Ask a Kent Librarian online chat - accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Ask a Kent Librarian online chat run by Kent County Council.

The content on this website is designed for everyone to find, read, and understand. It is compatible with assistive technologies and developed to meet the accessibility standards outlined in this statement.

View the site your way

There are a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively.

AbilityNet provide advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Feedback and contact information

Contact us if you have an accessibility query including if you:

• are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
• find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
• have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made.

When you contact us there is a process in place that will acknowledge your contact, tell you who is dealing with it and give you a timescale by which you can expect a reply.

Alternative formats

If you need information in an alternative format, such as braille or a language other than English, contact us:

An English-speaker will take details of what you need and arrange a translation or interpreting service for you.

We may not be able to meet your requirements immediately, but we will try to provide an interpreter (or translation service) to help you as quickly as possible.

Complaints process

If you have reported a problem with our website or asked for an alternative format, but you are not happy with our response, you can use our complaints process to register your difficulty. This helps us improve our systems.

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).

Technical information about the website's accessibility

Kent County Council is committed to making this 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-accessible content

We formally test the accessibility of key user journeys that represent the breadth of content across our website on a regular basis against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standards.

If you find something that does not work that we missed, remember to email libraries@kent.gov.uk.

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This section covers issues that we need to fix and are working to do so.

1. Web languages

There is no top-level heading (<h1>) defined on all pages. This is non-compliant with WCAG guideline 2.1: 1.3.1, 2.4.2.

Landmarks are not present, this includes a missing #main landmark (WCAG 2.1: 1.3.1, 4.1.2)

There is no HTML lang attribute on this page (WCAG 2.1: 3.1.1)

We are working to fix the above web language issues by February 2023.

2. Website design

Although there are focus indicators present, these are often not clearly visible due to the styling (WCAG 2.1: 2.4.7)

There is no focus indicator for the text box to enter a message in the chat (WCAG 2.1: 2.4.7)

There are links that are not underlined, making it difficult to distinguish from the main body of text (WCAG 2.1: 1.4.1)

When CSS is removed, there are some elements that are not displayed in a meaningful way. This includes buttons that are not presented when CSS is enabled (WCAG 2.1: 1.3.2)

We are working to fix the above website design issues by February 2023.

3. Interactive element

There are hoverable labels for buttons that cannot be hovered over using a mouse pointer, as these disappear once removed from the button (WCAG 2.1: 1.4.13)

We are working to fix the above interactive content issues by February 2023.

4. Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

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

This section covers issues that we do not need to fix right now.

Third party content

Our website contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we make best endeavours to work with the 3^rd party to improve its accessibility. This may include:

• Links to non-KCC websites
• Content/functionality on our website
• Content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites.

Some of our third party partners publish their own accessibility statements.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 24 March 2022 and last updated 28 November 2024.

This website was last tested on 25 February 2022. The test was carried out internally by Kent County Council.