Accessibility statement for HMRC Community Forums

This accessibility statement explains how accessible this service is, what to do if you have difficulty using it, and how to report accessibility problems with the service.

This service is part of the wider GOV.UK website. There is a separate accessibility statement for the main GOV.UK website.

This page only contains information about the HMRC Community Forums service, available at http://community.hmrc.gov.uk/

Using this service

The HMRC Community Forums is a place for tax agents and customers to ask questions about tax and benefits.

This service is run by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). We want as many people as possible to be able to use this service. This means you should be able to:

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • get from the start of the service to the end using just a keyboard
  • get from the start of the service to the end using speech recognition software
  • listen to the service using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have also made the text in the service as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this service is

This service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

Some people may find parts of this service difficult to use:

  • when attempting to sign in, screen reader users are not alerted if they entered a wrong username or password
  • some mandatory form fields have not been marked as required, which may confuse some people when error messages are triggered
  • some form fields have not been clearly labelled on the sign-in page
  • we ask you to state your contact preferences on your profile page, but the email checkbox label doesn’t clearly indicate the purpose when browsing out of context
  • some screen reader users may find it difficult to identify where the main content area is when adding personal details to their profile
  • some icons that convey information are hidden from screen readers
  • when using filter options on the search page, screen reader users are not informed when the search results have been filtered
  • when adding or changing user profile details, screen reader users are not alerted when the update is successful
  • auto complete has not been enabled to make it easier to populate personal details like your name or email address
  • the online forum includes a feature to filter search results that may be difficult to use or requires additional steps to navigate if you are using:
    • screen readers
    • voice recognition tools
    • only a keyboard

Reporting accessibility problems with this service

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this service. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, report the accessibility problem.

What to do if you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint

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), or the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) if you live in Northern Ireland.

Contacting us by phone or getting a visit from us in person

We provide a text relay service if you are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

We can provide a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, or you can arrange a visit from an HMRC advisor to help you complete the service.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this service’s accessibility

HMRC is committed to making this service accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This service is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • We use error handling on the sign in page to help users when they encounter issues. Some of the error handling messages are repeated multiple times to people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions). We plan to have a new and improved sign in page by October 2020.
  • We use mandatory mark up of edit fields throughout the service to help indicate required information. Mandatory mark up is not consistent throughout the service and so therefore this can cause confusions to users. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions). We plan to have a fix in place for all mandatory mark up fields by October 2020.
  • On the register page, we give users the opportunity to create an account for the HMRC Community Forums. The fields on the form have not been marked up correctly, therefore this can be confusing for people who use screen readers. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.1 (error identification) and 3.3.2 (labels or instructions). We plan to have a fix in place for fields on the register form by October 2020.
  • On the sign in page, we give users the opportunity to sign in to the HMRC Community Forums to contribute to the Forum pages. The fields on the form do not have any support text to guide users as to what input format is required. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.3 (error suggestion) and 3.3.5 (help). We plan to have a fix in place for support text by October 2020.
  • On the sign in pages, there are multiple controls to allow users to navigate between functions. The buttons in the header have not been marked up correctly, meaning that users can be left disorientated. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value). We plan to have a fix in place for the mark up of buttons by October 2020.
  • We allow users to manage their profiles and update their personal information such as their contact preferences. There are elements on the profile page which have not been marked up correctly, therefore you may be confused when moving out of context of the page. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value). We plan to have a fix in place for the mark up of different elements on the profile page by October 2020.
  • We allow users to manage their profiles and update their personal information such as their contact preferences. The profile page has been marked up in such a way that the
    landmark has been used twice, which could cause confusion to people using screen readers. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (parsing) and 4.1.2 (name, role value) and 1.3.6 (identify purpose). We plan to have a fix in place for the way the profile page has been marked up by October 2020.
  • One of the key parts of functionality of the HMRC Community Forums is the Forums, which is a place to open discussions of tax and benefits. The forum thread page contains links which have not been marked up appropriately. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose) and 2.4.9 (link purpose). We plan to have a fix in place for the mark up of the forum thread page by October 2020.
  • The HMRC Community Forums has a powerful search functionality which is there to assist users in finding the required information. There is a filter option on the search page and when a user filters their results, they are not notified of the change in results. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (status messages). We plan to have a fix in place for the filtering notification message by October 2020.
  • We allow users to manage their profiles and update their personal information such as their contact preferences. When users update their profile, they are not notified immediately of the changes. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (status messages). We plan to have a fix in place to notify users of updates to their profile by October 2020.
  • Users of the forum will have their own profile which will collect their personal information. When users click an edit box, such as email address, this is not currently programmatically determined and therefore requires users to enter their information in full. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.5 (identify input purpose). We plan to have a fix in place to programmatically fill in user’s information by October 2020.
  • The HMRC Community Forums has a powerful search functionality which is there to assist users in finding the required information. There are filtering options on the search results page, which is not currently marked up using the expected elements. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value) and 2.1.1 (keyboard) and 2.1.3 (keyboard). We plan to have a fix in place for the mark up of the filtering options by October 2020.

How we tested this service

The service was last tested on 2 July 2019 and was checked for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA.

The service was built using parts that were tested by the Digital Accessibility Centre. The full service was tested by HMRC and included disabled users.

This page was prepared on 16 September 2019. It was last updated on 30 September 2019.