Accessibility statement for Explore education statistics

This website is run by the Department for Education (DfE). 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)

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • the 'in page' search feature does not function as expected using screen reader and keyboard
  • the drag and drop feature for table reordering is difficult to use for screen reader, voice activation or keyboard only users
  • the focus order of hidden links in the charts tab when using keyboard leads to unexpected selections
  • when opening some collapsible sections unexpected elements can be read out to screen reader users
  • some tables are missing title captions
  • some buttons, links, and headings are not descriptive enough

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

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 us:

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

The Department for Education (DfE) is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This website 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. We will address these issues during our public beta phase to ensure our content is accessible.

  1. The 'in page' search results are not appropriately announced. This means when keyboard focus is on an actual result the text is not announced to screen reader users. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
  2. The drag and drop feature for reordering tables has nested active form elements. This means a user could tab to an element, but the screen reader will not announce its name, role or state. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Understanding labels or instructions) and 4.1.2 (Understanding name, role, value)
  3. Nested fieldsets used in the table tool. This means screen reader users can find it difficult to traverse through the form elements, and select radio buttons using the keyboard. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Understanding focus order)
  4. Some collapsible sections can trigger an unexpected announcement. This means when a screen reader user opens a collapsible section they will sometimes hear an unexpected announcement that could cause confusion (occurs whenever there is an element inside the section using aria-live='assertive'). This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (understanding status messages).
  5. Some tables are missing a summary or caption. This means assistive technology users will find it difficult to determine a table’s contents without traversing it. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships).
  6. There are hidden links in content on the charts tab. This means a keyboard user can focus on an unexpected element on the page thus causing confusion. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 (Understanding focus order)
  7. Some pages have multiple buttons with the same title. This means a screen reader user is unable to differentiate between these buttons out of context to make an informed selection. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (understanding headings and labels).
  8. Some pages have multiple headings with the same title. This means it is difficult for screen reader users to distinguish out of context what the headings are relating to. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.6 (understanding headings and labels).

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 15 November 2021 against Accessibility Guidelines WCAG2.1.

The test was carried out by the Digital accessibility centre (DAC).

DAC tested a sample of pages to cover the core functionality of the service including:

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We plan to continually test the service for accessibility issues, and create a prioritised list of issues to resolve.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 4 December 2019. It was last reviewed on 6 January 2022.