This statement applies to content published on the www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk domain. It does not apply to third party domains hosting employment tribunal services (for example, the online portal for entering tribunal claims and responses).
This website is run by the Office of Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and we use the principles of the Plain English Campaign to make our content 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
- 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 elements have poor colour contrast
- visible text in search bar needs to be included in HTML label
- some pages have empty headings
- some pages and document attachments are not clearly written
- some documents are in PDF and MS Office formats and are not accessible
How to request content in an accessible format
If you need information in a different format contact us at mail@employmenttribunalsni.org 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 emailing mail@employmenttribunalsni.org 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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, please contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
The Office of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal 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 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 the problem.
PDFs and other documents
A number of documents including PDFs 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. For Example some Documents:
- are missing titles; this fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 2.4.2 (page titled)
- do not have a correct reading order; this fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence)
- do not have alternative text for images; this fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.1.1 (non-text content)
- do not have lists not marked up correctly; this fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
- have tables which are not marked up correctly; this fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
- are not tagged for accessibility; this fails WCAG 2.1, Level A, 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
- do not have a language attribute set; this is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level A, 3.1.1 (language of page)
- do not have headings marked up; this is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level AA, 2.4.6 Headings and Labels
- have dates not correctly marked up; this is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level A, Labels or Instructions
- rely on colour to convey important information, this is a failure of WCAG 2.1, Level A, Use of Color
Any new PDFs or other documents we publish will meet the required 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:
- PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 - unless required for the use of a service, for example a form.
If you have any problems using this website, email us at mail@employmenttribunalsni.org 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 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 for each area above.
We conduct quarterly reviews of content and accessibility will be one of the areas that we check. We conform to the Northern Ireland Civil Service web style guide for all our HTML content.
In addition, we have added the following procedures to our content creation process:
- we use Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Pro accessibility checkers to identify problems and fix these before publication
- we have incorporated WCAG 2.1 requirements into design and print contracts to ensure professionally produced documents meet the standards
- where branches commission reports from external bodies, they are required to make WCAG 2.1 standards part of the contract specification
- we have made accessibility guidance available on our staff intranet for all staff drafting web content
- we will publish in HTML format as a first option whenever feasible.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 15th June 2022. It was last reviewed on 15th June 2022.