Accessibility

Accessibility Statement for the Weather Observations Website.

This accessibility statement applies to the main domain of the Weather Observations Website (https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk). It does not cover sub-domains.

The Met Office runs this website. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our Weather Observations Website.


You should be able to:

  • Zoom in up to 400% without problems.
  • Navigate most of the website using a keyboard.
  • Navigate most of the website using a screen reader on supported browsers.

We will update the statement when issues are resolved.


Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF’s, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille, please contact us:

  • Email WOW@metoffice.gov.uk
  • Call 0370 900 0100 (from the UK)
  • Call +44 330 135 0000 (outside the UK)

We will respond to all reasonable adjustment requests for accessible information.


Reporting accessibility problems with the website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact wow@metoffice.gov.uk to let us know your concerns.


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 Met Office is committed to making its Weather Observations 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

Perceivable
  • There are several places where the colour of images and text content fails to meet the minimum contrast requirements. For text this is 4.5:1 contrast ratio (3:1 for large text) and for non-text elements, such as key graphics and interactive controls is 3:1 contrast ratio. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast minimum). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • When a user tabs to any of the tooltips using their keyboard, new content is revealed but there is no way to dismiss the content without moving focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.13 (content on hover or focus). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • The expand and collapse accordion component is announced as a ‘tab’ but is not styled like a tab nor does it function like one. This is very likely to confuse assistive technology users as their expectation for how the component functions will not be met. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • All images in the photo gallery have insufficient alternative text meaning users of assistive technology, such as screen readers are unable to understand this content. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 (Non-text Content). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • Form structure on various pages is not adequate, making it hard for people using assistive technologies to successfully interact. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.

Operable
  • In several places, the implementation of headings is illogical and does not accurately convey page content intent or the visual hierarchy of the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (focus order). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • Positive tab-indices have been used causing interactive elements, such as form inputs, to be skipped. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (focus order). In addition, a tab index value of -1 has been used on several interactive controls in error. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (A). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • The accessible name (‘Global WOW’) for the main Met Office logo in the site header does not match the visible label (‘Met Office’). This fails 1.1.1 Non-text Content and 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • The linked social icons in the footer do not have accessible names and have also been hidden from assistive technology in error whilst still receiving keyboard focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • The weather impact severity level controls are not available for keyboard users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (A). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.

Understandable
  • Native HTML5 validation has been used for form errors. Where more than one field is required, it means error messages are likely to be vague and duplicated across inputs, making it harder for users to understand and recover from errors. In addition, this type of validation only remains on screen for around 2 seconds meaning that many users will not have sufficient time to perceive and understand the content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (AA). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.
  • When a user opens the photo gallery filter control menu, a subsequent press of the ‘Tab’ key closes the menu and automatically refreshes the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.2.1 On Focus (A). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.

Robust
  • The progress indicator seen on several pages provides a visual indication of the current step for the user but this information is not available to assistive technology users. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A). We plan to audit and update all pages by December 2023.

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have not made any disproportionate burden claims.


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

Online maps and mapping services

Our site map dashboard on the WOW homepage does not have a text equivalent. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We do not plan to make this map entirely accessible as online maps and mapping services are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigation use. However, there are items as part of the map page that can be addressed to support WCAG conformance, and we intend to do this.


PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDF guides available to help our users submit manual observations to WOW. We are currently working on fixing these essential documents or replacing them with accessible html web pages. 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 Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.


Archive content

Some of the content in the ‘photo gallery’ part of the website is classified as an archive. This kind of historically recorded content is exempt from meeting the digital accessibility regulations. If you require a specific piece of archive content and it is not accessible, please contact us using the methods above and we will provide an accessible version of the content on request.


How we tested this website

We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 Level A and Level AA to test how accessible the Weather Observations Website is. We selected the sample of pages to test based on the popularity of the page, the importance of the information on the page and the visibility of the page.

The website is under active development and is being tested on an ongoing basis using the following:

  • Sitemorse
  • Web Dev Tools
  • WAVE
  • Manual Inspection
  • Testing with support from users that rely on assistive technologies

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.


What we are doing to improve accessibility

Parts of the website that will be improved for accessibility are listed, with approximate timings, in the section above titled ‘non-compliance with the accessibility regulations.’ This statement will be updated when issues are fixed.

We are actively reviewing all the pages that exist as part of the Weather Observations Website to ensure that as much of our content as possible is accessible. As this work progresses, we will update our accessibility statement with clear timelines to rectify non-accessible content.


Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15 September 2022. It was last updated on 7th February 2023.

The website is tested on an ongoing basis. When new features are introduced to the website, they are tested against the international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard using assistive technologies such as normal Dev Tools and WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool). We also perform manual inspection for new functionality and user test with users that rely on assistive technologies where appropriate.

We run ongoing analysis on the accessibility of the website using automated tools such as Sitemorse.

We also dedicate time on an ongoing basis to resolve issues that are reported.

The first website accessibility audit was carried out in July 2022. The audit included a series of web pages that were used most by visitors to our site.

A third-party user experience design company carried out an initial accessibility review of the Weather Observations Website. We provided them with a sample of pages to test based on the popularity of the page, the importance of the information on the page and the visibility of the page. The Met Office were then provided with findings/recommendations from a cursory review of 16 existing web pages.