What's included in this guide:

• Introduction
• Why it matters
• Practical tips
• FAQs

Introduction

We offer a WCAG 2.1AA compliant candidate experience and work with The Shaw Trust, specialists in assessing accessibility compliance and advising on best practice.

This supports users who may find online applications a challenge. It also provides technical compatibility for those who might have their own assistive technology or tools such as screen readers.

In addition, for users who don't have their own assistive technology, we offer an Accessibility Toolbar (delivered in partnership with Recite Me) aimed at users with visual impairments and dyslexia. It allows candidates to adjust the font size, the screen contrast, font, read the page aloud, translate content and many other features.

Our candidate sites are used across the public sector with clients including the Isle of Man Government, Enfield Council, NHS Scotland, HMRC, The Local Government Association, NHS Blood & Transplant and NHS Property Services.

Not only does this provision help your organisation remain compliant with legislation, but it also helps empower many more candidates to apply online, who might have otherwise been unable to.

Why it matters

Up to 19 million people in the UK are affected by common learning or visual impairments, this figure is calculated as thus:

• An estimated 6.6 million people suffer from varying severities of dyslexia
• According to the NHS, it estimates that around 1 in 10 suffer from varying degrees of dyslexia
• There are 3 million people who are colour blind in the UK
• 2 million people are living with visual impairments that affect their day to day lives
• 850,000 people are living with some form of dementia
• And finally, it is estimated that 7.1 million people can be described as having 'very poor literacy skills’

Job seeking isn’t easy for all:

• Disabled people must apply for 60% more jobs to get hired (source: The Independent)
• 1 in 3 job seekers think online job applications are suitably accessible for disabled people (source: RIDI)
• Only 26% of people think online applications are suitably accessible for people who speak English as a second language (source: RIDI)
• As many as 75% of disabled job seekers feel their condition has an impact on their job search (source: RIDI)
• Only two in five (40%) of disabled workers believe there are good job opportunities available to them. (source: Indeed)

Employers benefit too:

• 2.3% higher cash flow diverse companies enjoy 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee (source: Deloitte)
• 19% revenue increase for companies with diverse management teams compared to their less diverse counterparts (source: Boston Consulting Group)
• 30% profit margin for companies that embrace best practices for employing and supporting people with disabilities (source: Accenture)
• 87% better at decision-making and more likely to capture new markets with diverse companies with inclusive talent to capture new markets (source: Bullitin Beta)
• 75% of those with disabilities and their carers ceased being customers with companies due to poor service (source: BBC)

Practical tips

Whether the Accessibility Toolbar is activated or not, the candidate experience with the Jobtrain platform is certified compliant. However, it doesn’t end there. Make sure content such as job adverts and information about your organisation is optimised for accessibility wherever possible.

Clear colour contrast

Ensure that text and background colours have enough contrast. Some users find it hard to read light grey text on a white background, dark grey text on a black background and white text on a red background. The contrast ratio should be 3.0 or more for 18-point text or larger.

You will find the necessary tools in the Brand Builder CMS and in the Job Advert Editor.

Alternative text content

This applies to image or video elements within your pages. The videos or images may not be accessible to some candidates and/or incompatible with their assistive technology. These elements should display descriptive content or fallback content should they be disabled or unsupported.

Whenever uploading an image or video into the Jobtrain media library, simply use the ‘For Candidates’ field to add your description.

You can do the same within the Brand Builder CMS using the pop-up window.

Descriptive link text

It’s common to add links (usually URLs) to content within your job adverts or career pages, but if there isn’t surrounding descriptive text it can be a problem. Screen Reader technology uses text around links to help explain to the candidate what the link does.

When you create a link in a text editor using the link button, or by right-clicking the link if you've pasted it in, the resulting Link Editor will allow you to add:

• A descriptive link label (which helps all users)
• An advisory title. This is a brief description or additional information about the link. By using the advisory title feature, you can give readers a better understanding of where the link will take them or what they can expect to find when they click on it. It can make the text more informative and user-friendly. 

FAQs

Is Accessibility compliance standard?

We offer a WCAG 2.1AA compliant candidate experience as standard and work with The Shaw Trust who are specialists in assessing accessibility compliance and advising on best practice. However, if you have applied your own organisation's branding style sheets to your Jobtrain candidate experience there is a likelihood it will no longer be compliant. Feel free to get in touch with us to discuss this.

Is this the same as the Accessibility Toolbar?

No, the Accessibility Toolbar is an additional feature. Further details can be found here.

Who is The Shaw Trust?

Shaw Trust – a national charity, supports over 50,000 people a year throughout the UK and further afield so they can live independent and inclusive lives.

Shaw Trust Accessibility Services provides guidance and support in:

• Digital accessibility
• Training in digital accessibility
• Media services (accessible documents, transcripts and captioning)
• Digital accessibility consultancy

I’ve followed the guidance notes and have some further questions.

For any questions about the configuration of the candidate experience, please contact our Support Team at +44(0)161 8502004 in the first instance.

If you are expanding from accessibility enhancements to a wider diversity initiative, and you wish to consider:

• Disability Confident scheme related features
• Accessibility Toolbar
• Gathering and analysing data
• Potential success measures
• External research

Please get in touch with either your Continuous Improvement Consultant or book a session here with our Talent Intelligence Director, Gary Towers.