This page explains how accessible the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) website is and what is being done to improve accessibility.
Accessibility statement
This statement applies to content published on the www.nisra.gov.uk domain.
This website is run by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:
- zoom in up to 300% without problems
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
How accessible this website is
Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
- some tables do not have row or column headers
- some pages and elements have poor colour contrast
- some heading elements are not consistent
- some images and icons do not have good alternative text
- some complex images do not have sufficient descriptions
- some video content does not have a text alternative
- many documents are in PDF and MS Office formats and are not accessible
How to request content in an accessible format
If you need content on the NISRA website in a different format email info@nisra.gov.uk and advise:
- the web address (URL) of the content
- your name and email address
- the format you require, for example audio CD, braille, BSL or large print or accessible PDF
We will consider your request and get back to you within 5 working days of receipt.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
NISRA is always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think the site is not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us by:
Email: info@nisra.gov.uk
Enforcement procedure
The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’) in Northern Ireland.
If you’re not happy with how NISRA respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
NISRA 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 the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
The content that is not accessible is outlined below with details of:
- the accessibility problem(s)
- where it fails the success criteria, and
- when NISRA plan to fix it.
Developer issues
A number of accessibility issues are related to the underlying Drupal content management system (CMS) and will require developer and web design input.
These include but not limited to the following:
- colour contrast interface elements (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11)
- some elements have insufficient colour contrast (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.3)
- accessible names in some instances don’t match visible labels (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.5.3)
- elements use colour to convey meaning which is not accessible to assistive technologies or users with low vision (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.4.1)
- there are some instances where focus state was not visible throughout the site (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 2.4.7)
- dynamic content inaccessible to keyboard users (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.1.1)
- inconsistent structure and layout of website (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 3.2.3)
Our underlying content management system is planned for upgrade early 2024. It is our intention to address these issues during that upgrade which is expected to be completed by June 2024.
Page Structure
There are a number of pages which:
- do not use a consistent or appropriate use of headings. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- have a missing language attribute. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 3.1.1 (language of page). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- may not be adequately structured. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- have interactive content that is not marked up correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.13. We plan to repair these pages within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- do not warn the user they are about to open in a new window, download a pdf, or an excel spreadsheet. Some links to internal pages do always open in the same window and some pages include broken or empty links. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.4 (link purpose (in context)) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 3.2.2 (on input). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- have warnings and errors within the source code. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 4.1.1 (parsing). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
Documents
Some documents are non-accessible for a number of reasons which may result in a loss of meaning for users of screen readers or present issues for users with moderately low vision. For example, some documents:
- do not have a language attribute set. This is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level A, 3.1.1 (language of page)
- have incorrectly tagged headings and document titles. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.2 (page titled) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
- have areas of insufficient colour contrast or have used colour to convey meaning but do not also have a text alternative. This is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)), WCAG 2.1, Level AA 1.4.11 (non-text contrast) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.4.1 (use of colour)
- do not have a correct reading order. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence)
- do not have alternative text for images. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.1.1 (non-text content)
- use images for text. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.5 (images of text)
- have tables, charts and figures which are not marked up correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.1.1 (non-text content)
- have links not marked up correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and WCAG 2.1, Level A , 2.4.4 (link purpose in context) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.4.1 (use of colour)
- have missing bookmarks. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.5 (multiple ways)
- are not responsive when page zoom is enabled and set to 400 per cent - this is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.10
- have merged cells within some spreadsheets. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
It is planned to repair some docments within the next 6 months, by June 2024, however some historical documents fall under the disproportionate burden section – see below.
Any new PDFs or other documents we publish will meet the required accessibility standards.
If you require one of our non-accessible documents please see the How to Request an Accessible Document section above.
Images and Video
- some images do not have a text alternative (alt text), and some decorative images are not marked up correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to repair this within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- a small number of complex images and charts do not convey meaningful information and cannot be described in a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.1.1 (non-text content) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships). We plan to repair this within the next 12 months, next 6 months, by June 2024.
- the colour used in some graphs and charts do not have sufficient colour contrast against the background. This fails WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.4.1 (use of colour) and WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)). We plan to repair this within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- some images include text which do not have sufficient contrast against the background. This fails WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.4.1 (use of colour) and WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)). We plan to repair this within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- a small number of pages have embedded video content without text alternatives, closed captions or audio descriptions. This may prevent users from adapting the material through any sensory modality (for example, visual, auditory or tactile) to match their needs. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.2.1 (audio-only and video-only (pre-recorded)), WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.2.2 (captions (pre-recorded)), WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.2.3 (audio description or media alternative (pre-recorded)) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.2.5 (audio description (pre-recorded)). We plan to repair this within the next 6 months, by June 2024.
- some gifs have no control for the user to pause, stop or hide the gifs. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.2.2 (pause, stop, hide). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6, by June 2024.
Tables
- a small number of pages have tables which do not have row or column headers, restrict orientation, are not responsive and are non-accessible. This fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships), WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.3.4 (Orientation). We plan to repair these pages within the next 6, by June 2024.
Disproportionate burden
Having carried out a detailed check of nisra.gov.uk, we've assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the No. 2 Regulations to fix all older PDFs published since 23 September 2018.
The website contains over 700 pdf documents which fall into this category. The majority of these are statistical reports which contain tables and charts that are very time consuming to make fully accessible. Most of these reports have been and will again be superseded by newer versions over the next 12 months. As such many haven’t been viewed over the last year, therefore are not negatively impacting users with disabilities or impairments. For this reason we don’t believe the cost of time, effort and resource to fix all the historical documents published since September 2018 is justified and would be a disproportionate burden.
It is our intention to work towards ensuring the newer version of the reports are fully accessible.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
As a website published before 23 September 2018, we are required to comply with the web accessibility regulations from 23 September 2020.
However, some of our content is exempt from the accessibility regulations:
- pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
- heritage collections
- PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 - unless required for the use of a service, for example a form
- maps
- third party content that is not within our control, for example, embedded video players like Vimeo or YouTube, and embedded Google Maps.
PDFs and other documents
Many documents are non-accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure.
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.
Any new PDFs or other documents nidirect publishes will meet the required accessibility standards.
How we tested this website
This website was and is currently being tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA, and Microsoft accessibility guidelines. These tests have been carried out externally and independently.
NISRA used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test, as well as selecting specialised pages on our website, including interactive content, and excel spreadsheets.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Maintaining an accessible site is an ongoing proces and NISRA is continually working to offer an accessible and user friendly experience.
We are:
- continuing to train and provide support to our staff to create accessible documents
- checking new documents uploaded are in line with accessibility regulations
- running our own accessibility checks bi-annually and targeting any issues found.
We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.
This statement was prepared on 21 September 2020. It was last updated on 28 December 2023.