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Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for VisitBritain website

This accessibility statement applies to the VisitBritain website at www.visitbritain.com/.

This website is run by British Tourist Authority t/a VisitBritain. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • change styling using in-browser settings.
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen and without content being truncated or overlapping.
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software.
  • skip to the main content when using a screen reader or navigating with the keyboard.
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Some images, in the map sections, are insufficiently described and do not convey the purpose.
  • The ‘Drag Pegman onto the map to open Street View’ button on all maps does not receive focus and cannot be operated using keyboard.
  • Some carousels include a button that receives focus and can be operated using the keyboard when it is not displayed.

Issues affecting people with low vision

  • Many combinations of text and background colour for text do not have sufficient colour contrast.
  • In the maps, the pins that show the location of venues do not have sufficient colour contrast against the background.

Issues affecting screen reader users

  • Screen reader users may find it difficult to use the navigation menu in the header of all pages because it is not possible to expand or collapse the submenu whilst using the keyboard.
  • Some carousels have buttons that can be used to filter the carousel contents. The selected or unselected state of the buttons is not conveyed to screen reader users, so they do not know if any filters have been applied. Also, a button that is not displayed is conveyed to screen reader users that should not.

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

Please contact us on the details below should you require any content appearing on this website in a more accessible format, for example, a PDF.

More accessible formats may include large print, Easy Read, audio recording and Braille.

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

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:

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

VisitBritain 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 listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

  • There are no text equivalents for the images to the right-hand side of all maps. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1.(Non-text Content).
  • Some text does not have sufficient colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).

This statement will be updated regularly with timings of fixes. If you require any material on the website in an accessible format, please contact webaccessibility@visitbritain.org.

Disproportionate burden

In August 2022 we received an accessibility test report for the full website, and we are evaluating the findings to determine the roadmap for fixing the issues and whether we will need to use the disproportionate burden exemption or not.

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

PDFs and other documents

Maps

  • Some of our interactive elements, like maps are not accessible for users with a screen reader.
  • The ‘Drag Pegman onto the map to open Street View’ button on all maps does not receive focus and cannot be operated using keyboard.
  • In the maps, the pins that show the location of venues do not have sufficient colour contrast against the background.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have implemented training for relevant staff, developed documentation, checklists and resources to help us meet accessibility requirements and improve the digital experience for all visitors to our website. There will be another accessibility audit later in the year as we develop this website further. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 6th September 2022. It was last reviewed on 6th September 2022.

This website was last tested on 6th September 2022. The test was carried out by Test Partners Ltd.

We followed GOV.UK guidance on deciding how to check the University of the VisitBritain website as follows:

  1. We analysed a set of creative designs to find a minimum representative subset of pages that contains examples of the most common layouts, components, and features, including:
    1. The header and footer.
    2. Important “unique pages”.
    3. Pages with text content.
    4. Pages with informational images, images of text and video content.
    5. Interactive elements such as forms, tabbed interfaces, carousels, hide / reveal functionality and content filtering.
  2. When the website became available for testing, we verified whether the subset of pages was still valid and made a number of adjustments.
  3. We conducted a manual WCAG audit on the representative subset of pages.
  4. We conducted automated WCAG testing of the entire website.
  5. Fixing and retesting is in progress as of 6th September 2022.
  6. When all the non-conformances arising from the manual testing have been fixed, we will conduct assistive technology testing on selected pages.
  7. We will conduct further rounds of fixing and retesting until all the WCAG non-conformances have been fixed.