How you can use this website

This statement covers the website www.thegazette.co.uk, the UK’s official public record. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. On The Gazette website, you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• 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
• use skip links that allow users to access the main content, skipping common structures such as special banners, titles and navigation.
• use the website even if JavaScript is switched off

How accessible this website is

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

We know that some parts of the website aren’t fully accessible:

• we have a large number of archive documents which are in PDF format and haven't been designed for accessibility
• some content is embedded in our website, such as infographics and videos and you cannot easily scale these on screen (but you can open a full screen version)
• a data interrogation tool (Flint SPARQL editor) is inaccessible
• our linked data API HTML view is not accessible
• live chat functionality is provided by an external service provider who comply with basic accessibility, further details can be found on their website. There is an accessible alternative if any issues arise, which is to contact us with your enquiry

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Issues with images

We are aware that some images do not have ‘alt’ text that fully describes the image which may limit screen readers from being able to announce to the user what the images signifies or is trying to convey. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). These images are primarily infographics on the pages:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100003

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100133

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100252

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/181

Issues with text and content

Some of our content is technical, and we use technical terms where easier wording is not possible. We aim to produce all new content and content which comes up through its review cycle in accordance with Government Design Principles. If you have issues with any of our content, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us.

Issues with zoom

The site is not optimised for mobile use meaning some users may face difficulties accessing information on a mobile device. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.10 (reflow). We are developing our website to ensure it is responsive for different size screens. We aim to deploy this functionality throughout 2023.

If you find the text on this site too small or too big, you can change it using your browser settings. The default size for most browsers is "100%". Below are links to instructions for changing the text size for some common browsers.

• Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Internet Explorer 11
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari

We would like to hear from you if you have had trouble with the text size on this website. Please tell us your operating system, for example "Windows 10"; your browser, for example "Internet Explorer 10" and your Internet Service Provider, for example "Virgin Media" or "BT". We would also like to know what size you have chosen as your browser text size, for example "medium".

This site allows the user to zoom in, however at some screen resolutions and zoom levels a user will have to use the horizontal scrollbar to read a full line of text. We are currently developing our website to ensure it is responsive for different size screens as well as increased zoom control. We aim to deploy this functionality throughout 2023.

Issues with Adobe® Acrobat® Portable Document Format (PDFs)

Some information published on The Gazette is contained within PDFs. In most instances, that information is primarily recorded in an alternative accessible format on site as notices. However, there are exceptions to this rule, outlined below:

• Company Law supplement – although there are accessible formats available via the company law extracts which can be found via company profiles
• Ministry of Defence supplement
• Queen’s Awards for Enterprise supplement
• Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service supplement
• Imperial Service Medal supplement
• Polar Medal supplement
• Extraordinary supplements e.g. announcing royal births
• Victoria Cross supplement
• Resignation/Dissolution Honours supplement
• Order of Wear supplement
• Civilian Gallantry List supplement

We have assessed the cost of converting these supplements into individual notices. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. Please contact us if you are experiencing difficulties accessing this content.

Our site contains content dating back to 1665 where paper copies of The Gazette have been scanned to provide an archive of the official public record. The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

People using screen-reading devices may be unable to read PDF documents directly until they have an accessibility plug-in installed on their system. This plug-in is often available for free (for example from Adobe) and your screen reader may do this automatically. Adobe also has online tools that will convert PDF files to HTML on request. To get the plug-in and latest news about Adobe’s accessibility tools and services, visit the Adobe Accessibility Resource Centre.

Issues with tools

The Gazette has a Flint SPARQL Editor 1.0.3, which provides users with an interface to access information contained within the official public record. It is not accessible, and the Flint SPARQL Editor cannot be made accessible.

The Linked Data website view does not meet WCAG 2.1 AA levels because of complexities describing the relationships between data in an accessible manner. This portion of the website is being reviewed during 2023 to improve accessibility.

Issues with links

We are aware that some on-site links open in new windows, potentially causing navigation issues for users. We are working to implement the use of an icon in order to better signpost users and aid understanding of website functionality. We are reviewing these issues and are aiming to fix these in line with the move to a responsive website throughout 2023.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Currently our site is not optimised for mobile use. We are developing our website to ensure it is responsive for different size screens. We aim to deploy this functionality throughout 2023.

Reporting accessibility problems

The Gazette is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

If you find any problems which aren't listed on this page, or think that we're not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, then please contact us.

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).

How we test this website

This website has been tested using manual and automated accessibility tests. Both types of testing are run against the W3C WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1. Test failures are reported to our development team and the issues are worked through on a priority basis.

During our ongoing development we review changes through a mix of manual review and testing with automated tools such as the WAVE Chrome browser extension, which applies a range of checks to the web page under test. We carry out manual testing by selecting a representative sample of web pages (typically between 10 and 20 pages) and check that they are compliant with the guidelines. Our testers also manually navigate around the pages and check that content is presented in a logical order.

We arranged for Sitemorse to conduct an automated scan of the website, focussing on the top-level pages. This allowed us to identify the most common breaches of the guidelines and prioritise our corrective actions. This website was last tested on 04 August 2020 with a further test due to take place in 2023.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 03 June 2020. It was last reviewed on 8 June 2023.