Accessibility

Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the www.cheshirefire.gov.uk domain.

This website is run by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. That means users should be able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts as a result of our accessibility stylesheets.
navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
listen to most of the website using the built-in screen reader (ReadSpeaker) which can be found at the top of each page. 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, for example:

Some elements do not have sufficient colour contrast, making it difficult to distinguish on a coloured background or an image.
Most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen readers.
Video elements and embedded videos do not have captions, making it difficult for people who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing to watch.
Heading levels increase or decrease by more than 1 – this can be confusing and should be avoided were possible.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

Email digital@cheshirefire.gov.uk
Call 01606 868700 (The switchboard is open from 8.30am till 5pm on Monday to Friday.)

Please could you include:

The web address (URL) of the content
Your name and email address
The format you need – for example, plain text, braille, BSL, large print or digital audio

We’ll consider your request and aim to 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 beyond our disproportionate burden, please contact the Digital Media Team:

Send an email to digital@cheshirefire.gov.uk
Call 01606 868873 (Monday to Friday 9.30am until 5pm)

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

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service 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

Users cannot navigate the website feedback functionality using just a keyboard. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (Keyboard). There is no visible keyboard tab focus on the logo in the header.
The logo is a navigational link and should have visible focus. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
There is no visible keyboard tab focus on the main navigation where it includes dropdown functionality. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
The carousel images on the home page of the website focus twice but are only visible once. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
There is no keyboard tab focus on certain links. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible).
Links on some pages do not have accessible/discernible text. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose in Context) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
The focusable content on the image carousel on the home page should have tabindex=’-1’ or be removed from the DOM. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
Most PDFs on the website do not contain document titles. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page titled).
Some form labels are missing accessible names. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
Horizontal scrolling is required when the page is zoomed in at 400% and does not reflow well in mobile view. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).
Image elements do not have alternative text descriptions. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text content).
Some ARIA attributes do not have valid values -these values must be spelled correctly and correspond to values that make sense for a particular attribute in order to perform the intended accessibility function. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
Elements referenced in the embedded Twitter feed have the same id attribute. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing).
iframe elements on embedded videos do not have accessible names. This fails the WCAG2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass blocks) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).

How we tested this website

We used a mixture of manual checks and automated tests to find only the most common barriers to users with accessibility needs. The automated tests were completed using the latest version of axe: https://www.deque.com/axe/

We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.1 Level A and Level AA to test how accessible our website (www.cheshirefire.gov.uk) is.

When deciding on sample pages to test, we chose based on:

Some of our most popular pages
Pages we were told about during a Cabinet Office website accessibility review
Pages that gave a good example of each type of layout/page type
Some pages that include images, videos, documents, and interactive elements
Some pages that feature web forms

Disproportionate burden

We believe that fixing the accessibility issues with some content would be disproportionate because the current website will be replaced soon.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

The Service is currently going through the tender process for a new website, which is due to be launched before the end of March 2023, and therefore, where the current website does not fully meet the standards above, we hope to address through the re-design project.