Accessibility

Accessibility statement for Kent Fire and Rescue Service

This accessibility statement applies to https://www.kent.fire-uk.org

This is the website of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS). We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. To do this you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand by:

  • using simple content (plain English and with minimal public sector or fire and rescue service terminology)
  • Updating our most recent PDFs to HTML reports
  • minimising use of images and where these are needed, to have meaningful captions
  • ensuring alerts (pop up messages) do not adversely interfere with a user requiring keyboard control or screen reading software
  • no use of Captcha unless there is a compelling reason to

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • some PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software, but HTML versions are provided whenever possible if not part of our disproportionate burden claim

We are working towards reducing the number of PDF documents and making as many as possible available on the website itself in HTML format or as online forms.

Recently fixed compliance issues

Following our Government Digital Service compliance audit on 17 June 2024, we worked with our suppliers Civic Computing and Recite Me to resolve them as follows:

WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow: Pop-up elements having inaccessible buttons and instructional elements having content obscured at high levels of zoom - fixed by Recite Me on 12 August 2024 and 4 September 2024, respectively.

WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order: Changes were made to the code for the Recite Me toolbar to ensure the tabbing order is correct - fixed on 4 September 2024.

WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text: Some images may contain text, but accessible descriptions are added to non-decorative images or explanatory text with changes made to our content creation workflow to avoid this scenario in future.

WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum): Some issues with colour contrast on various buttons and toggles were identified and fixed by Civic Computing in August 2024 with deployment scheduled by the end of September 2024 as part of a larger package of improvements to user interface elements.

WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships and WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: Some issues with ARIA labelling on form elements fixed by Civic Computing in July 2024.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 7 working days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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, contact: feedback@kent.fire-uk.org.

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

If you need information on this website provided in a different format or you have found inaccessible content not on this list please email feedback@kent.fire-uk.org and we will get back to you within 72 hours.

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

KFRS 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

WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow: Issues were found with the Recite Me toolbar requiring horizontal scrolling to access all options at high levels of zoom, while the bulk of the content required vertical scrolling. The horizontal scrolling has been removed, however Recite Me plans to improve the presentation of UI elements for the accessibility toolbar at higher levels of zoom in due course.

Disproportionate burden

Publishing of some documents and reports in an accessible format

Currently, the documents that it is not possible to routinely convert to accessible HTML format include:

This is due to the nature of the content being either prohibitively lengthy or presenting complex financial information or performance data which we do not have the resource to convert.

A disproportionate burden assessment has been completed and submitted to the Government Digital Service for review within 12 weeks of the audit on 17 June 2024.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. 

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 Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards, or be presented alongside an accessible HTML version, unless covered by disproportionate burden.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on Monday 1 November 2021. It was last reviewed on Thursday 3 October 2024.

This website was last tested in April 2024 by Smarter Digital Services Ltd. Our content management system includes the Editorially tool which helps to identify common content-related accessibility issues during the content creation process that can then be fixed prior to publication by the author.

Annual automated testing and reporting is provided by our service provider Civic Computing Limited, with reporting on use of the Recite Me accessibility toolbar provided monthly by Recite Me.