Accessibility statement

• PDFs and other document types

  Some document formats on such as PDF, MS Word and MS Excel may not be fully accessible. Where possible we make documents accessible and/or provide a suitable HTML alternative.

  We plan to have an HTML alternative for all documents in place by October 2024 and to improve existing documents to be as accessible as possible.

• Link Purpose

  • Some icons that contain links do not provide enough information to people using a screen reader. This means that people using this assistive technology may not always be able to understand the purpose of each link on an icon.
    This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4.

• Find a fire station search result

  • The map view is non-accessible; however, the list view can be used as an alternative.

• Online home fire safety checker

  • Some elements of the online home fire safety checker are not fully accessible.

  • Some images do not have a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1

  • Selected status not programmatically determinable. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1

  • Radio button labels have no context to which question they relate to. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1

  • Insufficient contrast on selected icons. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1

    Insufficient text contrast on some text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3

  • Insufficient contrast of some icons against the background. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11

  • Some elements cannot be reached by keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1

  • Difficult to discern the focus order and where you are on the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 and 2.4.7

• Home fire safety visit request form
  • Some elements of the form are not fully accessible.  
  • Radio button labels have no context to which question they relate to. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
  • The field label and help text are not programmatically associated with the visible label. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
  • Some text fields have character limits. The limits are not programmatically associated with the form field. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
  • Some mandatory field error messages are not programmatically associated with the fields. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 
  • When fields are selected using a keyboard, the contrast ratio difference between the focus and the border colour is insufficient. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 
  • Multiple contrast issue within the form where the text does not have sufficient contrast against the background colour. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 
  • Text spills of the screen at 200% zoom and above. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 and 1.4.10 
  • Multiple issue with contrast between the form fields and on focus.
    This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11  
  • Some elements cannot be reached by keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 
  • Character limits cannot be revealed using a keyboard. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 
  • Expanded content is not next in the focus order. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 
  • Link purpose is not clear programmatically. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 
  • Form fields have no accessible name. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 
  • Screen readers are not provided with updates on character limits of text fields that update as text is entered. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 
  • When submitting the form with some mandatory fields empty, focus is automatically taken to the first required field. There is no announcement to screen reader users that the text ‘Required’ has appeared and that the form has not been submitted due to errors. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 

• Calendar component

  • On the Publications page, the aria-controls attribute links it to the calendar component instead of the field/label, making it unclear which date the user is selecting. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2.

• Checkbox filter

  • The labels of the checkboxes, within in the filters, on the Publications page do not match the visual and it could be confusing for users of assistive technology. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6.

• Menu focus
  • In the ‘Menu’, there is now no visible focus indicator on the last three options of ‘SFRS Board’, ‘Board members’, and ‘Committee meetings’. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.7.
    
    
• Focus indicator contrast
  • Focus indicator does not have sufficient contrast against the grey background This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.11.

PDFs and other documents 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.  

Live video 

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.