Accessibility statement for 
Midlands Connect

This accessibility statement applies to content hosted on the midlandsconnect.uk domain.
This website is run by West Midlands Combined Authority. 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 in your browser
  • 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)
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:
  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • it is difficult to navigate the website using just a keyboard
  • some interface elements do not have sufficient colour contrast. For example, buttons, text and hovering on buttons.
  • form fields do not have associated text labels
  • some links are not clear when taken out of context
  • you cannot zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 days.
There is more information about what we can provide and our process in our reasonable adjustments policy.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re 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 Equalities Team: 

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices and travel shops have audio induction loops. 
You can read more about reasonable adjustments we are able to provide.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

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

Compliance

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

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Some images are missing alt-text, so they cannot be read by people using screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content. We will add alt-text to images by March 2021. When we publish new content, we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
There is no skip to main content link, so people using screen readers cannot skip the navigation. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard. We plan to add skippable regions by March 2021.
Some forms elements are skipped when using just a keyboard, this fails  WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard. We plan to fix keyboard navigation by March 2021.
Some form fields do not have text labels associated with them, so people using screen reader software cannot access them. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Headings and Labels). We plan to add text labels to all form fields by March 2021.
Some text and buttons do not have sufficient colour contrast, so they may be hard to see for some people. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum). We plan to change the colours by March 2021.
Some image links are missing link text, so they aren’t understandable to people using screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (in context). We plan to add text to image links by March 2021.
Some links don’t use text which describes their purpose well. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (in context). We plan to fix link text by March 2021.
It is not possible to increase the text size without content spilling off the screen. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 Resize text. We plan to fix resizing issues by March 2021.

Disproportionate burden

We have not identified any services as a disproportionate burden to fix.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

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 the Economic Study.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 16 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 16 September 2020.
This website was last tested on 11 September 2020. The test was carried out by the Digital and Data department of the West Midlands Combined Authority.
We used this approach to decide on a sample of pages to test:
  • All content pages are built on templates
  • We checked all live content pages and created a list of common templates
  • We chose an example for each template which used the most template functionality.