Technical information about this website's accessibility

Aberdeenshire 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exceptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Some of our PDFs and other documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word or PDF documents. Some of them don't meet accessibility standards, they may be scanned PDFs or they may not be marked up correctly for assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 4.1.2 (name, role value), 1.4.5 (images of text) and 1.4.9 (images of text - no exception). We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages over time as we review sections of this website. When we publish new content we will make sure our content meets accessibility standards.

Some images don't include a meaningful text alternative so people using a screen reader are not provided with an accurate description of what the image presents. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add a meaningful alternative text to all images over time as we review sections of this website. When we publish new content we will make sure our content meets accessibility standards.

Not all prerecorded videos published on this website before 23rd September 2020 have captions or audio. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.2 (captions - prerecorded). We plan to add closed captions and audio or add a transcript file for these videos over time as we review sections of this website. When we publish new content we will make sure our content meets accessibility standards.

Some links don’t make sense when read on its own (for example 'here' or 'find out more'). On some pages the same link text is used for links going to different destinations, so people might not know the difference. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose - in context). We plan to make all links accessible over time as we review sections of this website. When we publish new content we will make sure our content meets accessibility standards.

online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk

The myAberdeenshire button contains focusable child elements. They are not announced by screen reader but they still appear in the tab order making navigation more difficult. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

Some lists don't contain semantically correct parent or child elements. This means they might be ordered incorrectly and screen readers might not be able to read these lists accurately. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

The language is not set in the code on some of our forms and this makes it more difficult for assistive technologies to accurately covert text to speech. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.1.1 (language of page).

On some elements such as search box, the colour contrast ratio between text and background isn't sufficient. This makes it difficult for someone with a visual impairment to see the content properly. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast, minimum).

Some of our links such as social media icon links don't receive focus when active or selected. They also don't include descriptive link names and because of that they are not accessible by keyboard or screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 2.4.4 (link purpose in context) and 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

On some forms, input fields, such as a text box or a radio button list, are missing labels or have incorrect labels associated with them. Without these labels people using assistive technologies might not know where to input their answer to a specific question on the form. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (information and relationship),  3.3.2 (labels or instructions) and 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

Certain ARIA roles aren't used correctly. This means that content might not be announced accurately to anyone using as a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.3.1 (information and relationship).

Some tables aren't marked up correctly which can cause issues when using assistive technologies to access information within those tables. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationship).

The forms have a 20-minute timeout that you cannot turn off or extend. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.2.1 timing adjustable.

We plan to fix accessibility issues with our forms as and when we make updates to them. When we build new forms we will make sure they meet accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

We are required by law to carry out disproportionate burden assessments where we are not able to meet our legal obligation to reach the WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard. 

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

PDFs and other documents

PDFs and other documents published before 23rd September 2018 are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations if they are not essential to providing our services. 

Maps 

Maps and mapping services are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations as long as they are not used for navigational purposes. 

Pre-recorded videos

Videos published before 23rd September 2020 may not have accurate captions or a text transcript and do not have audio descriptions, therefore fail success criteria.

Live videos

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live videos are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.