Technical accessibility standards

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We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Key technical accessibility standards we use include:

WCAG 2.1 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
ARIA 1.1 Accessible Rich Internet applications
ATAG 2.0 Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines
HTML5 Hypertext Markup Language

Accessibility testing

We test for accessibility compliance and usability using a mixture of approaches:

automated accessibility testing
manual accessibility testing
assistive technology testing

Expert evaluation and user testing is also done as part of accessibility auditing activities.

Automated accessibility testing

We use automated accessibility tools such as Axe-core and Wave. Developers and testers are responsible for testing with automated accessibility tools locally and on test environments. This makes sure:

all code and content passes automated accessibility tests
persistent errors are raised and addressed in JIRA and added to development sprints
automated testing is conducted in all responsive states, such as mobile/tablet/desktop

Axe-core is integrated into the test automation process and automated accessibility tests are run during each development sprint by the test automation lead.

Siteimprove is used to monitor each individual force website. As well as code quality, search engine optimisation and performance, it monitors accessibility status.

Accessibility tools include:

Automated testing on its own is not sufficient to claim WCAG 2.1 AA compliance. It is always used in conjunction with manual testing techniques.

Manual accessibility checklist

Manual testing is needed in conjunction with automated techniques in order to claim WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.

Expert review by a dedicated accessibility consultant is done as part of compliance auditing and sprint review for any new templates or functionality. This includes:

reviewing designs to make sure they don't present any possible accessibility issues
performing reviews of new HTML/CSS/JS code at key stages during development
using assistive technologies to test accessibility before deployment to the live site

In addition to this, non-specialist manual accessibility testing is also done by most team members as part of the standard quality assurance stage before deployment.

The following resources provide checklists that can be used to test for accessibility issues:

Use in browser tools and extensions to help test for accessibility, for example:

Firefox accessibility features
Firefox accessibility Inspector
Chrome dev tools accessibility reference
Internet Explorer access options
Apple accessibility support

Assistive technologies and adaptations

As well as conforming to technical accessibility standards and automated testing this site web content is tested with assistive technology and display/device adaptations. The site components will always be tested with:

Device adaptations – system settings and browser options allow users to adapt their display to change, such as colour contrast, brightness, and inverted colours.
Screen readers – reads out content and allows users to navigate in custom ways, for example, by headings, links or form menus.
Screen magnification – allows users to control the size of text and or graphics.
Text readers – used by people with various forms of learning disabilities that affect their ability to read text.
Speech input software – with voice control users can give commands to perform mouse actions and type out words and text.
Alternative input devices – some users may not be able to use a mouse or keyboard but they can use various forms of devices, such as:
- head pointers – mounted directly on the user’s head that can be used to push keys on the keyboard
- motion tracking or eye tracking – this can include devices that watch the eyes of the user to interpret where the user wants to place the mouse pointer and moves it for the user
- single switch entry devices – these kinds of devices can be used with other alternative input devices or by themselves. These are typically used with on-screen keyboards

As a minimum the Government Digital Service recommendations for testing with assistive technologies are followed. Current common assistive technologies and display adaptations include:

(JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack) screen readers
(Dragon naturally speaking) speech recognition
(ZoomText) screen magnification
Physical or onscreen Keyboard
Inverted system colours
System/browser high contrast
System/browser zoom
System/browser font size adaptation
Custom CSS stylesheets

More Information on display adjustments can be found on the AbilityNet - My Computer My Way website.

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