Site accessibility

Devon and Cornwall OPCC has designed this website with accessibility as a key focus and wishes to ensure that its online products and services are accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability. Providing an accessible website has a positive effect on general usability and we believe that when websites are accessible and usable, it benefits everyone.

The law

As a public sector organisation we have to comply with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, this is enforced by The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The 2018 regulations build on the existing obligations to people who have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 (or the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland).

W3C compliance

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for people who create and maintain websites.

As a public sector organisation we adhere to these guidelines and target "AA" compliance through the following tenants:

Perceivable text alternatives: Provide text alternatives for any non-text content

Time-based media: Provide alternatives for time-based media eg video or audio

Adaptable: Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.

Distinguishable: Make it easier for users to see content, including separating foreground from background.

Operable device accessible: Make functionality operable via keyboard/mouse/screen reader

Enough time: Provide users enough time to read and use content

Seizures: Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures

Navigable: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are

Understandable and readable: Make text content readable and understandable

Predictable: Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways

Input assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes

Robust and compatible: Maximise compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies

How we tested this website

This website was last tested in September 2020. The test was carried out externally by a third party.

They checked a broad sample of pages on the website, including the homepage and a selection of other pages utilising the various different templates.

They used a free-to-use developer tool (https://www.deque.com/axe/) which checks each page against standard accessibility issues.

A manual audit was also conducted.

Each of the issues was logged, and an action plan formed and implemented for the website.

What we have done to improve accessibility

We made the following improvements in August 2020:

• increased the colour contrast of some text;
• fixed a number of issues with W3C validation;
• ensured all form elements are using the correct markup and are compatible with assistive technologies;
• added a ‘skip to main content’ and ‘skip to navigation’ function on the header of every page;
• reviewed labels and attributes to ensure compatibility with assistive technologies.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
• the accessibility of embedded video content is dependent on the standards reached by the third-party provider. Where possible we will make use of features such as subtitles to ensure our content is accessible.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format you should contact us.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you.

Reporting accessibility problems

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Devon and Cornwall OPCC team by email

 Other accessibility advice

The site should be compatible with recent versions of the following screen readers:

• Jaws 
• ZoomText
• NVDA
• VoiceOver
• Window Eyes 
• Supernova screen readers
• Magicetc

The site should also be compatible with:

• basic operating system screen magnifiers
• speech recognition software, eg Dragon Naturally Speaking
• operating system speech packages

Get help

You can find guidance from the BBC about:

• making your mouse easier to use
• using your keyboard to control your mouse
• alternatives to a keyboard and mouse
• increasing the size of the text in your web browser
• changing text and background colours
• how to magnify your screen
• screen readers and talking browsers

Please note: We are not responsible for links or content on external website(s).