Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the main Dorset Local Resilience Forum website

This website is run by the Digital Media unit of the Alliance Corporate Communications department for Dorset and Devon & Cornwall Police. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the screen using your device software or browser
  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts using your device software or browser
  • Modify the line height or spacing of text using your device software or browser
  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard, including our online forms
  • Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • Use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

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 are not fully accessible. For example:

  • Some of our video’s or partner videos shown on our site do not have captions or transcripts available.
  • Some interactive elements of the site use Bing or Google maps which are not accessible by screen readers, screen recognition software and other assistive technology. They do not always display well on smaller screens including mobiles and tablets.
  • This site may not display properly on some tablet devices without the need for the user to scroll horizontally, mobile devices do not have this issue.
  • Some links and images do not have the appropriate descriptive text
  • Some heading elements are not consistent
  • Some content on our website requires JavaScript to be enabled, for example interactive maps.
  • Many older documents are in PDF format and are not fully accessible

How to request content in an accessible format

If you need information on this site in a different format, please contact the Digital Media team and tell us:

  • The web address (URL) of the content
  • Your name and email address
  • The format you need, for example, audio CD, braille, BSL or large print, accessible PDF.

We will confirm receipt and inform you how we will handle your request.

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’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Digital Media team

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you’re not happy with our response contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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’).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Dorset Police is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

We have identified the following areas where we are non-compliant with the accessibility regulations.

Principle 1: Perceivable

Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives (Accessibility problem 1.1.1)

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).

Guideline 1.2 Time Based Media (Accessibility problem 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1,2,3 (Level A))

Many of our videos do not have transcripts or audio descriptions, synchronized captions, or BSL.

Guideline 1.4 Distinguishable (Accessibility problem 1.4.12)

Text spacing: in a very few places text containers are given a height and when text is enlarged it overflows.

Principle 2: Operable

Interface forms, controls and navigation are operable

Guideline 2,4 Navigable (Accessibility problem 2.4.4)

Purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone. Occasionally content editors have used click or select here as link text only

Principle 3: Understandable

Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable

Principle 4 Robust

Content can be used reliable by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies

Guideline 4.1 Compatible (Accessibility problem 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 (Level A))

Significant HTML/XHTML validation/parsing errors are avoided: Our forms are built using third party software bundled with out CMS. Elements such as Fieldsets share the same id and fail validation checks.

Disproportionate burden

Principle 1: Perceivable

Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives (Accessibility problem 1.1.1)

Maps: - At this moment in time we rely on third party map providers such as Bing and Google and when doing the automated checks, they appear to fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

Guideline 1.2 Time Based Media (Accessibility problem 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1,2,3 (Level A))

Many of our videos do not have transcripts or audio descriptions, synchronized captions, or BSL. It would be too costly in time and money to re-record these videos.

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

Many documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure.

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. For example, we do not plan to fix some campaign material.

How we tested this website

This website has been tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA using the following techniques:

  • Automated testing – the quickest way to catch 20% to 50% of potential issues
  • Manual testing – using assistive technology tools to test the website with a social focus on areas with known problems

What we are doing to improve accessibility

This website and its content is constantly under review. We plan to fix issues identified on this statement by taking the following actions:

  • Staff and content editors will be given updated training and/or guidance to ensure all content that is updated or added to the website meets expected accessibility standards in accordance with current accessibility regulations.
  • Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards
  • All new videos (from November 2020) that the Dorset Digital Media department produce will have synchronized captions, a transcript or audio description. Some will also have BSL.

This statement was adapted from one that was prepared on 21 September 2020 for Dorset Police.

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