accessibility statement
This accessibility statement applies to all content related to the accessibility testing guide on https://github.com/alphagov/wcag-primer/wiki.
It does not apply to the GitHub platform itself (this is covered by GitHub Voluntary Product Accessibility Template), except where issues with GitHub directly affect the content in this guide.
This guide is maintained by the UK Government Digital Service. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this guide. For example, that means you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate most of the guide using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the guide using speech recognition software
- listen to most of the guide using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
- We've also made the text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
We know some parts of this guide are not fully accessible:
- links rely on colour to identify them
- the 'skip to content' link does not skip past all navigation
- keyboard focus order is not intuitive
- hidden heading links receive invisible keyboard focus
- the 'search' placeholder text has low contrast when logged out
- page titles are not descriptive
- the pages menu cannot be collapsed using a keyboard and has nested interactive controls
If you need information on this website in a different format, email accessibility-guide@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk.
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 not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, contact accessibility-guide@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk.
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).
Government Digital Service is committed to making this guide 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 (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
- Links rely on colour to identify them, failing WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Colour. We have raised the link identification issue with GitHub and are dependent on them to fix it.
- The 'skip to content' link does not skip past all navigation menus, failing WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks. This was raised as part of ticket 1734737 with GitHub on 8 August 2022.
- Keyboard navigation is difficult as the focus order is not intuitive - it goes past the pages menu before the main page content. This fails both WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks and WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order. This was raised as part of ticket 1734737 with GitHub on 8 August 2022.
- Anchor links appear next to each heading on hover but are hidden from assistive technologies. They are accessible by keyboard but do not have a visible focus indicator. These links fail WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. This was raised as part of ticket 1734774 with GitHub on 8 August 2022.
- The placeholder text within the Search field has low contrast when logged out of GitHub, failing WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum). This was raised as part of ticket 1734774 with GitHub on 8 August 2022.
- The Pages menu cannot be collapsed using a keyboard, failing WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard. This was raised as part of ticket 1734737 with GitHub on 8 August 2022.
- On the Pages menu, each expandable page title contains links. However, interactive controls should not be nested, as their behaviour might be interpreted incorrectly. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. This was raised as part of ticket 1734737 with GitHub on 8 August 2022.
- The page titles for each WCAG success criterion are not descriptive. For example, one title is "1.3.1 * alphagov/wcag-primer Wiki * GitHub", failing WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled. Our aim is to move this content on to the main WCAG Primer pages which would fix this issue.
We believe that the following issue does not fail the guidelines but might still cause accessibility issues:
- The search bar has a keyboard shortcut of
sor/. This can be turned off via GitHub settings, passing WCAG 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts, but only when logged into GitHub.
Any wider issues with the GitHub platform itself are out of scope as GitHub is a private company.
In the short term, we will raise any issues with GitHub's platform that affect our content. This statement will be updated as we do this.
In the longer term, we intend to move our content into the main WCAG Primer which will fix the non-compliance issues listed above.
This statement was prepared on 6 October 2022.
This website was last tested by the Government Digital Service accessibility monitoring team on 20 July 2022, covering a representative sample of pages.
The test included a mixture of manual and automated checks, including using a screen reader and browser tools, to cover all Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 to level AA.
The sample included the home page, four success criteria pages and the 'General tips' page. It covered different content types, such as images, code snippets and content in languages other than English.