Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to  https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/

This website is run by the Electoral Commission. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• 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)

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.

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

• Some of our guidance and resources for electoral administrators, parties and campaigners, candidates and agents, and other regulated bodies, is provided in PDF or Word format only. These documents are not fully accessible. Some of this guidance has been updated and republished after 2018, and is not fully accessible because it is based on templates that pre-date 2018
• Tableau charts are not accessible. For example, it is not possible to zoom to 200% without experiencing rendering issues, and they can’t be interacted with using a keyboard
• Contrast issues are present within placeholder text within the candidate spending form on the ‘2019 UK Parliamentary general election candidate spending’ page
• The ‘your vote’ page within the learning resources for 14-18 year olds section contains an iframe that does not have a title attribute

We are working to make these pages, documents and charts fully accessible. In the meantime, please contact us if you need this information in an accessible format.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

• fill out our contact us form
• call 0333 103 1928

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

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 report these issues by:

• completing the feedback form on the page where you found the issue
• filling out our contact us form
• calling 0333 103 1928

You can also email the Digital Communications and Learning team directly.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

If you are based in Northern Ireland and are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Our offices have audio induction loops. Please get in touch before you visit us if you have access needs.

Find out how to contact us

The Electoral Commission 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.

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Contrast issues are present within placeholder text within the candidate spending form on the ‘2019 UK Parliamentary general election candidate spending’ page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum). We plan to resolve this by 31 January 2022.

The ‘Learning resource content’ page contains an iframe that does not have a title attribute. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks. We plan to resolve this by 31 January 2022.

Issues with PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don’t currently meet accessibility standards. Many of these pre-date 2018, or use a template which pre-dates 2018.

We are working to change the processes within our business to ensure that where PDFs and Word documents are required, they meet the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. We have introduced a new page template to display longer content, which previously would have been published as a PDF. We will be using this, where possible, to replace PDF formats.

We have also introduced a new HTML template for publishing guidance for electoral administrators and those we regulate. Guidance is being migrated from older PDF documents to this format with each election cycle.

Despite this, some PDFs and Word documents that have been published since September 2018 are not accessible. This is because they are updates of documents published before September 2018, and utilise templates which pre-date 2018. We have determined the amount of time required to make all these documents and templates accessible as a disproportionate burden.

However, we are working to make any essential documents published in that period accessible over the coming years, through each election cycle. If there is a specific document that is not available to you in an accessible format, please contact us.

Issues with interactive tools and transactions

Charts and tables built in Tableau do not currently meet accessibility requirements.

There are contrast issues within the Tableau element, and rendering issues when zoomed to 200%.

Users hover over segments of the graphs to reveal additional content. This content can’t be dismissed with the keyboard and is not hoverable or persistent.

Tableau charts and tables are not keyboard accessible. We have recently reviewed alternatives for Tableau but have not successfully identified an alternative. We plan to review this again in August 2022.

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 meeting minutes for meetings that occurred more than four years ago, or resources for elections which have already passed.

This statement was prepared on 28/07/2019. It was last reviewed on 19/10/2021.

This website was last tested on 13/08/2021. The test was carried out by Zoonou.

Zoonou used this approach to decide on a sample of pages to test: WCAG-EM.