Rectangle 4@2x

Accessibility statement for oxfordcoveredmarket.com

This statement applies to content published on the www.oxfordcoveredmarket.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.

To create this website we used a company that ensures it meets the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and have designed the site to meet the 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.

  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • You cannot change colours, contrast levels and fonts

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 parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format please email The Covered Market coveredmarket@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 The Covered Market coveredmarket@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.

  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • You cannot change colours, contrast levels and fonts

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add text alternatives for all images by September 2023. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Problems with linked web applications

We use some third party online services and websites to allow customers to view online maps.

Not all these sites and online services meet the necessary standards for accessibility, and where they do not we are engaging with our suppliers to rectify this.

When procuring new online systems, meeting accessibility standards is included in the specification, and we work with suppliers to ensure sites meet these standards.

We know that some parts of these web applications aren’t fully accessible. For example:

  • Our online maps use non-descriptive alt text and have areas with poor colour contrast. We are redeveloping this system which is currently offline

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 22 November 2022.

This website was last manually tested on 10 November 2022. 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 are working to fix 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: