This accessibility statement applies to the Hackney Education website (education.hackney.gov.uk).
This website is run by the Hackney Education web team. 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 and contrast levels
- zoom in up to 400% without text spilling off the screen
- 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
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand, and are committed to making further improvements to the way we describe our information and services.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible is this website?
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- most older documents are not fully accessible
- some site elements are not highlighted or accessible when using a keyboard
- some hyperlinks are only identified by colour
Feedback and contact information
If you need any information on this website in a different format please contact:
- educationweb@hackney.gov.uk
- 020 8820 7000
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We are 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 educationweb@hackney.gov.uk
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
Hackney Education 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 2.2 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.
Please note, we are currently undertaking more in-depth testing of the website, and this list will be updated regularly with any further accessibility issues identified.
Documents
Various documents are in use on this website, including PDFs and Word documents. These are not all currently accessible to assistive technologies. For example, the documents may not be correctly tagged or have the language set.
This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships and 3.1.1 Language of Page
Images
Some images on the website do not have a text alternative. Not all decorative images are marked as such.
This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.1.1 Non-text content
Highlighting of page elements
Some page elements are not highlighted when using a keyboard to navigate the website. For the page elements that are, the colour and thickness of the highlighting could be improved to make them more obvious.
This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria: 2.4.7 Focus Visible
Keyboard access
Some elements of the site navigation are not accessible via keyboard. However, all sections of the website can be accessed from the homepage content.
This fails WCAG 2.2. success criteria: 2.1.1 Keyboard
Table cells
All tables that are created manually have the appropriate column headings. However, tables that are generated via system functionality, such as document display tables, have some cells that are missing context.
This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Form fields
Some third party form fields are missing descriptive text labels. For example, the embedded recruitment forms and search options, and the reCAPTCHA tool for the feedback form.
This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria: 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
Links are only identified by colour
At times, only colour is used to differentiate hyperlinks from the rest of the page text.
This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria: 1.4.1 Use of Colour
Disproportionate burden
N/A
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential in providing our services.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 23 September 2020. It was last reviewed in August 2025.
The statement will be reviewed regularly (at least every six months) to ensure it reflects any updates to the site’s compliance with web accessibility standards.
Testing is undertaken by the Hackney Education web team and our website provider. We also use regularly use the Siteimprove accessibility checker and simulators to monitor accessibility issues. We select a sample of pages on which to carry out our testing that reflect the full range of content and functionality across the site.
What we are doing to improve accessibility
We have undertaken a series of improvements to fix accessibility issues on this site since 2020, with a programme of work in place to continue to ensure the website is fully compliant. For example:
- undertaking a rebranding of the website which improved colour contrasts of each of the main colours used. All non-compliant colours have been replaced with colours that meet AA standards
- adding a 'skip to the main content' option so users are able to bypass the site header
- applying a fix to ensure empty heading tags were not displayed when certain heading fields on the site had no text
- removing old pdfs from the site and replacing relevant content as web pages
- regularly reviewing content to ensure it's up to date, is written with a target reading level of 9 and meets the needs of our users
Our upcoming programme of work includes:
- Documents: We are undertaking a review of all documents and, where possible, the information within these is being uploaded as web content. If documents are required, we are working to make these as accessible as possible, including using appropriate heading stylings and meeting colour contrast requirements. Please get in touch if there are any documents that you are not able to access and we will provide the information in a different format.
- Focus visibility and appearance: We have recently introduced improvements to the highlighting for elements on the page and will be implementing this across other content elements on the site.
- Alternative text for images: We now have a way to add alternative text to some of the visual elements of the website. We will review all images and update the alt text fields with meaningful descriptions
- Tables are being reviewed and an appropriate heading will be added to make the relationship between the header and data cells clearer
- Hyperlinks: We will review and update hyperlink styling across the website