Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for Walsall Housing Group Limited (referred to hereon as ‘whg’)

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This statement covers whg.uk.com

The purpose of the website is to provide information and access to whg services. This web platform is run by whg and Lightbox Digital, who are committed to making their website as accessible as possible for persons with visual, hearing, cognitive and motor impairments.

Users are able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 200% 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
navigate the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

My Computer My Way has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible the website is

Although we constantly test our online platform to the WCAG 2.1 guidelines to ensure it works on both desktop and mobile devices, currently there are some barriers that may prevent disabled users’ access to the website, such as:

Audio description not being included in multimedia
aria-hidden being included on carousels
Changes to the page not being communicated to screen readers.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in an alternative format, such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille: please contact us:

email communicationsteam@whgrp.co.uk
call 0300 555 6666
We will consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact: communicationsteam@whgrp.co.uk

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 or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Find out how to contact us: https://www.whg.uk.com/contact-us/

Technical information about this website’s accessiblity

whg 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 not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-compliances are listed below.

Content images don’t have appropriate alt text. This falls under: 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)
Decorative images should have an empty alt attribute. This falls under: 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)
Image text is used. This falls under: 1.4.5 Images of Text (Level AA)
Video files do not have a text or audio alternative. This falls under: 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (Level A)
Heading markup is missing for headings. This falls under: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)
Error suggestion is not clear. This falls under: 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA)
Dynamic changes or status updates are not being conveyed to assistive technologies. This falls under: 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A) and 4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA)
Colour contrast of text is insufficient for users with low vision. This falls under: 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)
Content has been hidden from assistive technology. This falls under: 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A)
Focus order is incorrect or illogical. This falls under: 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)
Link text is not descriptive of the destination page. This falls under: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)
Link text is the same for different destinations. This falls under: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)
Expanding controls need appropriate name, role and value. This falls under: 4.1.1 Parsing (Level A)
Components are missing appropriate name, role or value. This falls under: 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)
An accessible label does not match the visual label. This falls under: 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

We plan to fix all of these issues by 31st May 2021. When we publish new content, we will make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

It is not possible to change the device orientation of the league table page without making the content more difficult to view].
We have assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in 2021.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are doing the following to improve the accessibility of our Website:

We have conducted an external audit to evaluate the current state of our online platform.
We have had accessibility training to better understand existing accessibility issues that are currently present on our online platform.
We are planning to fix the issues based on the external audit in the near future.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15th November 2020. It was last reviewed on 15th November 2020.

This website was last tested on 13th October 2020. The test was carried out by Dig Inclusion Ltd (www.diginclusion.com).