This accessibility statement applies to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner website https://www.bedfordshire.pcc.police.uk/.

The website provider is Paul Keating WordPress Websites and the daily running of the website is managed by staff at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire. 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 300% without the 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have 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:

• The ‘Accessibility – Recite Me Tool’ displays as a broken page link
• We use Word Documents which are required to be completed when submitting some of our application forms.
• The Specified Information Order page contains adjacent repetitive links; however, this is required under legislation.
• YouTube videos embedded on our minutes page do not have built-in captions via video editing software, however, do have YouTube captions available.
• The ‘search bar’ is not labelled and does not have visible focus – this has been acknowledged by the website designer and is currently under review.
• The links in the cookies notice are not accessible via keyboard tabbing alone.
• The hamburger menu when zoomed at 200% or higher does not have visible focus for the main and sub options.
• The link within the header on all pages as well as the links on all pages on the website fails this success criteria as on mouse hover it reverts back to the colour grey.
• IDs used in ARIA and labels must be unique.

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: PCC@beds.police.uk
• Call: 01234 842064
• Write to: Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire Police Headquarters, Woburn Road, Kempston, Bedford, MK43 9AX

We will consider your request and get back to you in 20 working days.

If you cannot view the map on our homepage, call or email us using the above details for directions.

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 are not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us at:

Email: PCC@beds.police.uk

Call: 01234 842064

Write to: Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire Police Headquarters, Woburn Road, Kempston, Bedford, MK43 9AX

We take this matter very seriously and your contact and/or correspondence will be urgently forwarded to the Communications and Governance departments within the office.

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire 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 non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

• WCAG 1.1 Compatible – Word Documents are used which are required to be completed when submitting application forms – plan to be fixed by December 2024
• WCAG 1.2.2: Captions – YouTube videos embedded on our minutes page do not have built-in captions via video editing software, however, do have YouTube captions available – plan to be fixed by December 2024
• WCAG 3.3.2: Labels or Instructions – The ‘search bar’ is not labelled and does not have visible focus – a plug-in has been used for the search bar, this has been acknowledged by the website designer and is currently under review – plan to be fixed by December 2024
• WCAG 2.1.2: Keyboard – The links in the cookies notice are not accessible via keyboard tabbing alone. Due to this being a plug-in, it has been noted by the website designer and is currently under review – plan to be fixed by December 2024
• WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible – The hamburger menu when zoomed at 200% or higher does not have visible focus for the main and sub options – plan to be fixed by December 2024
• WCAG 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum) – The link within the header on all pages as well as the links on all pages on the website fails this success criteria as on mouse hover it reverts back to the colour grey – plan to be fixed by December 2024
• WCAG 4.1.1 Parsing: IDs used in ARIA and labels must be unique – plan to be fixed by December 2024.

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

‘Accessibility – Recite Me Tool’

Displays as a broken page link. The Recite Me cloud-based technology toolbar makes our website digitally inclusive by allowing visitors to customise the content so that they can consume it in ways that work best for them. It also boosts website usability. You can read more about the Recite Me Tool plug-in on the Recite Me website.

‘Skip to content’ button

Displays as a broken page link. This assists users of the website to skip to the main content on the page that they are visiting therefore boosts website usability for all.

The Specified Information Order Page

Contains adjacent repetitive links, however this information is required under The Specified Information Order, The Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) (Amendment) Order 2021. This requires Police and Crime Commissioners to publish certain information on their websites.

PDFs and other documents

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 24^th September 2022. It was last reviewed in February 2024.

This website was last tested in February 2024. The test was carried out internally by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire.

Site compliance was checked by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire using a combination of manual testing and third party tools, including:

WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (https://wave.webaim.org/)

Manual checks, including using screen reader ReciteMe Tool, embedded into the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire’s website.