This accessibility statement applies to the website www.bucksfire.gov.uk, which is run by Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service.
Our aim is for as many people as possible to be able to use this website.
For example, that means you should be able to:
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. for example:
We have an accessibility roadmap – a list of tasks we are working through to improve accessibility.
For the full list, (and to see which completed tasks are subject to checking), see our ‘What we’re doing to improve accessibility‘ section.
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, you can contact us in a number of ways:
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).
You can contact us:
Buckinghamshire Fire & 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.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:
Most older PDF documents (up until September 2024) are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
“Information in tables must be shown in a way that maintains the relationships between the data even when a user cannot see the table.
Assistive technologies like screen readers rely on correct markup within a table to understand and show the correct information to a user.
Tables in PDF documents should be tagged to give information such as row and column titles.”
“People with sight loss may not see an image clearly on a page.
You need to use a text alternative to share the information.
The alternative text must describe the information or function represented by the image.
Screen readers can share the alternative text with the user.
In PDF documents you must ensure that images are tagged correctly with alternative text.”
Many of the PDFs on our website are provided by partner agencies or produced by various content creators. Due to the large number of contributors, the variety of content sources, and the fact that we do not have the internal skill set to ensure all PDFs meet WCAG 2.5 standards, it is not feasible for us to make all older PDFs fully accessible. We are also required by law to make certain documents and data publicly available, which may necessitate the use of non-accessible formats such as PDFs.
We are aware that most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software. Due to the volume and complexity of these documents, we are currently unable to identify the specific WCAG errors each PDF may have. Our sample review revealed erratic errors and a large volume of issues.
To address this, we are working with external developers to create a fully accessible HTML template. This will provide a more accessible alternative to PDFs and ensure that new content meets accessibility requirements.
We expect to have this solution implemented by January 2025.
From September 2024 to January 2025, new PDFs added to our website will meet accessibility requirements wherever possible. Starting in January 2025, HTML pages will be offered as an alternative to PDFs, and we will continue to minimise the use of PDFs.
We are committed to balancing the legal obligation to make our data publicly available with the need to improve accessibility for all users. Given our current resource limitations and lack of internal skills in accessibility, we are focusing on long-term solutions. In the meantime, if you need any specific document in an accessible format, please contact us, and we will do our best to provide the content in a suitable alternative format.
Hamburger menu cannot be easily accessed
“Users should be able to use a keyboard to access all content and functionality of a web page. This means the page can be used by people with no vision as well as people who use alternative keyboards or input devices that act as a keyboard.”
We are aware that at 200 per cent zoom and higher, the hamburger menu on our website may be difficult to access using the keyboard due to automatic accessibility adjustments made for keyboard users. This issue is specifically encountered when using our accessible integration, AccessiBee, which provides many other valuable benefits.
Although the menu appears but does not persist when selected using the keyboard, we have reported this issue to AccessiBee and are working with them to resolve it. We expect a solution to be implemented by 31 October 2024.
ESC button does not close the menus when they automatically open
We are working with our website provider to ensure the ESC button closes menus when they automatically open across the site. We expect a solution to be implemented by 31 October 2024.
Links do not have sufficient colour contrast when the mouse hovers over the link ‘Accept all’
We are working with our website provider to ensure there is sufficient colour contrast when the mouse hovers over the link Accept All in the consent preferences. We expect a solution to be implemented by 31 October 2024.
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 Fire Authority papers for meetings which took place before 23 September 2018.
We are committed to balancing the legal obligation to make our data publicly available with the need to improve accessibility for all users and therefore focusing on long-term solutions. In the meantime, if you need any specific document in an accessible format, please contact us, and we will do our best to provide the content in a suitable alternative format.
We have compiled an accessibility roadmap which shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.
This statement was prepared on 13 September 2024 following an audit in July 2024 by Government Digital Services, and a subsequent assessment by our website development company, Weaving Webs ltd.
This website was last tested on 13 September 2024. The test was carried out on our behalf by Weaving Webs ltd.
This statement was last reviewed on 30 September 2024.
You can read the full accessibility test report and issues identified during alongside our roadmap for fixing them, within our accessibility roadmap.
