Accessibility

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Wexford Wildfowl Reserve Website

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the Government Department responsible for housing and
water, for physical and spatial planning, for local government, for weather forecasting and for built and natural
heritage.

The Department is committed to ensuring access for all. This accessibility statement
explains how the Department, as the Service Provider, will endeavour to meet the requirements as set out in the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.1 at AA Level as defined by the Web Accessibility Initiative.

Our commitment and approach to maintaining an accessible website

The Department is committed to:

  • Maintaining an accessible website in accordance with the European Union (Accessibility of
    Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations.
  • Ensuring that this website achieves “Level AA” conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
    2.1, to comply with the National Disability Authority’s Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and
    Information Provided by Public Bodies. (The National Disability Authority’s Centre for Excellence in Universal
    Design has an introduction to policy and legislation relevant to Universal Design in Ireland.)
  • Ensuring that all new information on the website will achieve “Level AA” conformance to the Web Content
    Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
  • Including accessibility when we procure 3rd-party systems or upgrades to existing systems.

How we test for conformance with official accessibility guidelines

The Department uses a range of techniques to help providing access for all. They include:

  • Automated Scanning: This provides a quick (but not complete) overview of issues that persons may encounter
  • Guidance: Provision of guidance to content editors such as using Alternate Text
  • Manual Review: Regularly performing manual review of each site and adjusting the site to help improve
    accessibility

This website’s conformance with official accessibility guidelines

The website currently has partial conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
2.1 at AA Level. Our most recent web accessibility audit for this website was on 26/11/2024.

Areas for improvement and time-lines

We are aware of some areas on the website where we could improve accessibility. We are currently working to achieve
this.

Areas for improvement, time-lines for improvement, and alternatives:

  • Image Based Old Event Posters: We hope to have improved the accessibility of the site by ensuring all events
    posters are written in a textual format to enable screen readers read the content
  • Sub-menus not accessible by Keyboard: This issue aims to be resolved with the new Nature Reserves template or
    the adjustment of menu for a more accessible solution.
  • Nivo Slider Keyboard Trap/Pause: This issue aims to be resolved with the new Nature Reserves template or the
    removal of Nivo Slider for a more accessible solution.
  • Content: Terms like “read more” do not provide any context
  • Content: Centered-aligned or justified text is difficult to read
  • No h1 element used per page or view
  • Animation: Frequent popup can frustrate user
  • Colour contrast: Very low contrast for normal-sized text
  • Colour contrast: Very low contrast for large-sized text
  • Sub-menus are displayed visually on hover but not accessible for screen readers

If you have problems using certain sections of this site, call us on +353 1 539 3460

How to send feedback on this website’s accessibility

We welcome feedback on the accessibility of this website.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage,
            National Parks & Wildlife Service,
            Custom House,
            Dublin 1,
            D01 W6X0

Accessibility features of this website

A large number of techniques are used to enable the site become accessible for all. The process is ongoing as content
changes and the structure of the site changes. Some of the accessible features on this site include (but not limited
to) the following:

Accessibility Features

  • Alt Text: All Images where appropriate have suitable Alt text to provide a descriptive element to the image
    portrayed
  • Heading Outline Hierarchy: Logical sense applied to headings where possible H1, H2, H3
  • Descriptive Links: Links and Buttons have descriptive elements or Aria labels where those elements are cannot be
    provided
  • Contrast: Reasonable minimums in difference with relation to contrast between foreground elements and background
    elements
  • Navigability: Logical structure applied to the website to ensure the site can be used without a mouse
  • ARIA Landmarks: A large variety of aria- landmarks applied to aid in accessibility

This list is not exhaustive.