Accessibility Statement for Justice NI

This website is run by the Department of Justice. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

• zoom in up to 300% without problems
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• 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)

How accessible this website is

Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
 

• some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
• some tables do not have row or column headers
• some pages and elements have poor colour contrast
• some heading elements are not consistent
• some images and icons do not have good alternative text
• some complex images do not have sufficient descriptions
• many documents are in PDF and MS Office formats and are not accessible

Feedback and contact information

If you need information in a different format contact us by contacting us via email 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

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 us via email and our Website Team will investigate the issue.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).
 

Technical information about this website's accessibility

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

Compliance status

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

Non-accessbible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:
 

• the accessibility problem(s)
• where it fails the success criteria, and
• when we plan to fix it

Developer issues

A number of accessibility issues are related to the underlying Drupal content management system (CMS) and will require developer and web design input.

These include but not limited to the following:

• The alternative text for images is missing. WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.1.1
• Table mark up is incorrect. WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1
• Some occurrences of empty links. WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.4
• Empty headings occur across some pages. WCAG 2.1, Level AA 2.4.6
• There are colour contrast issues that failed to meet the minimum ratio of 3:1. WCAG 2.0, Level AA, 1.4.3

We are currently in the process of migrating our website to a new platform which will significantly enhance accessibility for all users. This project is due for completion by January 2025.

Page Structure

There are a number of pages where the headings are not correctly marked up. WCAG 2.0,Level A, 1.3.1 and Level AA, 2,4,6. We plan to repair these pages within the next 12 months, by September 2021.

There are a number of pages with lists which may not be adequately structured. This may result in a loss of meaning for users of screen readers. WCAG 2.1 1.3.1 We plan to repair these pages within the next 12 months, by September 2021.

Across some pages there are occurrences of empty links and poor link text. WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.4

When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of headers and formatting of lists meet accessibility standards.

Documents

A number of documents are non-accessible for a number of reasons which may result in a loss of meaning for users of screen readers or present issues for users with moderately low vision. For example, some documents:

• do not have alternative text for images. WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.1
• have areas of insufficient colour contrast. WCAG 2.1,Level AA,1.4.3
• do not have a correct reading order. WCAG 1.3.1 and 1.3.2
• have tables which are not marked up appropriately. WCAG 2.1, Level A 2.4.1
• are scanned documents with errors in elements including reading order, language, and title. WCAG 1.3.1
• do not have a language attribute set. WCAG 2.1, Level A 3.1.1.
• some pdfs are not bookmarked. WCAG 2.1 Level AA, 2.4.5
• do not resize to reading pane. WCAG 2.1 Level AA, 1.4.10
• have headings incorrectly marked up. WCAG 2.0, Level A, 1.3.1 and Level AA, 2.4.6

We plan to repair this within the next 12 months, by September 2021. If you find you require one of our non-accessible documents published since September 2018 before it is repaired, please contact us using the email and our Website Team will arrange this for you.

Any new PDFs or other documents we publish will meet the required accessibility standards.

Images and Video

Some images do not have a text alternative (alt text), so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.1. We plan to repair this within the next 12 months, by September 2021.

Some images are of poor quality making them difficult to read. WCAG 2.0, Level A, 1.1.1 and Level AA, 1.4.5

When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Tables

A small number of pages have tables which do not have content present. WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.3.1.We plan to repair these pages within the next 12 months, by September 2021.

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable

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

As a website published before 23 September 2018, we are required to comply with the web accessibility regulations from 23 September 2020.

However, some of our content is exempt from the accessibility regulations:

• pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
• heritage collections
• PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 - unless required for the use of a service, for example a form
• maps
• third party content that is not within our control, for example, embedded video players like Vimeo or YouTube, and embedded Google Maps.

If you have any problems using this website, tell us using via email and our Website Team will investigate the issue and/or provide you with the information you need in an alternative format.

PDFs and other documents

Many documents are non-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.

Any new PDFs or other documents we publish will meet the required accessibility standards.

How we tested this site

This website was and is currently being tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA, and these tests have been carried out externally and independently.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on [21 September 2020]. It was last updated on 4th September 2024.