This statement applies to content published on the https://www.etini.gov.uk/ domain. It does not apply to content on etini.gov.uk subdomains and third party domains hosting ETI services.
This content on this website is managed by the ETI. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:
- zoom in up to 300% without problems;
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard;
- navigate most of the website using speech recognition software; and
- use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).
How accessible this website is
Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- some pages and document attachments are not as clearly written as they could be;
- some pages and elements have poor colour contrast;
- some heading elements are not consistent enough;
- some images and icons do not have good alternative text; and
- many documents are in PDF and MS Office formats and are not fully accessible.
How to request content in an accessible format
If you need information in a different format contact us by email us at eti@education-ni.gov.uk and tell us:
- the web address (URL) of the content;
- your name and email address; and
- the format you require.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us by email at eti@education-ni.gov.uk and our communications team will investigate the issue.
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 website’s accessibility
The ETI is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is not sufficiently accessible for the following reasons.
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 to fully meet the success criteria; and
- when we plan to fix it.
Developer/Designer issues
A number of accessibility issues are outside of the direct control of the ETI and are related to the underlying Drupal content management system (CMS) and will require external support from a website developer/designer.
These include but are not limited to the following:
- some instances where colour contrast between button text and background does not meet the expected ratio of 3:1 (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.3);
- there are several examples of link text with poor contrast to the body text whilst on hover (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.1);
- some interface elements do not have a contrast of at least 3:1 between them and adjacent colours (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11);
- the focus style is not clear on images and images of text control and therefore fails to meet a contrast of 3:1 against the white background of the search input field (WCAG 2.0, Level AA, 2.4.7);
- there is insufficient colour contrast of focus state on interface elements (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11);
- the sidebar navigation is not operable via keyboard control. This limits how users are able to navigate content on the page (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.1.1);
- keyboard focus – Interface elements should have a visible focus indicator (WCAG 2.0, Level AA, 2.4.7);
- consider making the border bolder in contrast to green elements within the background image (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11); and
- the contrast between the foreground and coloured background also fails to meet the criterion (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 4.5.1).
Our underlying content management system is due to be upgraded from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 which should enable us to address the remaining issues. We have not yet been provided with a timescale for this upgrade to take place.
Documents/PDFs
Whilst we have undertaken significant work to fix issues, this is currently ongoing. Therefore a number of documents are not fully accessible for a number of reasons which may result in a loss of meaning for users of screen readers or present issues for users with moderately low vision. For example, some documents:
- have missing titles. This is a failure of WCAG Level A, 1.3.1, 2.4.2;
- do not have a language attribute set. This is a failure of WCAG 3.1.1 (language of page);
- do not have a correct reading order. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence);
- do not have alternative text for images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content); and
- have text in different languages – need to clearly identify any changes in language on a page by using the Lang attribute, so that screen readers read it out using the correct pronunciation and users can easily understand that the text is in a different language. Use only one language attribute within a HTML tag, such as headings or link tag. (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 3.1.2, Level A, 1.3.1, 2.4.4).
We plan to address the highlighted issues within the next 12 months, by July 2025. If you require one of our non-accessible documents published since September 2018 before it is amended, please contact us by email us at eti@education-ni.gov.uk and our communications team will arrange this for you.
We will endeavour to make new PDFs or other documents we publish meet the required accessibility standards.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
As a website established before 23 September 2018, we are required to comply with the web accessibility regulations from 23 September 2020.
However, some of our content is exempt from the accessibility regulations:
- PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 - unless required for the use of a service, for example a form; and
- third party content that is not within our control, for example, embedded video players like Vimeo or YouTube, and embedded Google Maps.
If you have any problems using this website, email us at eti@education-ni.gov.uk and our communications team will investigate the issue and/or provide you with the information you need in an alternative format.
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 are not essential to providing our services.
We will endeavour to make new PDFs or other documents we publish meet the required accessibility standards.
How we tested this website
This website was and will continue to be tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA. These tests are 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 are doing to improve accessibility
Since September 2020 we have been engaged in significant ongoing work to identify and fix issues for each area above. We plan to have this work completed according to the timescale indicated.
This statement was prepared on 23 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 9 August 2024.