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Accessibility

Accessibility Statement for Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service

This accessibility statement applies to www.hwfire.org.uk

Introduction:

This website is run by Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service. 
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 text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams do not have captions
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader

However, our website if currently being completely refreshed to address any and all accessibility issues. We expect the new website to be fully in operation by the end of June 2023.

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:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 20 days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

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: Richard Prime, Corporate Communications Manager by email or on 01905 368312

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

Hereford & Worcester 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

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • No focus style on any links or interactive elements (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.2.1 and 2.4.7)
  • Alt text is either not present or inappropriate and does not describe the image (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1, 2.4.4 and 4.1.2)
  • The search form in the header of the page needs to be rebuilt to include correct labels and form elements (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.3.5, 3.2.2 and 4.1.2)
  • Often inconsistent or incorrect use of headings (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1, 2.4.2 and 2.4.6)
  • 'Skip to main content' is present but is not visible or functional (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.1.1 and 2.4.1)
  • The main and sidebar navigation is not appropriately ARIA labelled (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2)
  • The Twitter embed on the homepage creates a 'keyboard trap' (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.2)
  • YouTube videos do not provide correct, synchronised captions containing spoken text and important sound effects. They do not provide an audio description for video that includes important visual information (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3 and 1.2.5)

All of these non-compliances will be rectified in the new-build of the website which is expected to be available by the end of June 2023

What we are doing to improve accessibility

All accessibility issues will be rectified in the new build of this website which is expected to be available by the end of June 2023.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 20 January 2023. It was last reviewed on 20 January 2023.

The website was last tested on 29 March 2021. The test was carried out by Orphans Press Ltd.

You can read the full accessibility test report here