Accessibility
This website was designed with the help of different groups of young people to be clear and easy-to-use. On every page you can use a search box to find information quickly. You can also click through to our four main sections using the links at the top, or select News or Events. The main section pages include a list of topics in that section, and top pages, which link you quickly to the most important pages.
On each page, you can find information and links to websites where you can find out more.
Look out on each page for information picked out in a box. This is the most important information on the page.
Simple accessibility guide for users
Change the appearance of the site
You can use the controls in your web browser to change the size of the text on this website. Click on the menu or settings and select "Zoom".
Easy Read Content
If reading is hard for you, there are Easy-Read pages on the main Oxfordshire County Council website. There is a link to these at the bottom of every page.
Download Documents
There are some files you can download on this website. These are usually PDF files.
To view PDF files, you'll need software such as Adobe Reader on your computer, or a PDF reader app on your phone. This software is free to download. Download Adobe Reader.
Video and audio
You can also watch videos and listen to content on this website. This content uses third party services like Youtube, Vimeo and Soundcloud. You may need to accept additional cookies to play this content.
Need more help?
You can contact us at:
Education, Employment and Training Team, Oxfordshire County Council Children's Services, County Hall 4th Floor Oxford OX1 1ND
Email: oxme@oxfordshire.gov.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/oxmeinfo Twitter: twitter.com/oxmeinfo
Full accessibility statement for oxme.info
This accessibility statement covers Oxfordshire County Council’s website for children and young people oxme.info This website is run by Oxfordshire 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 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.
We have designed this website with features that make it easier to use by everyone, including those with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, or neurological disabilities. We aim to reach the level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These are the international standard for accessible websites and content.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of all text on the site
- some older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- some videos included on the site may have auto-generated transcripts, which may include errors
- the CAPTCHA system we use to prevent spam from being posted via our online forms and comments is more time consuming to navigate using just a keyboard, and repeat posting may occasionally produce a non-accessible challenge
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, you can contact us or:
- Email: oxme@oxfordshire.gov.uk
We’ll do our best to fulfil your request and get back to you in ten working days.
Our postal address is:
Education, Employment and Training Team 4th Floor County Hall New Road Oxford OX1 1ND
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
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, contact oxme@oxfordshire.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
Oxfordshire County Council is committed to making all of its websites 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 ‘the non-compliances and exemptions’ listed below.
The content listed below is less accessible for the following reasons:
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
We list opportunities and events on the website, many of which have similar or identical titles. This means that the same link text may be used multiple times on one page, if, for example, there are multiple opportunities available in Oxfordshire for Apprentice Chef, or multiple Open Days for different educational establishments.
A small amount of content provided is only available in PDF format. These PDFs may not be structured so that they’re accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 4.1.2 (name, role value). These PDFs are regularly reviewed and where possible their content is duplicated on fully accessible html pages. In recognition of their value to many of our readers we will continue to use PDF documents where there is a clear reason for their use.
Navigation and accessing information
The anti-spam captchas in the commenting system are regularly reviewed and updated in order to stop spam being posted to the site. But this may also make it harder for some users to leave comments. However, there are multiple ways to interact, ask questions and share opinions on the site. We also commit to keeping the issue open until we have a solution.
Content not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
All content relating to accessing our services is also provided as fully accessible HTML pages.
Although the accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 where they are not essential to providing our services, we commit to providing accessible content where possible. We are continuously reviewing all PDFs on site for currency and compliance.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
What we are doing to improve accessibility
We are working with the site developers to solve accessibility problems as they arise.
You can request our full accessibility roadmap which shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website from oxme@oxfordshire.gov.uk
If you are aware of any accessibility issues, or if we have missed anything, please contact us.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 11/12/2019, 14/2/2020, 25/2/2020 and completed on 4/8/2020. It was last reviewed on 12/8/2020, 25/5/2021, 16/11/2021, 15/7/2022 and 9/2/2023.
This website is tested three times a week using the Siteimprove Quality Assurance tool. All publicly accessible pages are tested for accessibility.
You can request full accessibility test results from oxme@oxfordshire.gov.uk