Accessibility

Our website aims to meet the West Australian Government’s web accessibility requirements, including meeting the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 at level AA.

Digital Accessibility Conformance Evaluation

A technical evaluation of 40 pages was conducted. The pages selected constitute an accessibility audit of the website. These pages were selected by Web Key IT and agreed on by the client as representative of the overall accessibility and functionality of the website.

The evaluation was completed in accordance with the WCAG Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) which can be viewed at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/.

The pages were audited manually and cross-checked using a team of website evaluators to ensure that the results and comments presented are valid and comprehensive.

Separate and external testing of these pages has been conducted by a group of trained testers, all with disabilities. All items that related to WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance have been remediated and as many of the usability issues as practical and within scope have also been addressed.

Read the full Digital Accessibility Conformance Evaluation on ADWebKey's website.

This accessibility statement was last reviewed on 13 March 2023.

Other Standards

WCAG 2.1 also forms the content of the ISO Standard ISO: IEC 40500:2012 which can be located at https://www.iso.org/standard/58625.html

The content of WCAG forms the standard for digital accessibility compliance in EN 301549 and AS EN 301549 “Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe” which has been adopted in Australia as AS EN 302549. This standard includes:

• web content
• electronic documents
• non-web software, such as native mobile apps

Information can be found at http://www.w3.org/WAI/news/2018-09-13/WCAG-21-EN301549/ and http://mandate376.standards.eu/standard.

Acronyms and abbreviations are used extensively in the emergency services industry.  Where possible, we have listed the full title of the acronym or abbreviation in the first instance.

You can access a list of common acronyms and abbreviations below, or access the Acronyms Database found in the DFES Operational Doctrine site (login is required).

The Volunteer Hub allows full tab-based navigation.

• when you are on a menu item or hyperlink, press enter to activate
• hold down shift and tab to reverse the tab cycle
• at the top of each page there are options to skip to various areas of the page to assist users of screen readers and users that are viewing the website zoomed in.

Text on this site can be resized.

• use the zoom and increase font options from your browser’s menu
• press the Ctrl key (Microsoft Windows) or the Apple key (Mac OS) on your keyboard and use the + or – key to zoom in and out
• press Ctrl on your keyboard and scroll with your mouse wheel.

Wherever possible, hyperlinks contain descriptions of information found in the link’s destination.

All links open in the same window to improve usability for people with vision impairment, with the exception of links to documents, which open in a new window.

All images that are used to display a meaning will have alternative text available. Some browsers may also display a tooltip of this alternative text when the cursor hovers or focuses on the image. Images that are used for decorative purposes only do not contain any alternative text.

Where possible tables are only used to display tabular information and are not used for formatting. Row and column headings have been identified using HTML for use with assistive technologies. On our pages which display many publications we have chosen to display these publications in a tabular format to allow ease of access to multiple formats.

Where possible, pdf documents have also been provided in Microsoft Word format (.doc). In some cases we may not be able to provide Microsoft Word versions. For example, documents that have been produced by a third party such as submissions or scanned documents. In line with standard practice all document attachments will open into a new window.

Due to the volume of content in the Volunteer Hub, every effort has been made to remediate existing documents to ensure they meet accessibility standards. Should this not be the case, contact us using the feedback form to request alternate document formats.

If you do not have the required software to view the documents available on this site, the following free downloads or online applications will allow you to view the documents:

• PDF Documents – Adobe PDF Reader
• Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations –  PowerPoint Office Online, or OpenOffice for Linux, OpenOffice for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows
• Microsoft Excel Documents – Excel Office Online, or OpenOffice for Linux, OpenOffice for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows
• Microsoft Word Documents – Word Office Online, OpenOffice for Linux, Mac OS X and Window, Mac OS X and Window

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services is not responsible for third party applications or how they access the information on the volunteerhub.dfes.wa.gov.au website, such as but not limited to, the JAWS and NVDA screen readers, or other screen-reading software or devices.

Third party applications on this website include:

• Google Maps
• Kendo/Telerik Sitefinity scheduler
• Timeout function and error messages for Update My Details page

Whilst the Department of Fire and Emergency Services aims to make all of its online content AA accessible, borders and focus indicators for some elements will be using the default border which may have a low colour contrast ratio in some browsers.

All videos aim to include captions and transcripts, however some videos may not have audio descriptions.

Providing our information to all users, including those with a disability, is important to us. If anything on this site is inaccessible to you, or you are experiencing problems accessing content for any reason, please use the feedback form to submit details of the issue.

You can contact us by: [email protected]