Accessibility statement for Genealogy Northern Ireland (GENI)

Accessibility statement

This service is part of the wider nidirect website. There’s a separate accessibility statement for the main nidirect website.

This page only contains information about the nidirect Genealogy Northern Ireland.

This statement applies to the Genealogy Northern Ireland web based application accessible via the www.nidirect.gov.uk website.

This application is run by the Department of Finance.   It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. When accessing the app through the web browser, you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 300 per cent without problems
• navigate most of the application using just a keyboard
• navigate most of the application using speech recognition software
• use most of the application using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and Voice Over)

How accessible this web application is

Parts of this web application are not fully accessible. For example:

• logo images have alt text; however the text used could be more meaningful to improve understandability
• none of the pages audited on the site were found to have a landmark
• on the landing page whilst the links within lists on the landing page are only distinguished by colour from normal text, they do exist in their own grouping, and do not exist in between other surrounding text
• there are a number of examples throughout the service where the text is not of high enough contrast against the background colour making it difficult to read, especially for those with visual impairments
• on all pages the external icon does not have at least 3:1 contrast for the entire shape, which means its meaning could be lost
• when a tooltip is activated by keyboard the help information is not read out to the user, and they can't access it with arrow keys as it's not directly adjacent to the activating element in the DOM
• on all pages there is no skip link on any page that will allow users to skip repeated navigation across web pages
• on all pages the credit balance is a component that cannot be interacted with, but it has a tabindex of 0 applied. Ideally, non-interactive components should not be in the tab order of the page
• the three tooltips on the left-hand side of the form do not have distinct links

Feedback and contact information

If you need information in a different format contact us by calling the nidirect  Contact centre who handle calls on behalf of the General Register Officer NI on 0300 2007890 or by emailing at gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk  and advise of:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your name and email address
• the format you need, for example, audio CD, braille, BSL or large print, accessible PDF

Reporting accessibility problems with this web application

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this web application. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements contact us on 0300 2007890 or email at gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk  and we will investigate.

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 we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Technical information about this web application accessibility

nidirect is committed to making its website and apps accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance Status

The nidirect Genealogy Northern Ireland (GENI) service does not meet WCAG 2.1 A or AA as a whole.

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

We are currently working towards developing a timeline of when we plan to fix these issues and this will be updated when available.

Perceivable

Level A - 1.1.1 Non Text Content. On all pages Logo images have alt text; however the text used could be more meaningful to improve understandability.

Level A - 1.3.1 Info and relationships. On all pages, none of the pages audited on the site were found to have a landmark. This can help users of assistive technology navigate a page by identifying which content block has the “main” content within it. Add a tag to identity which is the main content.

Level A - 1.4.1 Use of Colour.  Whilst the links within lists on the landing page are only distinguished by colour from normal text, they do exist in their own grouping, and do not exist in between other surrounding text.

Level AA - 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum).  There are a number of examples throughout the service where the text is not of high enough contrast against the background colour making it difficult to read, especially for those with visual impairments.

Level AA - 1.4.11 Non-text contrast (added in WCAG 2.1). On all pages the external icon does not have at least 3:1 contrast for the entire shape, which means its meaning could be lost.

Operable

Level A - 2.1.1 Keyboard. When a tooltip is activated by keyboard the help information is not read out to the user, and they can't access it with arrow keys as it's not directly adjacent to the activating element in the DOM. The tooltip should be a direct sibling of the activating control so it can be accessed

Level A - 2.4.1 Bypass blocks.  On all pages there is no skip link on any page that will allow users to skip repeated navigation across web pages.

Level A - 2.4.3 Focus Order. On all pages the credit balance is a component that cannot be interacted with, but it has a tabindex of 0 applied. Ideally, non-interactive components should not be in the tab order of the page.

Level A - 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context). The three tooltips on the left-hand side of the form do not have distinct links. This is not the case for the right-hand side links, where they do have distinct links.

Level A (Added in WCAG 2.1) 2.5.3 Label in name. Each <h1> in the basket list has an aria-label that replaces the text, so screen reader users do not actually access the visible heading.

Understandable

Level A - 3.3.1 Error identification. If an input error is automatically detected, the item that is in error is identified and the error is described to the user in text.

Level A - 3.3.2 Labels or instructions. Labels or instructions are provided when content requires user input.

Level AA - 3.3.3 Error suggestion. If an input error is automatically detected and suggestions for correction are known, then the suggestions are provided to the user, unless it would jeopardize the security or purpose of the content.

Robust

Level A 4.1.2 - Name, role, value. For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to these items is available to user agents, including assistive technologies.

Level AA (Added in WCAG 2.1) 4.1.3 Status messages.  In content implemented using markup languages, status messages can be programmatically determined through role or properties such that they can be presented to the user by assistive technologies without receiving focus.

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

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

As a web application published before 23 September 2018, we are required to comply with the web accessibility regulations from 23 September 2020.

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 we publish will meet the required accessibility standards.

How we tested this web application

This web application was and is currently being tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA, and these tests have been carried out externally and independently.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are currently working towards developing a timeline of when we plan to fix these issues and this will be made available once completed.   

This statement was prepared on 31 August 2022. It was last updated on 31 August 2022.