Accessibility
Accessibility statement for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass)
This accessibility statement applies to www.cafcass.gov.uk.
It does not apply to:
- Websites run by our partners or associated organisations
This website is run by the Cafcass Communications team. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means 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 Narrator, VoiceOver and Talkback.
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand. We will continue to review and update our content to make sure that it is:
- in plain English
- jargon free
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- Many documents are in PDF format and therefore may not be accessible by assistive technologies.
- In some instances, parts or all of the page cannot be accessed via keyboard
- In some instances, part of the page is not accessible to screen readers
- In some instances, colour contrast may need to be adjusted
- Some content is animated, and the animation cannot be paused
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:
Use the contact us form or
Call us on 0300 456 4000
We will acknowledge receipt of your request within seven days.
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, please:
Use the contact us form or
Call us on 0300 456 4000
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
Cafcass 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 and exemptions listed below.
Non-accessible content
We know some parts of this website are not yet AA accessible:
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations:
- Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
- Some pages are not written in plain English. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.5 (reading level)
- Some documents are not written in plain English. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.5 (reading level)
- Many of our pdf downloads do not work through a keyboard interface. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard interface)
- Some of our content moves and cannot be prevented from doing so. This doesn’t meet Success Criterion 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide.
- Some of our content does not meet the minimum contrast ratio. This doesn’t meet Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast.
- Some of our documents do not have a meaningful title. This doesn’t meet Success Criterion 2.4.2: Page Titled
We are working to fix these and any other accessibility issues. We will make our website fully compliant as soon as possible.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Some of our PDFs provide information to our service users. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and key information about how we work.
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.
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 in June and July 2021. It was last reviewed on 15 July 2021.
This website was last tested in June and July 2021. The testing was carried out by Connect Internet Solutions. We have carried out internal testing that has helped us to identify accessibility issues. Our own internal audit will be performed in September 2021. We plan to address as many accessibility issues as possible then.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We plan to run an audit identify all areas that do not meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. We will then develop a plan to address these issues.
Exemptions
Cafcass don’t provide any services the public can ask us for, we’re appointed to a case by the courts. Therefore we do not provide services on our website. We have strived to make all of our helpful content accessible, and where it is not, have listed these.