Using this website
This statement applies to www.equalityhumanrights.com
This website is run by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.
We are always working to make our website as accessible and usable as possible.
For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 400% 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 have also tried to make the website text easy 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:
- most older PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software – you can contact us using the details below to ask for alternative formats
- some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and screen reader software – you can contact us using the details below to ask for alternative formats
- the Twitter feed on our homepage is difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and screen reader software – you can visit @ehrc on Twitter to read our tweets
- some of our older videos may not feature captions
- many of our videos are embedded from YouTube and may feature labelling from YouTube itself, which is incorrect or not sufficiently descriptive
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, please:
- contact our general enquiries team
- email the correspondence team
- call 0161 829 8327
- write to:
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Arndale House
Arndale Centre
Manchester
M4 3AQ
We will consider your request and aim to reply within 20 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.
If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, contact the website team:
- using our online feedback form
- email our website team
- call 0161 829 8327
Enforcement procedure
We (the Equality and Human Rights Commission) are responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’).
If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Find out how to contact us.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The Equality and Human Rights Commission 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, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Link text
Some link text does not make sense when read on its own (for example, ‘read here’).
This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4, link purpose (in context).
We are reviewing this content as part of a redevelopment of the website. We will set out a schedule for reviewing all of our pages and fixing these links when we launch the refreshed site, likely to be in spring 2022.
When we publish new content we will make sure link text meets accessibility standards.
Forms
Some of our form fields are missing a label, which can make them difficult to navigate with a keyboard.
This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1, info and relationships, and 3.3.2, labels or instructions.
Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website.
We have provided alternative methods of contact on the page.
We are reviewing our forms as part of a redevelopment of the website and will move to an accessible solution when we launch the refreshed site, likely to be in summer 2022.
Disproportionate burden
Not applicable. We are not claiming that any of our accessibility issues are disproportionate to fix.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix older research reports.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
You can contact us to ask for alternative formats.
Issues with video
Some of our older videos, published before 23 September 2020, may not feature captions.
Any new videos we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Many of our videos are embedded from YouTube and may feature labelling from YouTube itself, which is incorrect or not sufficiently descriptive. This is third-party content, which we do not pay for, develop or control, so the accessibility regulations do not apply.
You can visit our YouTube channel to see more of our videos.
Twitter feed
The Twitter feed on our homepage is difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and screen reader software. This is an embedded third-party app, which we do not pay for, develop or control, so the accessibility regulations do not apply.
You can visit @ehrc on Twitter to read our tweets.
How we tested this website
This website was last tested on 8 February 2019 by the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC).
When deciding on a sample of pages to test, we chose based on:
- our most popular pages
- pages we had already been told about through feedback from people using the website
- pages that gave a good example of each one of our templates
- some pages including images, multimedia content and interactive elements
- some pages including web forms
They tested our main website www.equalityhumanrights.com.
You can read the full accessibility test report (2.1MB, PDF).
What we are doing to improve accessibility
To proactively monitor website accessibility, we have Silktide set up on the site. Silktide is a website testing and reporting tool, which provides automated website accessibility testing (for desktop and mobile devices) and quality assurance.
We have scheduled monthly accessibility reviews of the website and accessibility statement.
The issues identified in the Digital Accessibility Centre report (above) have been resolved actively.
Lessons learned from this report are being taken forward as part of a major redevelopment of the website, which is currently underway and likely to be completed by summer 2022.
The redevelopment work has, at every stage of the process, included user testing with people with a range of accessibility needs.
This includes those with:
- impaired vision
- motor difficulties
- cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
- deafness or impaired hearing
A full, independent accessibility audit is currently being carried out on the redeveloped website before launch.
This statement was prepared on 4 October 2016. It was last updated on 13 May 2022.
Last updated: 13 May 2022