Accessibility statement

Introduction

This accessibility statement applies to www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk. 

This website is run by Norfolk County Council.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

For example, that means you should be able to:

• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• 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
• Listen to most of 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

We aim to meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at AA level.

However, we know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• Some web pages have incorrectly coded text headings. This means screen readers may not accurately recognise the text as headings
• Some web pages have text links that don't accurately describe where they will take you
• There are two web pages with the title 'Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people'. This can make it difficult to tell them difference between the two pages
• Email newsletter sign up forms have some accessibility issues:
  • The email field in some forms isn't coded correctly. This means that you might not be able to use autocomplete to enter your email address or use other tools to help you decide what to enter
  • If you don't tick the consent checkbox, the error message that appears doesn't make it clear enough what the problem is and how to fix it
  • The subscribe button changes colour slightly when you hover your mouse over it. Some people might not see this
• The deletion return form has some accessibility issues:
  • Some text headings are inaccurately coded. This means screen readers might not accurately recognise them as headings
  • Some text links don't accurately describe where they take you
  • Information about the submission date on the last page of the form is incorrectly coded. This means screen readers may read it out incorrectly
• The captcha challenge on webforms has some accessibility issues:
  • Interacting with the captcha may unexpectedly open a new window
  • It has a time limit that you can't turn off, adjust or extend
  • You might need to scroll in two dimensions when zoomed in
  • You can't tab to all buttons using a keyboard
  • It's not always visually obvious which component has keyboard focus
  • Some text links don't accurately describe where they will take you
  • Error messages aren't coded correctly. This means it may be unclear that they are error messages or which parts of the form they refer to
  • It may be unclear that the checkbox is a required field
  • The colour of error message text does not stand out enough against the background colour
  • Some buttons rely on a colour change to communicate when they have keyboard focus
• Vimeo videos have some accessibility issues:
  • The iframe title for some videos does not mention it is a video. This means screen reader users might struggle to identify videos
  • You can use several single character keyboard shortcuts to control the video when focus is anywhere in the video player. For example, pressing the F key turns full screen on and off. You can't turn off or remap these shortcuts.
  • You might find it difficult to use the video progress and video volume sliders with a keyboard or screen reader
  • Some of the video controls might be difficult to see
  • It's not always visually obvious which video control has keyboard focus
• The Google calendar on some web pages has some accessibility issues:
  • It does not have an iframe title. This means screen reader users might struggle to identify the calendar
  • Some text links don't accurately describe where they will take you
  • It might be difficult to see when you have hovered your mouse over a calendar event button or navigated to it using a keyboard
  • Text on some calendar event buttons might be difficult to see
• Some documents:
  • Don't have a descriptive document title. This might make it hard to tell what information they include
  • Include inaccurately coded headings, tables and lists, and untagged text. They also include images that don't have a text alternative. This means they may be difficult to use with a screen reader
  • Include text links don't accurately describe where they will take you
  • Include colour combinations that might be hard to see
  • Include colour coding that isn't explained in text

Feedback and contact information 

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille, email [email protected].

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, email [email protected].

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 3 working days.

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

Norfolk County Council 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 (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Headings

• On the Attendance Strategy webpage, there are headings that act as headings and look like headings but are not programmatically coded as headings.
• On the Autumn 2025 webpage, the 'Important Dates:' heading is coded as a heading 2 but functions as a heading 3.
• On the Attendance Strategy webpage, most of the disclosure headings are coded as heading 3s but function as heading 2s.

This fails WCAG 1.3.1

Links

• On the Culture webpage, some link text does not clearly describe the link's purpose. The link text 'Wilkinson, 2011' (goes to a book for sale) and 'Safeguarding requirements' (goes to safeguarding network resources) do not clearly describe the purpose or destination of the links.
•  On the Autumn 2025 webpage, the 'https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/' link does not use link text to clearly describe the link's purpose.
• On the Attendance Strategy webpage, there is link text that does not clearly describe the link's purpose.
  • 'activity' does not clearly or accurately describe the links purpose or destination.
  • 'parent survey' does not clearly or accurately describe the links purpose or destination- the link goes to an information webpage, not a survey.
  • 'resources' does not clearly or accurately describe the links purpose or destination- it does not include context such as the name of the target webpage.
  • 'NSCP Continuum of Needs guidance' does not clearly or accurately describe the links purpose or destination - the acronym is not explained in full
•  On the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people webpage, there are links that do not have accessible names/ link text that clearly describe the purpose or destination of the link because they contain acronyms (GRT) that are not explained in full (anywhere on the webpage). 

This fails WCAG 2.4.4

Page title

The page title for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people webpage is not unique. There is another webpage with the same page title (article 60867).  This fails WCAG 2.4.2

Email newsletter sign up forms

Some pages include web forms for signing up for email newsletters. They have the following accessibility issues:

• Some email form fields don't include the attribute and value 'autocomplete="email"'. This fails WCAG 1.3.5
• If a user fails to tick the email newsletter subscription consent checkbox and tries to submit the form, an error message appears: 'www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk says you must accept the terms'. The wording of this message does not make it clear which form field the message relates to. This fails WCAG 3.3.1
• The 'Subscribe' button on some forms relies on a colour change to communicate when it changes between normal and hover states. This fails WCAG 1.4.1

Deletion return form

Deletion return form has the following accessibility issues:

• Some text headings within the form are coded as heading level 3s, but they look like and function as heading level 2s. This fails WCAG 1.3.1
• Some text links don't sufficiently describe where they take you. This fails WCAG 2.4.4
• Information about the submission date on the last page of the form is incorrectly coded as list content. This fails WCAG 1.3.1

Captcha challenge

You may need to complete a captcha challenge when completing a web form on the website. They have the following accessibility issues:

• The captcha has a two minute time limit that you can't turn off, adjust or extend. If you reach the time limit without completing the captcha, you may need to tick the checkbox again and complete a new challenge. This fails WCAG 2.2.1
• The captcha includes 'Privacy', 'Terms' and 'Learn more' links. This link text doesn't make it clear enough that the links relate specifically to the captcha. This fails WCAG 2.4.4
• When using a keyboard to navigate the captcha, once you have navigated to the new challenge, audio/visual challenge and help buttons once, you can't navigate back to them using a keyboard. Some interactive parts of the captcha also don't have a visible indicator to show when you have navigated to them, or only show this using a very small colour change. This fails WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 2.4.7 and WCAG 1.4.1
• You must tick the checkbox, but it isn't coded correctly. This means a screen reader will not tell you that you must complete it. This fails WCAG 4.1.2
• Ticking the checkbox sometimes opens a new window (dialog) without warning. This fails WCAG 3.2.2
• When using a screen display resolution of 1280 x 1024 and zoomed in up to 400%, you must scroll both horizontally and vertically to see all content in the captcha. This fails WCAG 1.4.10
• If you complete the captcha incorrectly, error messages appear. The colour of the error message text doesn't stand out enough against the background colour. The messages are also coded incorrectly, which means it may not be clear which part of the captcha they relate to and they aren't read out automatically by screen readers. This fails WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 3.3.1 and WCAG 4.1.3

Videos

Some pages include Vimeo videos. They have the following accessibility issues:

• The iframe title for some videos does not describe the content of the iframe - for example, it does not mention it is a video.  This fails WCAG 4.1.2
• You can use several single character keyboard shortcuts to control the video when focus is anywhere in the video player. For example, pressing the F key turns full screen on and off. It's not possible to turn off or remap these shortcuts. This fails WCAG 2.1.4
• When you close the settings menu, focus returns to the settings button but the button doesn't have a visible focus indicator. This fails WCAG 2.4.7
• Video buttons rely on a colour change to communicate that they have moved between normal and hover states. This fails WCAG 1.4.1
• The video progress slider doesn't respond when you use the up, down, home or end keys. Some parts of it are hard to see due to poor colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 and WCAG 1.4.11
• The video volume slider doesn't respond when you use the up, down, home or end keys. The up and down keys unexpectedly adjust the progress slider instead, even though the volume slide is in focus. It is also positioned vertically, but doesn't have the attribute and value 'aria-orientation="vertical"'. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 and WCAG 2.1.2

Google calendar

There is a Google calendar on some web pages. It has the following accessibility issues:

• It does not have an iframe title. This fails WCAG 4.1.2
• The 'More details' link on calendar events isn't sufficiently descriptive. This fails WCAG 2.4.4
• The calendar event buttons rely on a colour change to communicate they have changed state. This fails WCAG 1.4.1
• The white text on some calendar event buttons don't contrast at least 4.5:1 with the background colour in all states. This fails WCAG 1.4.3

Documents

There are documents (Word documents and PDFs) on the website that do not meet accessibility standards because they:

• Do not have descriptive document titles and file names. This fails WCAG 2.4.5
• Have incorrect heading structures. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 and WCAG 2.4.6
• Include images that are not marked as decorative or given descriptive alternative text. This fails WCAG 1.1.1
• Include tables that are not accessibly formatted. This means screen reader software will not be able to read and understand them accurately. This fails WCAG 1.3.1
• Have content that is only present in the document header and footer. This means the content may not be detected or read out by screen reader software. This fails WCAG 1.3.1
• Include links that do not sit behind clear and descriptive link text that tells the user where the link is taking them. This fails WCAG 2.4.4
• Include visual information that does not have an accessible colour contrast ratio. This fails WCAG 1.4.3
• Include lists that are not formatted correctly to allow assistive technology to correctly identify content as a list. This fails WCAG 1.3.1
• Use colour alone to convey meaning. This fails WCAG 1.4.1

The content is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Older documents

Many of our older documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they're accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, role, value.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix documents published before 23 September 2018 if they're not essential to providing our services.

Any new documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Older videos

Some of our older videos do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not include captions. This fails WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (prerecorded).

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix videos published before 23 September 2020 if they're not essential to providing our services.

Any new videos we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 April 2025. The statement was last reviewed on 11 November 2025.

This website was last tested in April 2025. Norfolk County Council's Digital Customer Experience Team carried out the test.

We tested the website www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk using automated and manual tests. We used:

• Accessibility Insights for Web browser extension
• Browser developer tools
• Web Developer browser extension
• Stylus browser extension
• Colourcontrast.cc browser extension

We used a sample-based approach to auditing, based on the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM).