1. Victoria Forms Bulletin – Accessibility Update (Housing Benefit claim forms)
13/08/2020
The Government’s new Accessibility Requirements for Public Sector Websites and Apps, require public sector websites, to follow best practice for accessibility. There is a compliance deadline of 23rd September 2020.
Accessibility has always been a priority for Victoria Forms when it comes to our forms, and our current systems already offer several accessibility features.
Our Development Team have been working hard to provide an improved experience for all users of our forms, and to ensure we meet or exceed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA Standard that is required. Accessibility is at the forefront of development for all products.
An update will be applied to existing systems over the coming weeks to ensure all systems are in line with the latest guidelines. We will be updating custom features, specific to individual customers, where required.
Below is a brief summary of our Accessibility features:
- Content is structured logically and can be navigated and read by a screen reader –we have made improvements for a more streamlined experience.
- Correct contrast is used for all Buttons and Form Controls. A ‘skip to content’ link is provided.
- Descriptive titles are used for pages and frames.
- Descriptive links are used so users know where a link will take them.
- Meaningful headings and labels are used, and any accessible labels match or closely resemble the label used in the interface.
- Keyboard users can easily see the item their keyboard or assistive technology is currently focused on - this is known as ‘active focus’.
- Important status messages or modal dialogs are marked up in a way that informs the user of their presence and purpose, and lets users interact with them using their assistive technology.
- All Pop-Up boxes (such as ‘Save’ & ‘Create PDF’) can be closed using the keyboard or mouse. The focus will remain on the button that was clicked once the pop up is closed.
- All forms will remain on the relevant page, even if the last field on the page is tabbed away from.
- Navigation buttons will remain at a sensible ratio even when forms reach large zoom values, to ensure they do not partially block the screen.
- Content reflows to a single column when it is increased by 400%.
- For information only pages, a hidden field is included at the start