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Accessibility

Accessibility

We’re constantly working to make Hampshire PA Finder as accessible and usable as possible. We are currently compliant with level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

If you find that you cannot access any of our content, please let us know by using the ‘Feedback’ button at the bottom of each page or by emailing us. We will make every reasonable effort to either remove the barrier or provide the information in a format that you find acceptable.

Change the font size

Windows Computer

Ctrl and - (minus) keys reduce the text size.

Ctrl and 0 (zero) resets the text size back to your browser default.

 

Mac Computer

Cmd and - (minus) keys reduce the text size.

Cmd and 0 (zero) resets the text size back to your browser default.

AbilityNet provides guides on how to increase text size on different devices.

Use of screen reading software

The site is set up to be used by screen reading software. If you have any problems with this please let us know by using the ‘Feedback’ button or by emailing us.

Change the text and background colour

To change the text and colour background of our website, please use the Accessibility Menu. You can find this on the Accessibility bar at the top of the screen, and by using the accessibility icon on the left of the screen.

Use the sitemap

Looking for something? Every page is in the Sitemap and, with less clutter on the page, it may be easier for you to see the section or page you are looking for here.

Click on 'Sitemap' at the top of the page.

Language

You can change the language on the website by selecting the drop-down list of languages from the Google button at the top of the page.

Please note that when web pages are translated into other languages this may impact on the effectiveness of a screen reader set to read English.

Links to other pages or external websites

This website gives links to many other websites. Words in blue are the link you click on.

Some websites do not let you use a back button to get back to Hampshire PA Finder. So we have decided to open all of these links in a new window or tab. This symbol  at the end of the words in blue tells you that the link will open in a new window or tab.

On computers or laptops, the new tab, with the website you have clicked on, will open on the right and Hampshire PA Finder will stay open. To go back to Hampshire PA Finder, just click on the tab to the left.

On your phone, the new website will also open a new tab or window. Just open your ‘tabs’ to tap on the Hampshire PA Finder tab to get back to this website.

PDF documents

We have tried to keep most of the information on this website as web pages. We do include some Portable Document Format (PDF) files. To view and print PDF files, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader (or an equivalent PDF viewer) installed. You can download a free pdf reader.

All downloadable documents, such as PDFs, which have been published on this website have been checked with the PAVE accessibility checker.

We cannot guarantee that documents on other websites we link to have been checked.

This is the accessibility statement for the Hampshire PA Finder website. This website is run by Hampshire County Council. The council is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability.  

As noted above, this website should allow any user to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and size of text.
  • Modify the line height or spacing of text.
  • Zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the page.
  • 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)

This website is designed to be compliant with the international standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG) – Level AA.

Using this website

Accessible features

This website uses a widget that contains several Accessible features that can be used by users with specific requirements. To access the widget, or Accessibility toolbar, click on Accessibility link in the main menu. The widget will open in the left-hand side of the screen.

The features include:

Contrast and font size

Changing the contrast and font sizes of text can increase legibility for some users. 

A user can change the contrast settings. 

To increase the font size, click on the icons at the top right of the screen. The user can also use the browser’s own zoom facility. The website will work up to 200%

Translation

You can use the Google Translate feature at the top right of the screen to translate the text to any of the available languages, including common community languages in Hampshire such as Bengali, Chinese and Somali.  Please note that the translation is done automatically by the Google software, not by the council.

Further information on accessibility options

The RNIB has a webpage with information on options that computers have which can make it easier for people with low or no vision to use them. 

Accessible alternatives

Efforts have been made to create accessible alternatives for content that does not meet standards where possible.

Where appropriate we may be able to deliver content to users in accordance with their needs.

Please see “Make a request for Accessible Content” section for further details.

Make a request for accessible content

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

Contact Details for Hampshire PA Finder

Contact Details Form: https://www.hampshirepafinder.org.uk/s4s/WhereILive/CouncilCatalogue?pageId=3437

We will consider your request and respond within 30 days.

Purpose of links

Hampshire PA Finder will use links to navigate to content on the website. External links will open in a new window.

Where possible the action of an external link will be described by extra description within the link text, so all users can understand the link’s purpose.  However, in certain areas of the website adding this extra description will become a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

We have provided the following definition for external links: 

External Links will be used for any content that has known limitations with assistive technologies OR navigates a user away from secure platforms. In summary, this means the following items are considered External links:

  • Non-HTML Documentation (See “Issues with PDFs and other documents”)
  • Redirection away from secure platforms
  • External websites that are not part of Hampshire PA Finder

How accessible is this website?

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • This website uses JavaScript to deliver certain features. Please make sure you have JavaScript turned on within your browser to deliver full features.
  • Accessibility Widget not accessible to people using voice recognition controls.
  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
  • Live video streams do not have captions

Contact us and complaints procedure

We are always looking for ways to improve the Hampshire PA Finder website. If you find any problems that are not listed within this statement, or believe we are not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations please contact us on –

Contact Details for Hampshire PA Finder

Email: pafinder@hants.gov.uk

Enforcement Procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Services (EASS)

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Hampshire 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.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG) AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. (See Non- Accessible Content, Issues With…) 

Non-accessible content

Whilst Hampshire County Council strives to adhere to accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

During our last review of this website it has come to our attention that there are areas of the website that fail to meet WCAG 2.1: 

Issues with text

Some link text doesn’t make sense when read on its own (for example, ‘click here’).

We plan to fix the existing links by September 2020. When we publish new content, we’ll make sure link text meets accessibility standards.

Screen-reader reading issues with status messages

It has come to our attention that status messages alerting users to changes within content are not being read out. This means it will be difficult for screen-reader users to become notified of changes within our websites. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 Status Message.

Finding these details can still be achieved by navigating to the first line of content after the search results page.

Our website provider is currently updating our website templates, please see ‘What are we doing to improve accessibility?’ section.

Issues with PDFs and other documents

Some of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be marked up to be accessible for a screen reader.

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with Easy Read Information on how users can access our services. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

 

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

This sub-section lists issues that are exempt from the current accessibility regulations. For more information see following section, “Exemptions to the Accessibility Regulations”.

Issues with live video

Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).

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

Disproportionate burden

 This sub-section is N/A

Exemptions to the accessibility regulations

Web Content that is not subject to the standards referenced in this policy statement are as follows: -

  1. Content that is archived.
  2. Content on intranets and extranets published before 23/09/2019
  3. Non-HTML Documentation (PDFs, Microsoft Office files) that were published before 23/09/2018.
  4. Non-HTML Documentation (PDFs, Microsoft Office files) that are not essential to the services Hampshire PA Finder provides.
  5. Live Audio and Video
  6. Pre-recorded Audio and Video published before 23/09/2020
  7. Online Maps and mapping services
  8. Third Party Content that is not under direct control of Hampshire County Council or main website provider – Google Translate, Social Media links

What are we doing to improve accessibility?

Hampshire is fully committed to meeting all the accessibility criteria specified in the regulatory provisions. We plan to identify and fix issues in accordance with the timescales shown for each non-compliance area. Areas of this website that fail to meet these standards will have fixes prioritised according to usage data. Due to the amount and complexity of certain issues fixes may be applied shortly after the September 2020 deadline. Hampshire will make continuous assessments of this website’s content and update this statement when issues have been resolved.