Abstract picture of blue light encircling a blue globe

Accessibility statement for Met Office Weather DataHub

Accessibility statement for Met Office Weather DataHub

This website is run by the Met Office. 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 400% without the text spilling off the screen (except for data tables)
  • navigate the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate the website using speech recognition software
  • listen to and control the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.


How accessible this website is

The Met Office Weather DataHub has been tested and is partially compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.

  • Keyboard and voice input: All interactive elements (except an accordion on the Forum Thread page) can be easily accessed via keyboard, however there are a few missing focus indicators which can make it difficult to see where you currently are on the page. This is regarding text input fields and interactive star ratings. You may also encounter unpredictable keyboard focus order whilst navigating through the application as there is a hidden link on all pages, and you may be directed to the skip link after expanding an accordion on the FAQ page.
  • Contrast: The colour contrast is insufficient in many areas across the application and does not meet the minimum contrast ratio for the following: Text and background colours, borders of form elements, icons and focus indicators.
  • Magnification/zoom: You may experience loss of content if you zoom in beyond 150% and you also may find difficulty in interacting with the content from 250% due to the reduced view from the header area of the page. Text an also be cut off on the API library list page if you override the font or text spacing.
  • Screen readers: If you are reliant on a screen reader you may face slight difficulty in understanding & navigating the content and page structure due to:
    • Some heading levels not descending correctly;
    • Some landmarks not being added;
    • Some ambiguous link phrases;
    • Occasional tables that do not have headings;
    • Occasional labelling of buttons;
    • A CAPTCHA is in place which does not have an audio alternative, which blocks access to posting questions or answers in the forum.

You may also come across a number of instances of text-duplication with images as the content is exactly the same as the alternative text. One image (the Met Office logo) has a URL as the alternative text. Error messages and helper text is available, but these are not associated with its corresponding form field so you would need to explore the content.

  • General: The logged-in session will time out after 30 minutes, so you may run out of time. Inputs do not include the autocomplete feature, so your browser may not be able to fill in the registration form for you. A password manager should still function normally but may not be as accurate in filling in further information.
  • Stripe payment plugin: A payment plugin by Stripe is implemented into the application, however as this is a 3rd party plugin it is out of the Met Office’s control to ensure the component is fully accessible.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

In the event that users experience any functionality issues with the performance of the Met Office Weather DataHub, the Met Office would like to hear from you. Please direct your enquiry in any of the following ways:

  • email us at [email protected]
  • 0370 900 0100 (from the UK)
  • +44 1392 885680 (outside the UK)

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this service. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us using one of the methods above

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, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Met Office 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.
The Met Office will be actively working through the non-accessible content, rectifying issues to ensure the service is fully accessible and complies with WCAG 2.1.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The content listed below is non-accessible:

  • Success criterion 2.2.1 Timing adjustable: There is a time limit for sessions of 30 minutes and there is no way for the user to extend or remove the limit.
  • Success criterion 1.3.5 Identify input purpose: Inputs for user-details such as email, first name, surname and password do not include the ‘autocomplete’ attribute.
  • Success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard: It’s not possible to access an accordion on the Forum Thread page via keyboard.
  • Success criterion 2.4.3 Focus order: An unpredictable tabbing order occurs when navigating through the website via keyboard, such as a hidden link receiving focus and the keyboard focus is directed to the skip link after expanding a FAQ accordion.
  • Success criterion 2.4.7 Focus visible: A visible focus indicator is not provided on some elements such as the interactive rating stars and text fields.
  • Success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content:
    • Screen readers do not skip over images that serve a decorative purpose as these images do not have a null value, instead the alternative text duplicates the content surrounding the image.
    • A couple of images has alternative text however it is either not sufficient enough or does not describe the image, for example the Met Office logo.
    • A non-textual alternative for CAPTCHA is not provided.
  • Success criterion 1.3.1 Info & relationships:
    • The heading structure does not follow a logical order, some headings were skipping levels and multiple heading 1’s occurs on all pages;
    • ARIA landmarks are not assigned correctly;
    • An ordered list has not been used to group numbered steps;
    • Some buttons have insufficient labels which does not entirely describe the purpose;
    • A HTML table has not been used to mark up a table and where it has, table headers are left empty;
    • Error messages and additional helper information are not associated with its corresponding form field;
    • Font icons are used, if you override the current font family it’s possible you will lose icons across the application;
  • Success criterion 2.4.2 Page titled: The page titles include a URL which does not help users to distinguish between different websites they may have open at the same time.
  • Success criterion 2.4.4 Link purpose: A number of links phrases are ambiguous and do not clearly describe where the link will lead users to and which section the link is referring to.
  • Success criterion 3.3.2 Labels or instructions:
    • An explanation of the asterisk on form fields is not provided.
    • Instructions on how to interact with TinyMCE’s typography toolbar has not been provided.
  • Success criterion 4.1.2 Name, role, value: ARIA attributes have not been assigned on toggle buttons, accordions, tab panels and elements that should be hidden from screen readers.
  • Success criterion 4.1.3 Status change: Users of screen readers are not informed of dynamic changes in content such as bookmarking a post and giving a star rating.
  • Success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (minimum): Colour contrast does not meet the minimum colour contrast ratio of 4.5:1 across Met Office Weather DataHub, this includes:
    • Blue, grey and white text against a white background;
    • Error messages;
    • Blue and red text against a grey background;
    • White text against an orange and green background;
    • Blue text against a navy background.
  • Success criterion 1.4.4 Resize: Content such as headings and navigation, was lost on a number of pages when zoomed in from 150%.
  • Success criterion 1.4.10 Reflow:
    • The menu is unscrollable from a 300% zoom;
    • The fixed header takes up more than 50% of the screen which leads to a condensed viewport from a 250% zoom.
    • Scrolling occurs in both directions on some pages.
  • Success criterion 1.4.11 Non-text contrast: A number of user interface components do not meet the minimum colour contrast ratio of 3:1, this was including borders of form elements, icons and visible focus indicators.
  • Success criterion 1.4.12 Text spacing: Text is cut off when the text spacing is overridden.

All of these issues are being added into our development roadmap in October/November 2019.  We will provide exact dates for fixing each in this statement when we can be sure of the time needed to implement them.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

The Stripe payment plugin is 3rd party content that is not under the control of the Met Office (under section 4 (2) (e) of the regulations).

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 23 September 2019. The test was carried out by Nomensa.
A sample of 14 pages across the application were tested, which covered the majority of components available in the application. These pages were tested using WCAG 2.1 at level AA.
 

This statement was created and last updated  on 7 October 2019.