This statement applies to content published on the / domain. It does not apply to content on any third party domains hosting Interchange services.
This website is run by the Department of Finance. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. We’ve made the website text as simple as possible 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
- listen to 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:
- missing skip to content links
- some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
- some pages and elements have poor colour contrast
- some heading elements are not consistent
- some images and icons do not have good or any alternative text
- many older documents are in PDF and MS Office formats and are not fully accessible to screen reader software
How to request content in an accessible format
If you need information in a different format contact us by email and tell us:
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 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 us by email at interchangesecretariat@finance-ni.gov.uk and we 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)(external link opens in a new window / tab).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The Department of Finance 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 non-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 the success criteria, and
- when we plan to fix it
Developer issues
A number of accessibility issues are related to the underlying Drupal content management system (CMS) and will require developer and web design input.
These include but not limited to the following:
- Low colour contrast on cookies banner. The white text on the green button failed to meet the minimum contrast ratio. (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11)
- Low colour contrast of blue links used site wide.The link text using #0A7AD0 failed to meet minimum requirement. (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11)
- Colour contrast interface elements. The focus style is missing on the search element and therefore fails to meet a contrast of 3:1 against the white background of the search input field. (WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 1.4.11)
- Search field and search button have no focus state (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.7)
- Home page - Unnecessary H1 element There is a hidden H1 element present which should be removed (WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.2)
- The search field and magnifier icon (1:6:1) fail the minimum colour contrast ratio requirement of 3:1. (WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.4.1)
- Links in aside panel have no hover state (WCAG 2.0, Level A, 1.4.1)
- ‘Closed’ alert fails minimum contrast:the use of red text fails minimum contrast levels. (WCAG 2.1 Level A, 1.4.1).
Our underlying content management system is currently being upgraded from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. It is our intention to address these issues during that upgrade which is expected to be completed by September 2021.
Documents
A number of documents are non-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.
We plan to repair this within the next 12 months, by September 2021. If you find you require one of our non-accessible documents published since September 2018 before it is repaired, please contact us by email and we will arrange this for you.
Any new PDFs or Microsoft Word documents we publish will meet the required accessibility standards.
Images and video
Some images do not have a text alternative (alt text), so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to repair this within the next 12 months, by September 2021.
When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
Disproportionate burden
Not applicable.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
As a website published 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:
- third party content that is not within our control, specifically embedded Google Map on our content page.
If you have any problems using this website, let us know by email and we will investigate the issue and/or provide you with the information you need in an alternative format.
How we tested this website
This website 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 plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown, and on an ongoing basis for each area above.
This statement was prepared on 15 September 2020. It was last updated on 21 September 2020.