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Accessibility

Accessibility Statement for Leeds Homes website

Last updated September 2019

The Leeds Homes website www.leedshomes.org.uk is run by Leeds City Council for applicants registering for social housing and bidding on properties advertised through our choice based lettings scheme. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

How accessible this website is

You can select the Accessibility option to change the font size to large or extra-large without the text spilling off the screen.

You can also select a Text only option without images or the Graphical viewing option.

We produce a newsletter which lists the properties available. We also produce an audio version of the flyer on our YouTube page where you can listen to an audio transcript of property listings.

We know some parts of this website aren't fully accessible.

The website has been tested with screen reader software and we are aware of a number of issues that affect screen reader or voice recognition software users. These have been raised with our IT partner and we are working to find a solution.

The main issues identified are outlined below:

Bidding process

  • Users are not alerted to fresh content appearing
  • Alternative text descriptions are not helpful
  • Users have to read through all the content before finding help text or error messages
  • Users have to navigate through all the left hand columns before they can filter anysearch results from the right hand column
  • The property advert icons need a link to an explanation of what they mean

Property details page

  • Screen reader users have to navigate all the way back up the screen to switchbetween the four options of “Overview”, “Images”, “Local area” and “Map”.
  • Formatting of the property addresses doesn’t include commas between streetaddress, village, town and postcode meaning it is read out very fast with no pausesbetween those elements.
  • The address appear in capitals which some users find hard to read.
  • Screen reader users have to navigate through all the content then go back to the topto bid for the property.

Registration page – Primary applicants details

  • The dropdown text has additional stars (*) around the ‘please choose’ option whichare read out by a screen reader, eg “Title star combo box star star please choose starstar collapsed required entry”.•When a screen reader user tabs to the date of birth form elements the monthplaceholder text is read as “millimetre”.
  • When landing on the Primary applicants details page the user is automatically scrolledhalf way down the page resulting in unexpected behaviour (this occurs when the pageis refreshed).
  • Error messages appear underneath the input field meaning screen reader users areread out the error message after navigating through the input field.
  • After a screen reader user enters the postcode new content appears underneath witha list of addresses using that postcode however a screen reader is not notified of thenew content.
  • There is no alert to any errors if a screen reader user enters a postcode incorrectly.

My Account

  • Some of the information available for sighted users under the Social Housingapplication title is not available for screen reader users, meaning they are unable to access the same content.

My bids - My account

  • Screen reader users are not alerted of new content appearing when the “how towithdraw a bid” link is clicked.
  • When withdrawing a bid it is not possible to close the popup using a screen reader orthe keyboard on its own.

Miscellaneous issues

  • On some pages a screen reader user is autofocused on the first form element on thepage, forcing the user to interact with the form without any context, for example, onthe registration and login pages.
  • On some pages a user is autofocused on specific elements as they land on the page,for example, on the my account’ dashboard and my bids page.
  • Not all elements on the website that can receive focus have visible focus styling.
  • Where we ask for dates such as date of birth a user is auto focused into the next inputfield when they have entered enough digits. This stops a screen reader user fromreviewing what content they have entered.
  • Some forms have hints to help the user fill out the form however these are placedafter the input field. Screen reader users have to navigate to the input field, view thenext bit of text then navigate back to the input field to fill the field.
  • The text doesn’t reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browserwindow
  • Some parts of the website don’t have the correct minimum contrast of 4.5
  • The PDFs need to be checked for accessibility with screen reader software

What to do if you can't access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format you can contact us by phone on (0113) 222 4413, visit your Local Community Hubs or One Stop Centre or email ICTHousingBusinessChange@Leeds.gov.uk

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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 accessibility requirements, contact us by phone on (0113) 222 4413, visit your Local Community Hubs or One Stop Centre or email ICTHousingBusinessChange@Leeds.gov.uk

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

You can contact us by phone on (0113) 222 4413, visit your Local Community Hubs or One Stop Centre or email ICTHousingBusinessChange@Leeds.gov.uk

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Leeds City Council 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 not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-accessible sections are listed below.

Non accessible content

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

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

1.1.1 Non-text Content Some Text alternatives need changing as they convey the same meaning as the image, for example, ‘front view’ instead of ‘a 2 bed sem-detached property.

1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) There is no audio guide to explain the help videos

1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) There are no captions available on the help videos. The videos are media alternatives for text but are not clearly labelled as such.

1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) There is no audio available on the help videos. The videos are media alternatives for text but are not clearly labelled as such.

1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) There is no audio available on the help videos.

1.3.1 Info and Relationships On the social housing application headings are not in a hierarchal order and some radio buttons are not contained within a fieldset or have a legend. This is apparent on the Primary Applicant details page.

1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence The DOM order does not match the visual order. The Home, Info, Feature adverts navigation comes before the Property Search navigation on the front-end of the website. Users would also expect the dropdown for Property Search to be intractable straight after clicking on property search.

1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose Autocomplete not implemented on forms collecting personal information.

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) Error messaging on forms has red text above a salmon background which fails colour contract checkers. It currently sits at 4.17 and should be a minimum of 4.5

1.4.4 Resize text When page zoom is used to 200% the page then has two dimensional scroll and content is hidden off screen.

1.4.5 Images of Text On pages such as “new application” text is present on images.

1.4.10 Reflow When page zoom is used to 200% the page then has two dimensional scroll and content is hidden off screen.

1.4.11 Non-text Contrast Some icons do not have enough colour contrast (icons on property pages).

1.4.12 Text Spacing If a user increases Text Spacing the left hand navigation slightly breaks its layout. The line between elements drops down too far.

2.1.1 Keyboard On the Housing options self-assessment:

  • Next steps A popup appears after clicking “See more information about Private Rented and how it might be relevant to you”. As a keyboard only and screen reader user there is no way to close the popup. This issue applies to all popups that appear on the page.
  • Local connections As a keyboard only user and screen reader when trying to save my local connection it doesn’t do anything. It only seems to work with an actual mouse.
  • Required documents As a keyboard only user the button for “select one or more files to upload” receives no visual focus when I use my keyboard to navigate to the button.

2.1.1 Keyboard On the social housing application:

  • On the local connections form page as a screen reader user when trying to save local connections it doesn't do anything. It only works with the click of a mouse.

2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap On the Housing options self-assessment under 'Next steps' a popup appears after clicking 'See more' information about Private Rented and how it might be relevant to you. As a keyboard only and screen reader user there is no way to close the popup. This issue applies to all popups that appear on the page.

2.4.3 Focus Order Some pages autofocus out of sequence, for example, it would be expected behaviour for the next focusable item after clicking “Property search” in the header to be an element within the dropdown.

2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) Links on the page do not make sense when taken out of context.

2.4.5 Multiple Ways There is only one way to navigate to content. Inclusion of a Site Map would resolve this issue.

2.4.7 Focus Visible Not all elements on the website that can be focused actually receive a visual indication that they are focused. To resolve this issue would involve adding some sort of identifier (such as change of background colour, underline etc.) to focussed elements.

3.2.1 On Focus Some pages refresh with error messages which aren’t announced to screen reader users as they interact with the page they are unaware of the issues, for example, on the forgotten password page after entering an incorrect login reference.

3.3.1 Error Identification Enter an incorrect login reference and then click “reset,” the page refreshes with error messages. When the page refreshes your mouse is auto focused on the login reference input field with the error message appearing underneath the input field.

The screen reader user is unaware of why the form didn’t submit successfully as the error message is not read out when focused on the input field. The user has to interact with the input field then continue reading to find out what the error is, then navigate back up to find the input field I need to edit.

3.3.2 Labels or Instructions Help is positioned below or to the right of the input field, meaning the screen reader can only access this info after scrolling through forms.

3.3.3 Error Suggestion Errors are identified but the messaging does not provide 
suggestions on how to enter correct information.

3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data) It’s not possible to withdraw bid using screen reader / keyboard only. The final step is to submit without the opportunity to review, but the form is 20 pages so not practical. There is potential to add further explanatory text before submitting

4.1.1 Parsing Web page fails validation using w3 validator and there is duplicate ID use.

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value The PDFs need checking for accessibility. There are instances of tabs created using <ul> on the house listing page but they are not marked up with ARIA controls such as tablist, tab and tabpanel. The dropdown for Property Search has no ARIA controls and the status change is not alerted to screen readers. Links have been used as the basis for an interactive component but the dynamic content that shows is not announced to screen reader users.

4.1.3 Status Messages Where content is updated dynamically there should be a status message spoken by screen readers to alert to the new content. After successfully applying to reset password the page refreshes but the screen reader user is not made aware that the form has submitted correctly. They have to read through all the page content before finding out. This is also the case for Housing options self-assessment form confirmation page. On the local connections form page as a screen reader user after entering “Bram” for “Bramley” into the “start typing a location” screen reader users are not alerted to the options that are appearing.

Disproportionate burden

We are awaiting feedback from our developers to assess the costs of fixing the issues and will update this section of the accessibility statement once we have this information.

Navigation and accessing information

There's no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a skip to main content option). This doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks).

It's not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.4 (orientation).

It's not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping. This doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (resize text).

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard for the reasons above, including the dropdown text has additional stars (*) around the ‘please choose’ option which are read out by a screen reader, eg “Title star combo box star star please choose star star collapsed required entry” and when a screen reader user tabs to the date of birth form elements the month placeholder text is read as “millimetre

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

PDFs and other documents

We need to check our PDFs to see if they meet accessibility standards and will update this section of the accessibility statement once we have this information.

Live video

We don't post live video streams on the Leeds Homes website.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 12 and 13 August 2019. The test was carried out by Leeds City Councils Digital Access Team.

We tested our main website platform, available at www.leedshomes.org.uk. We used this approach to make sure all of the website was tested including the registration, logging in, password reset pages, registering a housing application, completing the social housing wizard and bidding for a home.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We will soon publish our accessibility roadmap showing how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.