Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to Teaching Vacancies.

This website is run by the Department for Education. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means users 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’ve 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.

How accessible this website is

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

  • in places, the heading structure is incorrect, with missing or skipped headers
  • some page regions are not identified with ARIA landmarks
  • some labels for user interface components do not match what is visually seen on screen
  • users navigating with a Mac with VoiceOver enabled cannot access the site past the ‘skip to main content’ link
  • some elements are not using supported ARIA attributes
  • there are multiple instances of decorative separators or words which appear off-screen being announced
  • some buttons do not function when iOS VoiceOver is enabled

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 please email teaching.vacancies@education.gov.uk.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 working days.

Contact the school listing the vacancy for support finding out about or applying for a particular job.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact teaching.vacancies@education.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

The Department for Education 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 2.2 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

ARIA landmarks aren’t used to identify all page content. This may cause content to be missed by screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships.

A correctly formed heading structure is not present to facilitate navigation across the site, with skipped or no heading levels present. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks.

Users of Mac iOS with VoiceOver enabled are not able to access the site past the ‘skip to main content’ link. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order.

The displayed names of some user interface components do not always match the accessible label. This may result in navigation issues for speech recognition users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name.

Some elements are not supported by ARIA attributes, which may interfere with the accessibility of the webpage. This can mainly be seen where radio buttons are present. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.

While navigating with a screen reader, there are incorrect announcements on several of the pages. For example:

  • decorative separator elements are announced by screen readers on the 'candidate profile' page
  • form field labels on the 'job application, quick apply' page are read out in stages
  • hidden words on the 'create a jobseeker account' are announced.

This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Text does not meet sufficient contrast requirements against the page background. This can be seen on the ‘landing page’. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum). This image identified is exempt from the success criterion under the logotypes exemption.

Schools upload documents onto our service to support their job listings. Some documents such as job descriptions or person specifications may not be fully accessible. These types of content are exempt from accessibility regulations, but we are currently working to make this area of the website more accessible.

Disproportionate burden

Dragon Naturally Speaking (speech recognition software) can only upload files when using the mouse grid feature. This issue is believed to be an ongoing issue with the Dragon Naturally Speaking software and further information can be found on the following link: https://github.com/alphagov/reported-bugs/issues/35.

As this is a third-party issue, we are unable to fix this and it is therefore exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations and consequently a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We will continue to test the accessibility of this website as it develops.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 24 July 2024. It was last reviewed on 31 July 2024.

This website was last tested on 25 June 2024. The test was carried out by Zoonou.

Zoonou used WCAG-EM to define a representative selection of pages and test approach.