Accessibility statement for bristolesl.com

Our website accessibility statement, access to our information and services, where we know our site doesn’t meet accessibility regulations and our plan to fix accessibility issues.

Introduction

This accessibility statement applies to web content and forms on the main Bristol ESL websites.

This website is designed to be used by as many people as possible.

The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 300% and read the text
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

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:

some documents have missing headings, missing tables of contents or contain complex tables that could be difficult to navigate using assistive technology
some images have missing or incorrect alternative text
some form inputs are more difficult to complete because form inputs don’t have auto-complete values for commonly saved information
some text has low colour contrast and is difficult to read
when you zoom in to view content, some text on specific pages or features can be difficult to read
some form inputs are not keyboard operable
the date and time picker on our missed collection form
the date picker for registering births is difficult to use
on some web forms there is no option to extend the session length and prevent session time out
radio buttons on some of our online forms have a focus indicator style that is difficult to see, making it difficult to work out which form field you’re on
a few buttons and icons have mismatched text and accessible names or missing accessible names
some form inputs do not provide clear error suggestions (for example, when a form asks for your date of birth or to register a birth.)

Were always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think were not meeting accessibility requirements contact us.

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

Feedback and contact information

If you need information in a different format, like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording, British Sign Language or Braille, contact us and tell us:

the web address (URL) of the content
your name and email address
the format you need

Well consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days. Delivery of the alternative format could take longer based on the type of alternative format that you need.

Contact us by phone or by visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are d/Deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment but you can speak to our team using BTs text relay app
Phone lines are open 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 4.30pm Friday.
Sign Video British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreting

BSL Interpreting is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Face to face BSL interpreting can be arranged in advance of an in person appointment.

Visits to our citizen service point

At our citizen service point, we provide:

wheelchair/pram access and specially lowered desks
mini-loop facilities
British Sign Language available through a video link
phone interpreters available for customers whose first language is not English.
Face to face appointments available behind a protective screen
Free wi-fi
Free computer access

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We’re committed to making our websites accessible in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Non-accessible content

Content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:

where it fails the success criteria
planned dates for when issues will be fixed

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations on bristol.gov.uk

Content that’s hard to access or not perceivable

Non text content without alternative text

Some images in content pages on subsites have missing alt text. Our current platform can make it difficult to add alt text to some specific kinds of image.

this fails success criteria (SC) 1.1.1 Non-text content

All in content alt texts will be fixed by August 2022.

The ability to add alt text to carousels and feature images will be fixed when we have changed platform by January 2023.

Videos without captions

We’ve added captions to over two thirds of our You Tube video library but some older shared videos lack captions.

this fails SC 1.2.2 Captions

We plan to delete videos without captions by August 2023 unless they are essential for delivering one of our public services.

Documents that are hard to read or navigate

Some documents have missing or incorrectly nested headings, a missing table of contents, complex tables or unclear content making them difficult to read or navigate with some kinds of assistive technology.

this fails SC 1.3.1 Information and relationships

Essential PDFs will be made more accessible by January 2024. We’ve assessed that making some documents fully accessible could be a disproportionate burden in terms of cost versus value, but will work to make essential service documents accessible.

Some web pages contain content that doesn’t convey enough information or meaning about structure

Some web pages have content that needs better semantic mark up or structure, for example tables without row headers, headings that are not marked up as headings, list content not marked up as a lists or incorrectly nested headings. Some pages contain pseudo-content that’s inserted with CSS. This means that some content is not perceivable when a user disables the stylesheet to read or use the page.

this fails SC 1.3.1 Information and relationships

We plan to fix semantic content issues on the main site by August 2022 and to resolve template issues by January 2023 when we’ve moved our content to a new platform.

Some forms are difficult to autofill with information from the browser.

Some common web form inputs are hard to auto-fill correctly because they lack common auto-complete values.

this fails SC 1.3.5 Identify input purpose

We are investigating how this issue can be addressed in our third-party form building solutions. Contact us to be notified when we publish the fix date for this issue.

Text styles with low contrast

Some styles have insufficient foreground to background contrast.

This occurs on:

the search placeholder text
top navigation links
jobs search page buttons
top navigation links
jobs search page buttons
error text on some online forms

this fails SC 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum)

We will fix these front-end styling issues once we’ve moved to a new content management platform, by January 2023.

Text resizing

In Firefox, changing the settings for font size can make it difficult to read the top navigation tabs when zoomed in. The font displays at the wrong size and in the incorrect colour.

this fails SC 1.4.4 Text resizing

Were currently fixing, testing and re-building the issues with our stylesheet to correct issues of this kind and building a design system that will go live when we move content to a new platform for an estimated go live in July 2023.

Images of text (in some scenarios with insufficient alt text)

A few images on our site include text as an image, which is difficult for users with visual disabilities to adapt or resize. Some instances of text as image also lack alt text so the information isnt conveyed to users of some assistive technologies.

this fails SC 1.4.5 Non text content

We will fix these issues by January 2023, once we’ve moved our content to a new content management platform.

Content that’s hard to view when zoomed in

A few web pages and features have content that’s difficult to read when you are zoomed in. This occurs in:

the collection day finder
the cookie banner
breadcrumb trails with very long page titles
the header sign in link

this fails SC 1.4.10 Reflow

The estimated completion date for new bins and recycling forms is January 2023. Well update our cookies banner when we move to a new platform. We are re-developing our stylesheet into a design system.

Content that’s hard to read when text spacing is increased

On the Bristol City Council home page, link content on the priority action buttons is difficult to read due to colour contrast, when the text spacing is increased.

this fails SC 1.4.12 Text spacing

We are fixing this issue with work to amend our current stylesheet and with the design of more accessible design components and a design system for our new website, which has an estimated go live date of July 2023.

Content that’s hard to operate or inoperable

No option to extend web form timeout

Some of our web forms don’t offer an option to extend the session before timing out.

this fails SC 2.2.1 Timing adjustable

Well fix this issue in forms that we build by January 2023.

The focus indicator is not always visible

In some of our web forms, the focus indicator isn’t visible before a radio button in a set has been selected. This makes it difficult to operate the radio buttons with a keyboard as you cant always see where you are in the form. It can also make it difficult to see when links have been selected.

this fails SC 2.4.7 Focus visible

Well fix this issue in forms that we build by January 2023.

The focus indicator for the sign in link when zoomed in is not clear. It is on a different line to the text ‘Sign In’.

Buttons that are difficult to target

The cookie banner uses button text that is different from the accessible name.

this fails SC 2.5.3 Label in name

Well fix this issue when we move to a new content platform, by January 2023.

Content that’s not understandable

Language of page

Some of our PDF documents and some web pages for our online payment service do not have the Language of page set to English in the HTML.

this fails 3.1.1 Language of page

Well fix language of the page issues for our school application PDFs by April 2023. We will audit and identify PDFS with missing language attributes once when we’ve moved content to a new platform in July 2023.

Content that’s hard to read

Some content is technical or difficult to understand as it is not written in clear English.

Most content is designed to meet a lower secondary education reading level.

Some content is designed for business audiences with specific knowledge or expertise.

this fails SC 3.1.5 (AAA) Reading level

Content that isn’t robust

Some content needs to be better described for assistive technology users.

Some web pages and features have elements that do not have the correct name, role or value associated with them.

This occurs on:

the mobile header, where account and search icons do not have a clear accessible name
the jobs search page which has a role of list but no list items
this fails SC 4.2.1 Name, role, value

Well fix this issue by January 2023.

Disproportionate burden

Were currently reviewing and updating our disproportionate burden section using supplier quotes and estimates for work required to improve our compliancy with WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria and the public sector accessibility regulations. Contact us to be notified when this section of the statement is updated.

E-Capita payment portal

The e-capita payment portal that we use for multiple payment services fails accessibility success criteria 1.3.1, 1.4.13, 1.4.10, 2.4.6. We plan to move to a new payment service (Civica e-pay) and our supplier is unable to fix issues with the current platform.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of Bristol County Councils older PDFs do not meet accessibility standards. Were working towards making more of our PDFs meet the WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. The public sector accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018, unless they’re essential to providing our services.

We are working on a disproportionate burden clause for categories of PDF that are not part of an essential service. We are prioritising improving the accessibility of our documents that:

contain information about how to access or use our services
are frequently downloaded
contain information that has a statutory requirement

We will ensure that all essential documents will meet accessibility guidelines by January 2024.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams as live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. Our live meetings are saved to the Bristol City Council Live Meetings You Tube channel on which we have 800 subscribers. When we have 1000 subscribers, well be eligible for live automated captions and can manually edit these auto captions to convey the correct information.

Maps

We do not plan to make our maps accessible as these are exempt from the public sector accessibility regulations. Where user needs have been identified our design team may use techniques to make maps more accessible to citizens. We have several maps and archive applications including Fix my street, Pinpoint and argcis. We consider issues identified in some of these solutions that are not map-specific to be within scope of the public sector accessibility regulations and have identified them on our roadmap.

How we test this website

Website testing is carried out by our Web content and Delivery teams, for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA.

We use several tools, including:

Our main Bristol City Council website was tested in house in October 2021 and externally in January 2022. The website was also tested by the Shaw Trust before going live.

What were doing to improve accessibility

We produced an accessible communications policy that covers telephone, face to face and web content communication channels.

We’ve audited sites and applications internally to find out what we need to do for better compliancy with public sector accessibility regulations.
We’re testing each component, style and pattern in our new design system to ensure that it’s fully accessible.

We’ve developed an accessibility roadmap for our new content platform and form building solutions. We are working with service owners and their suppliers to identify issues and improve accessibility of our external applications.

We include accessibility checks as part of our platform requirements gathering and procurement processes. We have developed checklists and resources for different teams to help them produce content with accessible foundations.

Accessibility compliance for third party applications

View the accessibility statements for our third-party applications and solutions.