L&Q charcoal textured image on content page header

Accessibility

Overview

This accessibility statement applies to the London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) corporate website (www.lqgroup.org.uk) managed by L&Q.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website and regularly make changes to improve the website’s accessibility level.

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

 

How accessible is this website

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

  • some of our PDF documents are not fully accessible and navigable for screen reader software
  • some pages and online forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard
  • you cannot navigate through all pages and forms easily using a screen reader
  • some pages do not have headings in logical size order or tags which makes it difficult to follow the content using a screen reader
  • our videos don't have captions

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

L&Q is committed to making its website accessible, under 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-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Our website currently fails on the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded), 1.2.2 Captions (prerecorded) and 1.2.3 - Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)

We do not have captions or an alternative for videos on our website. We have very few videos on the website. Most content is available in text form.

1.3.1 Info and Relationships

(C22 - Using CSS to control visual presentation of text and G141 - Organizing a page using headings) and 1.3.2 - Meaningful sequence

Headings are not always structured logically on the page, so it can be difficult to programmatically navigate and read the information on a page.

2.1 - Keyboard Accessible

Some of our pages and web forms would not allow users to complete the form easily using a keyboard interface.

4.1.1 Parsing

(G134 - Validating Web pages, G192 - Fully conforming to specifications, H75 - Ensuring that Web pages are well-formed and H88 - Using HTML according to spec).

On some of our content pages, some elements have incomplete start and end tags and some of the page elements are not nested according to their specifications. This means that some user agents or assistive technologies cannot accurately interpret and parse the content on our website.

 

What we’re doing to test and improve accessibility

 

How we test the website

We run a weekly test of all our web pages against the W3C WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1  using the automated Sitemorse tool. This tests against all the criteria in the guidelines which can be automated.

The Digital Communications team review this report weekly and prioritise any issues identified. We aim to resolve high-priority issues on our live website within a month of the report.

 

Recent accessibility improvements

We recently addressed the following accessibility issues in an update to our website:

  • enabling users to adjust colour contrast and font size on the website pages
  • allowing users to skip repeated content, such as the website header when using a keyboard to move around the website
  • made elements in focus clearer with a border

Future accessibility improvements

We are planning to address the following accessibility issues by the end of 2024:

  • update our online forms, including the sign up form, so all fields can be populated using keyboard shortcuts
  • ensure all items and links on the website are tagged to enable navigating the pages with a keyboard
  • ensure all links on the website are descriptive and easy to understand
  • ensure carousel controls can be navigated using all navigation and input devices

 

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we aren't meeting accessibility requirements

You can contact our customer service centre by:

 

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille

You can contact our customer service centre by:

AbilityNet can also advise on how to make your device easier to use if you have a disability.

 

Configuring your browser for translation and accessibility services

Most popular browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Safari, offer similar steps to adjust language and accessibility settings.

Generally, you need to open ‘Settings’ or ‘Preferences’, select ‘Language’ or ‘Accessibility’ and then enable the specific features that meet your needs.

Each browser also has an official support page where you can search for more detailed guidance:

Please note that if you use a third-party translation tool offered by any of these browsers, we can’t take responsibility for the accuracy of the translation and it’s always a good idea to get family or a friend to check that you’re getting the right information.

 

Visiting us in person

If you visit in person, our offices have audio induction loops or if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

 

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 unhappy with how we respond to your complaint

You can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 13 October 2020. It was last reviewed and updated on 18 July 2024. 

This website was last manually tested in full in April 2023 and automated accessibility tests run weekly. Both test against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.