documents). If these are missing this doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.
  • Alternative Text. The Census and Ward Profiles pages feature PDFs containing images without alternative text, which would not meet WCAG criterion 1.1.1. These are due to be replaced entirely by May 2023.

Images

Some images don’t have a text alternative (alt text), so the information in them isn’t available to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). When we review existing content and publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Some images contain text, so people with dyslexia or using a screen reader will not be able to read the information. This doesn’t meet WCAG success criterion 1.4.5 (images of text). When we review existing content and publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Navigation and accessing information

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive reports are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and some are ‘skinned’ to look like our website.

Forms, Buttons and Aria Labels

Some buttons and Aria labels are not labelled correctly . This fails WCAG success criteria 4.1.2 (Name, Role and Value). We plan to amend the Buttons and Aria labels by January 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of buttons and Aria labels meets accessibility standards.

Some forms, buttons and frames do not have values or labels. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non text content). We plan to amend the markup by January 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of markup meets accessibility standards.

Unique IDs

Some elements have not been marked up correctly with unique ID’s. This fails WCAG success criteria 4.1.1(Parsing). We plan to amend the markup by January 2024. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of markup meets accessibility standards.

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

PDFs and other documents

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.

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

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’re doing to improve accessibility

Plan to make the website fully compliant by September 2023.
New Team members will be trained in accessible content.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 24 November 2022 . It was last reviewed on 06 February 2023.

This website was last tested on 24 January 2023. The test was carried out by Walsall Council’s Digital and Technical Services (DaTS).
We tested the homepage, and a random selection of pages, to check for each type of component error. We used a mixture of automated tools such as AXE, Wave and Tingtun PDF checker. We also did manual keyboard checks page zoom checks and additional visual checks.