This statement should be read in relation to our main accessibility statement.
This statement applies to part of our online services available via our website - our 'Open Housing' portal which gives council tenants and leaseholders, those applying for a council home, people who are homeless, and contractors supporting our work, access housing services online; the functionality is provided by Capita.
We know some parts of this system are not fully accessible, see Technical information about this system's accessibility.
Feedback and reporting accessibility problems
Get more information about:
Technical information about this system’s accessibility
We are committed to making our online services accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations, 2018.
This part of our website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); non-compliances are listed.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Currently:
- some HTML elements are not correctly identified (multiple elements are referenced with ARIA with the same ID attribute), so assistive technologies may be unable to operate properly - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 4.1.1
- some controls are not correctly identified (links don't have discernible text or contain only non-text content), so assistive technologies may be unable to operate properly - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 2.4.4
- some instances of inappropriate colour contrast exist, meaning reduced readability for people with moderately low vision (if not using contrast-enhancing assistive technology) - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.4.3
- some links with the same name may not have the same purpose, which could mean users find it hard to understand the destination of links or become confused when navigating - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria 2.4.9 and 3.2.4
- some (best practice) coding 'landmarks' are missing, therefore content structure may be hard for screen-readers to interpret, as content outside structural sections can be difficult to find or have unclear purpose
- some headings are not consistent (it's best practice for a page or at least one of its frames to contain a level-one heading), therefore content structure may be hard for screen-readers to interpret - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.3.1
- there is no means to allow people who navigate sequentially through content, more direct access to the primary content of each page (no mechanism to bypass repeated blocks of navigation code) - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 2.4.1
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We have identified the areas of this system that need to be addressed in order to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We're working with our suppliers to rectify known issues as soon as possible.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 20 January 2022.
This system was part-tested prior to launch, on 24 January 2022. Tests were carried out by our Web Services Team using a web browser extension in Google Chrome browser called ‘AXE’ a sample of user journeys within the system were checked against the WCAG 2.1 guidelines; the results of the sample checks are indicative of the accessibility status across the wider system.