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Accessibility Policy

This statement applies to content published on the www.oxfordwestend.com domain.

The team behind this website hope that whoever needs to use it, can do so easily. We have tried to make it as accessible as possible. We want everyone who visits our website to feel welcome and find the experience rewarding.

This website has been designed to meet the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to an AA standard.

Using this website

This website is run by Oxford City Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

  • 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)
  • Changes can be saved for your future visits.

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.

  • The graphic map in the ‘Discover the West End’ section contains use the same link text (‘more info’) to take users to different destinations and relies on javascript technology which may not function for all users. A conforming alternate version of this information is provided on the same page.
  • One field in the contact us form does not have a label. However this field is designed to prevent bots. No users need to complete this field.

We will update the statement when issues are fixed or when we expect them to be fixed.

What to do if you can’t access part of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format please email The Covered Market oxfordwestend@oxford.gov.uk

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 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 aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, please email  oxfordwestend@oxford.gov.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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Oxford City Council is committed to making its website accessible, in line 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

  • The graphic map in the ‘Discover the West End’ section contains use the same link text (‘more info’) to take users to different destinations. This fails WCAG 2.0 success criterion 2.4.4 (avoid using the same link text for different destinations). This only occurs when navigating content via the graphic map on the ‘Discover the West End page’. A conforming alternate version of this information is provided on the same page.
  • The graphic map in the ‘Discover the West End’ section also fails WCAG 2.0 success criterion 2.4.1 (avoid linking to anchors that do not exist). This only occurs when navigating content via the graphic map on the ‘Discover the West End page’. The technology requires links to anchor points to trigger javascript and the links do have an effect but some readers can’t find the anchor points in the HTML. A conforming alternate version of this information is provided on the same page.
  • One field in the contact us form does not have a label. This fails WCAG 2.0 success criterion 1.3.1 (ensure form controls have labels) and on WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 (identify the purpose of fields programmatically). However this field is designed to prevent bots. Hidden input fields do not require labels. For fields where auto-complete is not appropriate, e.g. due to security, the specific field should be ignored. No users need to complete this field.

Problems with linked web applications

Not applicable.

Disproportionate burden

There is no current disproportionate burden with regards to accessibility of this site.

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

There is no current content on this site that is not within the scope of accessibility regulations

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 06 November 2023.

This website was last manually tested on 06 November 2023. The test was carried out by Oxford City Council. We carry out an automated test of the website every 6 months using Silktide software.

How we test this website

We use Silktide software to monitor accessibility issues on our website on an ongoing basis. A new report is produced every 5 days and any new accessibility issues are acted on. We also use the WAVE Evaluation Tool browser extension to test for issues on an ad-hoc basis.

We carry out manual tests on a sample of pages every six months.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have provided reasons or alternatives for the accessibility issues listed in this statement.

We have put monitoring in place to review the accessibility of the site on an ongoing basis. We use this monitoring to identify and fix any new issues that arise.

We are training our web editors to ensure they are aware of accessibility requirements, and have published internal guidance on how to achieve compliance.

We are also engaging with third-party suppliers to fix accessibility issues found in the web applications that we use to provide our services.

Feedback and contact information

If you had trouble with any part of our website, please get in touch. We’d like to hear from you in any of the following ways:

email oxfordwestend@oxford.gov.uk

use our Oxford City Council Comments, Compliments or Complaints form

Contact us

Contact us