Accessibility statement for Essex County Council's intranet

This accessibility statement applies to intranet.essex.gov.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 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:

• Headings are used incorrectly and could confuse users as to the pages purpose
• Some areas of the website have focus styles which are difficult to see
• Some content overlaps when magnification is increased to 400%
• Some content requires horizontal scrolling when magnification is increased to 400%
• On some pages there is an illogical focus order in the banner landmark
• Skip to main content link is not operable on an iOS mobile device
• Skip to guide navigation link does not work
• There are invisible items which receive keyboard focus in the tabbing order
• On the search results, the keyboard focus is not visually obvious
• Link text does not increase to 200% on a Samsung mobile device
• Some link text is not descriptive of the destination
• Some page titles are not clear of the pages content
• Navigating word documents in the browser with a keyboard becomes trapped within the top section of the page
• Loss of content when font size is increased to 200% on an iOS mobile device
• Data cells do not communicate the associated header cell in some data tables
• On the search page, the returned results are communicated before the status message 
• Text does not always meet the minimum contrast requirement
• There are some form fields which do not have an associated label
• Some form fields have been given an incorrect role
• When additional content appears on hover, the additional content is not hoverable
• On an iOS mobile device, error messages do not remain when navigating the feedback form
• On an Android and iOS mobile device, the keyboard focus on embedded videos is not visible

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 the Equalities and Partnerships Team. 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, email the Accessibility Team at accessibility@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.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• Some pages have an illogical heading order making it difficult for users of assistive technologies to navigate. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
• On the search page, the keyboard focus is not visually obvious on the returned results making it difficult for keyboard users to understand which element has keyboard focus. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible)
• When zooming in to 400%, some content overlaps and the webpage does not reflow in to one column and you are forced to scroll horizontally. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow)
• On some pages, items which are not visible receives keyboard focus. This can cause more difficultly for keyboard users navigating the website. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus order)
• On an iOS mobile device, the skip to main content link and skip guide navigation link is not operable with an external keyboard. The skip guide navigation link does not work. This makes it difficult for keyboard users to skip repeated content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks)
• On a Samsung mobile device, increasing the font size to 200% does not increase link text. On an iOS mobile device, some content becomes truncated when font size is increased to 200%. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize (Text)
• There are some links with ambiguous text so users may not be able to identify where a link takes them. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context))
• Some page titles are not descriptive of the purpose of the page. This could be confusing for some users who rely on a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled).
• Status messages are not presented to screen reader users unless it receives focus making some functionality difficult to interact with. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.3 (Status Messages)
• Some data tables do not communicate the associated header cell with the data cell. This can cause confusion for screen reader users as it is not clear what the data cell refers to. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
• There are some areas where keyboard users become trapped within certain sections on the page making it difficult for keyboard users to navigate the page. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.1.2 (No Keyboard Trap).
• Some non-text contrasts are low making it hard to identify elements that can be interacted with or acted on. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text contrast).
• Some interactive elements have been given an incorrect role making it difficult to interact with them. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). 
• When additional content is made available on hover, the additional content disappears meaning users are unable to hover over this content. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.13 (Content on hover or focus).
• Some text has low contrast making it difficult for some users to see. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum))
• Placeholder text has been used as a label for search fields. On an iOS mobile device, error messages for the feedback form does not remain when a user is navigating the form making it difficult to understand the fields which have errored. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions).

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

PDFs and other documents

Although some of Essex County Council’s older PDF’s are inaccessible and do not meet accessibility standards, we are working towards making as many PDF’s meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards as possible.

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.

We are prioritising making PDFs accessible that:

• contain information on how users can access our service
• are most frequently downloaded
• contain information that has a statutory requirement

We have developed training and guidance to help all document creators develop accessible documents.

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 2 August 2023. It was last reviewed on 5 September 2024.

This website was last tested on 3 September 2024. The testing was carried out by Essex County Council.