Data catalogue/My Account area

This accessibility statement applies to the UK Data Service data catalogue and My Account websites available at https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/.

This website is run by the UK Data Service. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

For example, that means you should be able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 300% 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’ve also made the website text as simple as possible 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 aren’t fully accessible:

some of our tables are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
some of our older PDF and word documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
some of the colours on our data catalogue button and some sub-menus of our My Account area have low contrast

We will start work on redeveloping the data catalogue and My Account area website to make it more accessible in 2022. We will aim to rectify these identified accessibility issues whilst making the website more user friendly for everyone to use.

In the interim, we will make any accessibility fixes that we are able to do on the current web platform and we continue to review older documents that currently have accessibility issues with the intention of moving these to a more accessible format in the future. Staff who provide content for the website are being made aware of accessibility requirements and are being trained to enable them to address these when adding new content and documents to the website.

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:

email our communications team
call (0)1206 872001

If you cannot get through on the above telephone number, please leave a voicemail – we are checking our voicemail regularly.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within seven working days.

If you can’t view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

This website has recently undergone a major update with the aim of rectifying a number of accessibility issues. We will continue to review older documents that currently have accessibility issues with the intention of moving these to a more accessible format. Staff who provide content for the website are being made aware of accessibility requirements and are being trained to enable them to address these when adding new content and documents to the website.

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact our Marketing and Communications Manager on 01206 872001 or contact our communications team by email.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re 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

If you contact us before your visit we can arrange liaison with local agencies to provide sign language interpreters or lip speakers through Essex University’s Disability Service, subject to cost and availability. We hope to provide audio induction loops in the future, once we have the required technology to host this service.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The UK Data Service 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.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

The accessibility regulations do not require that we fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. However, we commissioned a design agency to create accessible templates for our documents in 2021 and we have already moved a number of our older PDF documents into these templates. We will move more of our older documents into accessible templates, subject to capacity, and will prioritise content that is used more frequently (identified via web analytics or user feedback).

Staff who create documents for publishing on the website have been provided with guidance and advice on how to make their documents more accessible.

We will aim to make any new PDFs or Word documents published on the website meet accessibility standards.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some user interface controls that do not have a label, do not have names that are exposed to assistive technologies so some users will be unable to identify the purpose of the form control. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.
There is a missing submit button on the studies page. This means that users are unable to explicitly request any change to context. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.2 (On input).
Some labels are not properly associated with their controls which means that users may be unable to know what input data is required. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (labels or instructions).
Some tables do not have unique accessible names so some users may be unable to differentiate between each table on the page. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).
Some associate form controls do not have a label or accessible name. This means that users may be unable to identify the purpose of the form control. This does not meet ECAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).
Some tags on the user credentials page and the catalogue record pages contain duplicate IDs so this may cause problems for assistive technologies when they are trying to interact with content. This includes potential problems such as conveying relationships between different parts of the content, such as identifying header content for cells of data within a table. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing).
References are made to missing or incorrect ‘id’ attributes on some pages, which means that users may be unable to interpret the web pages properly. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and relationships.
Not all headings contain informative content, which could cause confusion for users who navigate or search by headings. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).
On the credentials page, one label has missing text which could cause difficulty for users of assistive technologies to identify the purpose of the form control. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, role, value).
Some aria roles do not have an accessible name which means that accessibility aids may not be able to interact properly with them. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name role value).
Some headings have not been nested properly, which can be disorientating for users use rely on these to navigate the content. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).
Some tags have been used to create a visual presentation effect, which means that the content cannot interact properly with assistive technologies. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).
The study pages have missing link text which means the purpose of a link is not obvious from the link text and so users may be unable to determine whether to follow the link. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4.
Some content has been inserted using CSS and so may not appear when CSS is turned off, or when the user is using their own accessible stylesheet. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 info and relationships.
Some content has used absolute units instead of relative units, so users may have difficulties zooming in to pages to read them. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).
On the registration page, some labels are not unique so users may be unable to distinguish between form controls on the same page. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (headings and labels).
The focus indicator may be difficult to see which will make the site difficult to navigate for users who rely solely on the keyboard to navigate the website. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus visible).
When using a keyboard to navigate content, the page order does not always make sense in the My Account tables. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus order).
An empty button has been identified between the ‘search’ button on the catalogue landing page. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content) and 2.4.4 (link purpose (In context)).
Some tabs have been identified as low contrast which may cause problems with users who have low vision. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast minimum).
A missing table header has been identified, which may make it difficult for users of assistive technologies to navigate content. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and relationships).

We have requested that our developers look into the non-compliances identified above. If they are able to fix these on the existing web platform, these fixes will be implemented within the next three-six months.

We will start work on redeveloping the data catalogue and My Account area website to make it more accessible in 2022. With this redevelopment, we will aim to rectify the identified accessibility issues whilst making the website more user friendly for everyone to use.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 30 July 2021. The test was carried out by staff in the Communications team, using a combination of Total Validator, WAVE accessibility tool and manual checks.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will also run regular accessibility checks, ensure that new content added to the website meets accessibility requirements and review some of the older documents that currently have accessibility issues with the intention of moving these to a more accessible format.

Staff who provide content for the website are aware of accessibility requirements and will consider these when adding new content to the site.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 8 August 2021.

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