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Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for www.optical.org as per Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

This accessibility statement applies to www.optical.org. 

This website is run by the General Optical Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the website using most of the screen readers.

How accessible is this website?

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

  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • some documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
  • live video streams do not have captions.

Feedback and contact information

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

We will consider your request and get back to you in 21 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, contact:

The Communications Team
10 Old Bailey
London
EC4M 7NG
email communications@optical.org  or call 02075803898

When contact us please tell us:

In your message, include:

  • the date and time of the issue
  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your email address and name
  • the format you need the information provided in

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 General Optical Council 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

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

PDFs and other documents

Many documents, particularly documents that were published before 2018, are not accessible in a number of ways, including missing text alternatives and missing document and table structure.

Some of our documents have diagrams with no text alternative. The information in these diagrams is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We do not plan to add text alternatives for all diagrams.

Some of our documents have diagrams that do not meet the colour contrast ratio of at least 3:1. These diagrams may be difficult to see, or completely missed, by people with a visual impairment. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.11 (non-text contrast). We do not plan to fix our diagrams to meet colour contrast requirements.

Some of our documents have diagrams that use colour as the only means of conveying information. The information in these diagrams may not be perceived by users with colour vision deficiencies. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (use of colour).

Some of our forms do not have page functionality available for using a keyboard. This content cannot be operated through a keyboard or keyboard interface. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard).

Some of our documents are published in an unstructured PDF. Headings, list items and paragraphs may not be recognised by a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

Some of our spreadsheets may not be clearly structured with labelled tables, and labelled headings. Column headings may be blank. Workbook tabs may not have a clear title. This does not meet success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

Some of our documents are published using tables to lay out text in columns on the page. This often hides content from the navigation pane or table of contents. This does not meet success criterion 2.4.6 (headings and labels) or success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).

We plan to address the issues highlighted above as part of a wider document review project.  in 2021/22.

Images

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).

Navigation and accessing information

There’s no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a ‘skip to main content’ option).

It’s not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.

It’s not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a ‘label’ tag.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal, likely to be in [rough timing].

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

MyGOC and MyCET / MyCPD are not within the scope of this accessibility statement.

PDFs and other documents

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services.

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 12 May 2021. It was last reviewed on 5 July 2023.

This website was last tested on April 2021. The test was carried out by CTI Digital.