The Office of Public Works (OPW) recognises the importance of ensuring that the FloodInfo.ie website is accessible to everyone. The website was launched on 3rd May 2018 and is the OPW’s national flood information portal, providing location specific access to flood risk and flood management information.
The OPW is committed to making the FloodInfo.ie website accessible, in accordance with S.I. No. 358/2020 - European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020 and to making our content available to the widest possible audience, including those who use assistive technologies.
This accessibility statement applies to the main FloodInfo.ie website and not to any individual Flood Relief Scheme websites hosted on this domain, which are subject to individual web accessibility statements.
Measures to Support Accessibility
The OPW takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of FloodInfo.ie:
- Include accessibility in our internal policies and contract requirements for external consultants.
- Publish HTML webpages as standard, reducing the use of printed materials and office file formats such as PDF’s and Microsoft Word documents as much as possible. If PDF’s and Microsoft Word documents do need to be used, we will endeavour that they have a high standard of accessibility.
- Provide the same information in a variety of formats, including report pages and map-centric viewers, and at different level of detail ranging from top-level information to full technical reports, to suit a wider audience.
- Develop internal capacity and capability in the web accessibility skills area to ensure implementation of accessibility requirements at an early stage of new developments and/or re-developments and that accessibility is continuously reviewed.
- The OPW has engaged with an external accessibility partner and carried out a full independent accessibility audit of FloodInfo.ie. This was to assess the conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA and this audit forms the basis of this accessibility statement.
- The OPW is continuously reviewing and implementing the findings of both internal and external audits to achieve a high standard of accessibility.
Compliance Status
FloodInfo.ie is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA, due to the non-compliance and exemptions listed below.
Non-accessible Content
Partially compliant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. The items listed below are noted as non-compliant and we plan to improve many of these items as soon as possible.
- Many interactive buttons are not currently accessible for keyboard users;
- Many interactive buttons have no accessible names for screen reader users, including the main mobile menu;
- Many interactive buttons do not announce their present state, such as 'expanded' or 'collapsed';
- Many links do not have an accessible name for screen reader users;
- The focus is not managed throughout the site so that new content may be difficult to find, and navigation can be difficult for screen reader users;
- The mobile menu must always be navigated on every page regardless of whether it is open or closed;
- The expanded header menu is not currently accessible for keyboard users;
- The data table used on the Past Flood Summary Report page does not announce correct table semantics for screen readers, cannot be fully navigated, and some of the information is unavailable for users to read;
- Many of the modal dialogs used within the site are inaccessible to screen reader users;
- The pagination component used throughout the site is not currently accessible;
- The heading structure used throughout the site does not reflect the semantic headings seen visually;
- Multiple form controls for user input are currently not accessible for screen reader users;
- Many of the interactive components within the Flood Maps are currently not accessible to both keyboard and screen reader users;
The items listed below are noted as not within the scope of the applicable legislation and are therefore exempt:
- Office file formats, for example PDF’s and Microsoft Word documents, published before 23 September 2018, unless such content is needed for active administrative processes relating to the tasks performed by the OPW;
- Online maps and mapping services, information which is endeavoured to be provided in alternative ways across the website to suite a wide audience;
- Third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of the OPW, including but not limited to PDF’s and Microsoft Word documents.
Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
This statement was prepared on 01/07/2022.
This accessibility statement was developed based on an assessment by an external accessibility consultant, who carried out a full independent accessibility audit of the FloodInfo.ie website.
The statement was last reviewed on 01/07/2022.
Feedback and Contact Information
The OPW welcomes your feedback on the accessibility of our website. If you find any accessibility problems or require any support in accessing the information, please contact us.
Address: FloodInfo, Office of Public Works, Jonathan Swift Street, Trim, County Meath, C15NX36
Telephone: +353 (0)46 9422000
Email: floodinfo@opw.ie
Enforcement Procedure
If you are not happy with the OPW’s response to your feedback, you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman under the Disability Act.