Open Objects - accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Local Kent Directory, run by Kent County Council using the IDOX Directory (formerly Open Objects platform).

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

Email digitalaccessibility@kent.gov.uk if you have an accessibility query including:

• If you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
• If you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
• If you 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

Once 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 this 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 (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

We will 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 (WCAG) version 2.1 AA standards.

Some parts of the website may not work for everyone. Below we list any known issues that we either need to fix, cannot fix, or do not need to fix right now.

As Open Objects is a third party platform, we will work with the provider to fix all issues.

If you find something that does not work that we missed, remember to contact us.

Missing focus indicator

1. Checkbox elements in the sidebar lists do not have a visible focus indicator when navigating using keyboard controls.

An empty heading located in the side bar has been implemented as a heading 3 element.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 2.4.7.

2. HTML markup errors

a. Missing tags

When using the search functionality, information presented in a list format has elements that are not contained using tags in HTML.

Both 'dd' and 'dt' elements are not enclosed using a 'dl' tag. This issue also occurs on the shortlist page, when searches are added to the shortlist.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.1.

b. Empty heading 1 tag

When searching by Keyword or Location using search functionality, a H1 heading level is empty, located just above the 'search' section.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 4.1.2.

c. Missing heading levels

When search results are saved and added to the shortlist page, the structure of the page skips a heading level.

Heading level moves from H1 to H3, skipping heading level H2.

The 'Help with searching' page also skips heading level H2, structured using H1 and skips to H3.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.1.

3. Forms

a. Missing form labels

Across all pages, two form control elements located in the 'Search' section of the page do not have programmatically associated labels; form control boxes for both 'Keywords' and 'Location'.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.1 or WCAG guideline 4.1.2.

b. Required fields

Form control elements do not have either a text label or asterisk icon to show whether the fields are required.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 3.3.2.

4. Insufficient colour contrast

Some text based web content does not meet the minimum colour contrast ratio of 4.5:1.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.3.

Some non-text content does not meet the minimum colour contrast ratio of 3:1.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.11.

5. Insufficient alt-text

Some alt-text is insufficient in description, other images are marked as decorative when they require alt-text, and some images have filenames as alt-text.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.1.1.

6. Viewing with cascading style sheets (CSS) disabled

When CSS is disabled in the web browser, a button does not have any text in and visually is hard to understand its purpose. Individual directory pages has a duplicate 'Location' box where its functionality is unclear as to if it requires user input.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.3.2.

7. Illogical order of elements

A tabindex greater than zero has been used on form control elements. When navigating using keyboard controls, the focus order does not follow a reading order. Focus moves from top of the page, through links in the main content, then to the footer of the page, and finally focus moves to the form control boxes.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 2.4.3.

8. Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

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

Some of our PDFs that are not essential to providing our services were published before 23 September 2018. Any new PDFs or documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

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 third party to improve its accessibility. This may include:

• Links to non-KCC websites
• Content or functionality on our website that we do not control, develop, or fund
• Content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 28 September 2020.

Our last audit was completed on 25 September by Kent County Council.