Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the North London Waste Authority website (www.nlwa.gov.uk).
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This means you should be able to:

Change colours and contrast levels using browser functionality
Zoom in up to 400 per cent without the text spilling off the screen on most pages
Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
Interact with most of the website using a screen reader (including recent versions of TalkBack, JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We also try to make the website text as simple as possible to understand.
If you have a disability, AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use.

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, you can contact us at:

Email: post@nlwa.gov.uk
Tel: 020 8489 5730

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: post@nlwa.gov.uk.

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

The North London Waste Authority is committed to making this 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

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The close button on notices does not receive keyboard focus meaning keyboard only users will be unable to dismiss them. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard)
Tooltips appear on hover but not on keyboard focus so keyboard users won’t be able to access this additional information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard)
The CAPTCHA error message does not receive keyboard focus when it appears, meaning screen reader users will be unaware of its presence. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus Order)
Some interactive components are missing a visible focus indicator making it difficult for sighted keyboard users to navigate the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible)
The ‘Skip to main content’ link does not work correctly so users have to tab through the whole header in order to reach the main content of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks)
Some content is lost when the page is zoomed to 400% and when text spacing is increased, so users with low vision may not be able to access this content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.10 (Reflow) and 1.4.12 (Text Spacing)
Text does not always have a sufficient contrast ratio with the background colour meaning users with colour blindness or low vision may not be able to read it. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum))
Icons and focus indicators do not always have sufficient contrast with the surrounding colours, so users with colour blindness or low vision may struggle to navigate these elements. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast)
Tooltips and the dropdown in the main navigation appear on hover and cannot be dismissed without moving the mouse pointer. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.13 (Content on Hover or Focus)
Links do not always accurately and concisely describe their purpose to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose)
Custom components are not implemented in a way that conveys their name or role which makes them difficult for assistive technology users to interact with. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)
Some buttons do not have an accessible name for screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)
Iframes have not been provided with titles to describe their purpose to screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)
Updates that occur within the page are not conveyed to screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (Status Messages)
HTML has not been written according to specification, causing inconsistent behaviour in assistive technologies. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing)
Autocomplete attributes haven’t been provided on personal information input fields. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 (Identify Input Purpose)
An audio description or media alternative has not been provided for video content so this information will be unavailable to users unable to see the video. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.2.3 and 1.2.5 (Audio Description or Media Alternative)
Carousel content moves automatically and cannot be paused. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide)
Labels are missing on some input fields. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
The ‘main’ ARIA landmark has not always been applied to the main content of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
Lists are not always marked up correctly in the HTML. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)

Headings

Text that acted as a heading was not always marked up as one. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
Headings do not always accurately describe the content that followed them. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels)

Images

Alternative text has been provided on some images that should be ignored by assistive technology. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content)
Some images are missing alt attributes on <img> tags which some screen readers to announce the image file name. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content)
Alternative text has not always been implemented correctly according to HTML specifications so this information is not always conveyed to screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content)

PDFs

Some PDFs are not tagged meaning they lack the required structure or semantics for assistive technology to convey to users (1.3.1 Information and Relationships, 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value)
Several links are not keyboard operable (2.1.1 Keyboard)
Focus order was not logical and was inconsistent with visual order of information (2.4.3 Focus Order)
It is not possible to reflow some documents as they have not been tagged (1.4.10 Reflow)
Text fell below the minimum contrast ratio required (1.4.3 Contrast Minimum Large Text)
Alternative text is missing for images conveying information (1.1.1 Non-Text Content)
An accessible name has not been provided for image and icon links in some PDFs (2.4.4 Link Purpose)
No title has been provided for some PDFs (2.4.2 Page Titled)
The document language has not been provided for some PDFs (3.1.1 Language of Page)

Content that's not within the scope of the applicable legislation

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs do not meet accessibility standards. 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. We do have plans to remove or replace some of the PDFs with more accessible content alternatives.

Videos

Some of our older videos do not meet accessibility standards because they do not have captions. The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix videos published before 23 September 2020. We are actively working to add captions to the most popular older videos.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 30 September 2021.

This website was last tested on 29 September 2021 by Nomensa, who performed an expert evaluation of 15 pages against all level A and AA success criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. Content was selected to ensure a good representation of different pages, templates and components were tested as well as key content and user journeys.

You can read the full report here.

This website's accessibility will be reviewed on a regular basis. We will update this accessibility statement with any relevant changes.