This accessibility statement applies to careerswales.gov.wales, and microsites and applications managed by Careers Wales.
This accessibility statement does not include the Working Wales website which is also managed by Careers Wales. The workingwales.gov.wales domain has its own accessibility statement.
Careers Wales manage the Careers Wales website. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means that you should be able to:
- Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- Listen to most of the website using a screen reader
- Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
To ensure this is possible we are engaging with external accessibility companies to ensure that the above minimum requirements are met.
We have also made the website text as easy as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
Some parts of the Careers Wales website are not fully accessible. For example:
- Older PDFs are not fully accessible to screen reader software. They may not have descriptive titles
- Some of our older videos requiring them do not have captions, audio description or transcripts
- Our Find us map may not be useable by keyboard and screen reader users
- Some buttons and links do not have sufficient colour contrast when hovered over or clicked
The following new applications have been launched at the end of July 2022, and are scheduled to undergo accessibility testing by a third-party company in 2022:
- Profile, including sign-in and registration
- Career Match Quiz
- Course Search
Careers Wales uses a third-party application called Livechat for online webchat services. Live chat is compliant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. Visit Livechat for more information.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format, for example, an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille please contact us by:
- Email post@careerswales.gov.wales
- Telephone 0800 028 4844
- Live chat
- By post to: Web Content Manager, Cardiff Careers Centre, Unit 4, Churchill House, 17 Churchill Way, Cardiff,CF10 2HH
We will consider your request and get back to you within 2 working days.
If you cannot view the map, call us on 0800 028 4844 or email us at post@careerswales.gov.wales and we will provide you with directions. A text alternative to Careers Centres displayed within the map is available on Our Centres.
If you cannot use Live chat please phone us on 0800 028 4844 or email us at post@careerswales.gov.wales.
Visiting us in person
Careers Centres have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. Our staff also work from a variety of outreach venues. The facilities of these venues will vary and may not include audio induction loops.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We want to continue to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page, please contact:
Web Content Manager, email: information@careerswales.gov.wales
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. If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Careers Wales is committed to making 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.
The following list was compiled from an assessment carried out in 2020. Careers Wales plan to carry out a full site assessment in 2023. This list will be updated following the assessment.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Videos (Pre-recorded)
Not all videos requiring it, currently contain captions, audio description or transcription. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion. All new videos uploaded to our websites from 23 September 2020 should meet these requirements.
Video play buttons do not contain descriptive labelling. This fails WCAG 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.3.5, 3.3.2 and 4.1.2 success criterion. Videos are embedded using third party providers. Careers Wales has no control over descriptive labelling on video play buttons from third party sites and cannot take responsibility for the lack of descriptive labelling.
PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs do not meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be structured to be accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, role value).
Some of our PDFs are essential to providing our services. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services.
If you need to access information in one of these document types, please contact us and ask for an alternative format.
Interactive map
Our Contact Us page provides an interactive map (Google) to help you locate our centres and outreach venues. The map has not been formally accessibility tested. However, we are aware that it may be difficult to use for screen readers, and therefore may not comply with accessibility guidelines. We have provided an alternative text version listing our centres. We are working on an alternative way to list our outreach venues.
Colour contrast
When hovering over words that have a grey background and blue or white wording, the colour contrast between the text and the background is not sufficient. This fails WCAG Level AA 1.4.3 Colour contrast success criterion.
In some cases, when hovering and clicking on a button or link the outline is not a strong enough contrast to the background colour. This fails WCAG Level AA 1.4.11 Non-text contrast.
We are working with developers to fix the colour contrast issues across the site.
Education Business Exchange
Education Business Exchange has recently been retested for accessibility. The testing identified that some further development work is required to ensure it meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
The heading structure does not follow the correct order, and some elements do not contain aria labelling. These fail WCAG Level A 1.3.1 Info and relationships success criterion.
Autocomplete functions within Education Business Exchange are not identified clearly. This fails WCAG Level AA 1.3.5 Identify input purpose success criterion.
Some parsing elements are not correct. This fails WCAG Level A 4.1.1 Parsing success criterion.
Development is taking place to fix these issues.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Many of our older PDFs do not meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be structured to be accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, role value).
Some of our PDFs are essential to providing our services. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services.
If you need to access information in one of these document types, please contact us and ask for an alternative format.
Videos (Pre-recorded)
Videos uploaded prior to 23 September 2020 may not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion. All new videos uploaded to our websites from 23 September 2020 should meet these requirements.
Video play buttons do not contain descriptive labelling. This fails WCAG 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.3.5, 3.3.2 and 4.1.2 success criterion. Videos are embedded using third party providers. Careers Wales has no control over descriptive labelling on video play buttons from third party sites and cannot take responsibility for the lack of descriptive labelling.
Live video
Live video streams are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We will review what is possible for each live stream based on the technology/software used.
What we are doing to improve accessibility
We are working with developers to achieve full compliance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standards.
We are building in new guidelines for PDFs and videos to ensure that future videos, PDFs and other documents will be fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.
We are working with external accessibility companies to have a full site assessment and working with them on a consultative basis over future developments.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 10th February 2020. It was last reviewed on 4 October 2022.
The website was last tested in December 2020 / January 2021. The test was carried out by Shaw Trust Accessibility Services. We tested our website platform at careerswales.gov.wales.
Careers Wales plan to carry out a full site assessment in 2023. This accessibility statement will be updated following the assessment.
We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to ask Shaw Trust Accessibility Services to test:
Education Business Exchange was tested by Little Forest in July 2022. The log in functionality and each main landing page was tested along with a sample of the following:
- Employer results page 8
- Employer results – shortlist
- Employer information
- Request an activity – generic, specific employer and multiple employers
- Alumni