Skip to main content

Accessibility Statement for the Members Portal

This accessibility statement applies to the Members portal website located at members.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 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 location of the keyboard is not visually obvious on some links
  • There is no skip link to skip long social media feeds
  • The sequence of content is sometimes confusing as links are randomly placed throughout content
  • The cookie banner cannot be dismissed with some assistive technologies
  • You cannot zoom in to 400% without some elements obscuring some page content
  • Some graphics have low contrast making it difficult for some users to view
  • 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 purpose of the page sections

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:

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:

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

The location of the keyboard is not always visually obvious. This makes it difficult to navigate and interact with the website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).

We plan to ensure all interactive elements have visually obvious by 31 December 2021.

There is no mechanism to skip past content such as social media feeds. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks).

We plan to add skip links to all repeated content by 31 May 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 31 May 2022.

When zooming in to 400% the cookie banner overlaps most of the page and is fixed meaning you cannot use the webpage unless you agree with cookies. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion (Reflow).

We plan to ensure all elements reflow so that there are no negative effects on the webpage by 31 May 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 31 May 2022.

The heading structure of the page is confusing as headings are used as links. This can confuse users to the purpose of the section. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).

We plan to ensure headings are all used correctly by 31 May 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 31 Mat 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 28/09/2020 It was last reviewed on 17/11/2021.

This website was last tested on 17/09/2020. The test was carried out by Essex County Council.