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Accessibility

Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to rbfrs.co.uk, which is run by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS). We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. You should be able to:

  • Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • 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.

Our approach to carrying out accessibility checks

We’ve decided to use a combination of methods for our organisation, as set out in the GOV.UK guidance on deciding how to check your websites and in compliance with the No. 2 Regulations.

We’ve completed a basic accessibility check on the RBFRS website. The process for this included:

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

We carry out accessibility checks on assets uploaded to our website regularly. Any issues identified are resolved and guidance is provided.

How accessible this website is

To improve usability and accessibility, our website contains a Site Map, which provides a structure of the site for users to easily navigate.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

Some areas of the website may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard or screen reader software. The issues are specified in full in the ‘Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations’ section.

  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software – beyond September 2018.
  • Live video streams do not have captions.
  • Some video content that was published before 23 September 2020 does not contain captions or provide a transcript.
  • Third party content.

Mobile Apps

Accessibility regulations apply in the same way for public sector mobile apps as they do for websites. The deadline for meeting them was 23 June 2021.

Our Service does not own any publicly available mobile apps at this time but has performed accessibility testing on its website using mobile devices.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF or large print:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

If you would like directions to one of our sites, call or email us at reception@rbfrs.co.uk or call 0118 945 2888.

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, please contact: communications@rbfrs.co.uk or call 0118 938 4556.

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

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service 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 details listed in the non-compliance with the accessibility regulations. We strive to sustain Level AA standard.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Accessibility checks have been performed throughout the website with the majority of content issues fixed. We strive to achieve and maintain WCAG 2.1 AA standards, but it is not always possible for all our content to be accessible.

The following areas have been identified:

  • Keyboard and Focus visible: At 200% zoom and more, the hamburger menu is not accessible using the keyboard. The keyboard focus is not visible to open the hamburger menu.  The links next to the menu also cannot be accessed using the keyboard, this includes the Select Language button (at the top of the webpage). The supplier of our website is currently addressing this issue and a further update will be provided in due course. We aim to have this fixed by the end of January 2023 (update as of 9 December 2022).
  • Our current branding includes white text on a red background, as part of our current brand. We will consider other colour options in the future to make this more accessible while retaining our familiar fire service brand.
  • Content on our Committee pages is published through software provided by Civica Modern.Gov. As yet, the ModernGov software is not able to create fully accessible PDF documents automatically. This means that they may not be read by a screen reader, even if our document templates have been made accessible. To address this issue, we have implemented manual remediation of the PDF documents following publication through the ModernGov software to improve accessibility. Documents published on our Committee pages created before September 2018 do not need to be made accessible. However, the agenda packs from 26 meetings held between September 2018 and September 2020 may not fully meet accessibility requirements. We aim to have this issue addressed by the end of March 2023. If you need this information in a more accessible format, please contact us and tell us which document(s) you would like to access, as well as your name and email address.
  • Modern.Gov uses the jQuery-ui date picker control for the date boxes across the system. Currently, there is not an accessible version of this control but it is detailed on the third-party developer’s future roadmap. This control does not affect the usability of the pages; however, it may show up on accessibility checks. Modern.Gov intends to update this control as soon as a new version is available, as they have with other third-party libraries they have used.

Disproportionate burden

  • Not applicable.

Content that is 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.

Following a detailed review of our website, conducted in July and August 2020, we have improved the accessibility of all assets and pages published after 23 September 2018 or if they are essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Migration to a new website

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service moved to a new website provider in October 2022. Accessibility was a key requirement of this project and a number of improvements were made, including a more accessible news carousel and a more accessible top-level menu. The Service is committed to providing content in an accessible format on the website.

Visual elements

We are committed to providing alternate text for visual elements that cannot be read by a screen reader (images, diagrams, graphs, and other charts). While every effort has been made to add appropriate alternate text, we recognise that we can improve the user experience further by ensuring that the use of non-readable diagrams, charts, and other graphs is kept to a minimum. 

Video content

All video content published on the website and on RBFRS’s social media channels following 23 September 2020 will contain captions and/or transcripts.

Captions or transcripts for video recordings of meetings of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority will be added within five working days. 

Easy Read documents

We intend to publish Easy Read versions of important documents, which use short sentences and pictures that support these words.

Interactive forms

We have improved the accessibility of forms that are essential for accessing our services, for example, referral forms to request a Safe and Well Visit. If you require a particular form in a more accessible format, please contact us.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 2 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 17 November 2022.

This website was last tested against the basic accessibility regulations when it was created on 13 October 2022.

An accessibility audit will be carried out on this website on an annual basis, using automated tools such as Axe and Wave, as well as manual testing using NVDA software. The next scheduled audit will take place in September 2023.