Accessibility statement

This statement was created in August 2021 and last updated on 23rd August 2021. 

The Access Group are committed to ensuring digital accessibility for all. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards. This Accessibility statement concerns theaccessgroup.com   

Conformance status 

The  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)  defines requirements to ensure digital accessibility for all. We aim to meet the WCAG 2.1 level AA guidelines.  

Measures to support accessibility 

The Access Group takes the following measures to ensure the accessibility of the website: 

• Scan our website regularly with the usability tool Silktide to highlight any potential barriers
• Employ accessibility quality assurance methods
• A website which supports native browser zoom
• A commitment to continually monitoring and upgrading our accessibility support
• We ensure that video content includes both subtitles and voiceovers

Technical specifications 

Accessibility on theaccessgroup.com relies on our Content Management System (CMS) to work with a particular combination of web browsers and any assistive technologies and plugins. 

We use specific tags known as Assistive Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) tags which are built into our web CMS. ARIA tags provide context for accessibility tools.  

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology 

Theaccessgroup.com is not compatible with: 

• Browsers older than 3 major versions can have trouble interpreting modern accessibility techniques.  

Limitations and alternatives  

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of theaccessgroup.com, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below. 

Known limitations for theaccessgroup.com: 

1. Ensure controls change appearance when they are selected on keyboard (WCAG AA 2.4.7) - we have examples on older web templates where this isn’t the case and we’re working through to improve these. 
2. Allow users to quickly skip to content (WCAG A 2.4.1) - we don't currently have a Skip to Content link to allow users to bypass the main menu, but we have plans to add this. 
3. Ensure pages don't scroll in two dimensions on small screens (WCAG AA 1.4.10) - the majority of our website is fully responsive, but we need to make tweaks on some pages to ensure that two-way scrolling isn’t needed on smaller mobile devices. 
4. Provide alternatives for time-based media. Some of our videos do not include alternatives such as captions and audio-description. We are implementing guidelines to include these as standard for video content.  

Assessment approach 

The Access Group web team assesses the accessibility of theaccessgroup.com by the following approaches: 

• Continuous self-evaluation 
• Silktide, which is a tool to help organisations make their websites more accessible. Learn more about Silktide. 
• Google Lighthouse; an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. It includes audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, SEO and more. Learn more about Google Lighthouse. 

• WebAIM, which is used to help make the web more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Learn more about WebAIM.   

Feedback 

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of theaccesgroup.com. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on the website: [email protected]