Website accessibility

How accessible are our websites?

We know some parts of our websites are not fully accessible.

For kew.org

Keyboard / Voice input

• Several elements do not include a visible focus indicator
• The keyboard focus is not sequential in some areas
• Some buttons cannot be accessed with a keyboard
• Hotjar pop up survey functionality is limited for keyboard only users. This is not in control of Kew but we have contacted Hotjar and they have recently published their intention to make improvements in 2022

 
Zoom/low-vision

• Some interactive control and error states have low colour contrast
• Screen reader navigation by headings is not fully optimized on some pages
• Some links are missing descriptive link text
• Some videos rely on sight to understand what is going on in them
• Common names that are in a foreign language are pronounced in English
• Form error messages and controls are not automatically announced
• The disabled and current state of some elements is not announced
• Custom controls, such as accordions, toggle buttons, switches, tooltips, date pickers and tabs are difficult to use
• Dynamic page updates on the What’s On pages are announced but could be lengthy.

Cognitive

• Some error messages only appear for a few seconds
• For support.kew.org (membership and donate journeys)
• When using a keyboard and the Chrome browser, focus might become trapped in the credit card number field. 
• A few bits of text lack contrast
• The focus states and indicators lack contrast
• Several form fields do not have the correct markup
• For tickets.kew.org (membership and donate journeys)
• The order summary markup does not match the table layout used. Information inside is accessible but might be more difficult to understand for screen reader users.
• Some minor pieces of markup did not adhere to HTML specifications.
• Input field were missing autocomplete values to support automatic filling of personal information.
• The auto complete function on the address field is not accessible but users can field in their address manual.
• The World Pay payment interface has known accessibility barriers but is out of control for Kew. Issues have been reported to World Pay for remediation.

For endeavour.kew.org

• When using a keyboard  some items in the focus order are hidden.
• Many items might not receive visible focus indicator
• Focus order isn’t always logical with the page layout
• Not all components are markup with the appropriate HTML to convey purpose
• Heading levels are skipped, making the page structure less clear
• Alt text for some images wasn’t informative
• On-screen buttons for the menu are too small to operate easily 
• There was no audio description available for videos that required it.
• When zooming in there is a persistent navigation bar blocking large part of the screen

For growwild.kew.org

• On-screen buttons for the menu are too small to operate easily 
• There was no audio description available for videos that required it

For https://kew.ent.sirsidynix.net.uk/

• The usage of the title attribute hides extra information for keyboard users
• The focus order on the search results page does not match the visual information
• Content is obscured and scrolling occurs in both directions when zooming in past 150%
• The green on white text combination does not meet contrast requirements
• The white text on images does not meet contrast requirements
• Several links are only indicated by use of colour
• Several interactive elements don’t meet contrast requirements, like focus outlines and activated states on several buttons
• Some images contain alt text but are considered decorative as they duplicate information
• Visible sections of the page, like the header and footer, aren't marked up as such
• Some texts and lists are visible headings but aren’t marked up as such
• Interactive buttons to sort tables don’t convey their current state (ascending/descending)
• Related form fields aren’t grouped using fieldsets to indicate they belong together
• Various inputs are missing a visible label which makes it difficult to identify them and for speech software to activate
• Undescriptive link texts like “click here” can be found across the pages
• Page titles don’t reflect the current page
• Parts written in other languages don’t have that language identified for screen readers
• Multiple interactive elements act like buttons but aren’t marked up as such
• The sliders don’t communicate information like the currently selected slide and don’t give information on what’s being displayed
• The pagination is unclear in general as it does not indicate current page, it’s not marked up as a navigational landmark and the link text isn’t clear enough
• Tabbed interface components are difficult to use as they don’t have the expended roles and interactions
• Input fields are missing autocomplete values to help users automatically fill in form information
• Visitors will be timed out after a period of inactivity and redirected to the homepage
   

Visiting us in person

We want everyone to have an enjoyable time in our gardens, and provide additional information on accessibility support at Kew Gardens and accessibility support at Wakehurst. 

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations on kew.org

• Several elements do not include a visible focus indicator, failing “Focus Visible” (2.4.7).
• Several controls do not meet the contrast threshold, failing “Non-Text Contrast” (1.4.11)
• The date picker is not easily dismissible, failing “Content on Hover or Focus” (1.4.13)
• Some key icons, controls, and other images are missing alternative text, failing “Non-Text Content” (1.1.1)
• Some content and page structure are not marked up using the most appropriate markup meaning that screen readers users miss out on some meaning and functionality. Some headings are used incorrectly. Several form controls are not correctly structured. These fail “Info and Relationships” (1.3.1)
• Entering a past date in the date inputs and moving keyboard focus away causes the date to change to the present date, failing “Error Identification” (3.3.1)
• At least one video does not have speech and communicated through embedded text or imagery and does not have an alternative in the form of a transcript or a synchronized audio track. This fails “Audio-only & Video-only” (1.2.1)
• Some links do not clearly describe the purpose of the link or which page would be reached if someone followed the link, failing “Link Purpose” (2.4.4)
• Content written in different languages (common names of plants) was not identified in the code of the page, failing “Language of Parts” (3.1.2)
• Several buttons and controls do not use the appropriate roles. Disabled and current states are not programmatically communicated. Custom controls, such as accordions, toggle buttons, switches, tooltips, date pickers and tabs, have not been fully implemented in a way that makes them easy for assistive technology users to use. This fails “Name, Role, Value” (4.1.2)
• The HTML code of the pages is not always nested according to the specification, failing “Parsing” (4.1.1)

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations on support.kew.org (donation and membership journeys)

• The help icon for the CVV field does not include a visible focus indicator, failing “Focus Visible” (2.4.7)
• A few areas of text do not meet the minimum contrast threshold, failing “Contrast (minimum)” (1.4.3)
• A few inputs do not meet the contrast threshold, failing “Non-Text Contrast” (1.4.11)
• All pages have the same title, failing “Page Titled” (2.4.2)

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations on growwild.kew.org

• Some form fields do not meet the contrast threshold, failing “Non-Text Contrast” (1.4.11)
• Some content is overlapped when the page is zoomed in, failing “Reflow” (1.4.10)
• An aria-required attribute has not been implemented on required form fields, failing “Info & Relationships” (1.3.1)
• Radio buttons have not been grouped in a field set, failing “Info & Relationships” (1.3.1)
• Where a video has visual content that is not described by audio, there is not alternative for people with visual impairments, failing “Audio-only & Video-only” (1.2.1)
• The “email address” input on the Newsletter Signup has no autocomplete attribute, failing “Identify Input Purpose” (1.3.5)

Non-compliance with accessibility regulations on endeavour.kew.org

• Some elements in the drag and drop equipment activity are not in sequential order, failing “Keyboard” (2.1.1)
• A visible focus indicator was missing on the linked cards, expanded profile submenu, certain links, radio buttons and buttons, failing “Focus Visible” (2.4.7)
• Some elements are missing role = img, failing “Non-text Content” (1.1.1)
• The fixed navigation bar causes an obstruction when the page is zoomed in and it is not possible to access some items in the menu bar, failing “Reflow” (1.4.10) and “Keyboard” (2.1.1)
• HTML didn’t conform to the W3C specification. Not all validation issues effect accessibility but there was an error that could change the way the page was read to assistive technologies, failing “Parsing” (4.1.1)

Non-compliance with accessibility regulations on tickets.kew.org

• Tabular data wasn’t marked up using HTML table element (fails 1.3.1 Info and Relationships)
• HTML did not conform the W3C HTML specifications. There were duplicate IDs on the pages, potentially causing problems with screen reader associations. (fails 4.1.1 Parsing)
• The relevant autocomplete attributes were missing from input fields requesting personal information. (fails 1.3.5 Input purpose)

We plan to resolve the issues on kew.org, support.kew.org, growwild.kew.org and endeavour.kew.org over the next 12 months and will update this statement when progress has been made.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

In the next 6-12 months we are making significant improvements to kew.org, support.kew.org, tickets.kew.org, growwild.kew.org and endeavour.kew.org to address the issues outlined above.

We are also rebuilding or significantly updating the following websites:

• shop.kew.org
• tickets.kew.org
• online ticketing via See Tickets

Where else to find information about the accessibility of our sites:

• Our accessibility statement for our science sites
• Our shop.kew.org accessibility statement