Accessibility Statement

This is the accessibility statement for MyWelfare and applies to all content published on MyWelfare.ie. MyWelfare is committed to achieving WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 Level AA standard.

This statement was prepared on 03/07/2024.

MyWelfare.ie is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2 Level AA guidelines.

We follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and 2.2 Level A and Level AA to test and audit the level of conformance of MyWelfare.ie. The website was last reviewed on 28 June 2024. 

• We have assigned Access Officers to all areas of the Department of Social Protection. You can find details of Access Officers on gov.ie.
  
  
• We will engage in user testing to ensure the accessibility needs of people are met.
  
  
• We will perform continuous accessibility assessments of MyWelfare.ie.
  
  
• We have assembled a team to audit and fix content which fails to meet the WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 Level AA standard.

Despite our ongoing efforts to ensure accessibility of MyWelfare.ie, there may be some limitations or non-accessible content. Below is a description of known limitations.

• Focus States: Some focus states are missing or not visible. This can make it harder for people using a keyboard to navigate the site.

• Tab Steps: In some instances, tabbing may not follow the visible steps on the page. People using keyboard navigation may need to tab more times than seems evident to access the option they would like.

• Enter Button / Space Bar: Throughout the site, when selecting options using keyboard navigation, the enter button and space bar may be interchangeable. In certain circumstances, the enter button and space bar may not work as expected (for example, the enter button may not work for checkboxes across the site).

• Arrow Buttons: When making a selection from dropdown lists, the first option may appear inaccessible when using the arrow buttons to navigate the list. People using keyboard navigation may need to use the arrows to scroll down through all options to return to the top of the list.

• Tables: Some tables on MyWelfare.ie may not be accessible to people using assistive technologies, such as screen readers or voice recognition software, to read content on the site.
  
  
• Images: Images on MyWelfare.ie may be missing alternative text descriptions and so may not be accessible to people using assistive technologies, such as screen readers or voice recognition software, to view content on the site.
  
  
• PDFs: PDF documents featured on MyWelfare.ie may be less accessible than HTML web pages for people using assistive technologies to read content.
  
  
• Mobile menu: Some users may have difficulty logging in or accessing options on the mobile menu of MyWelfare.ie when using assistive technologies such as screen readers.
  
  
• Assistive Technologies: MyWelfare is currently undergoing testing for accessibility using assistive technologies. As this testing is ongoing, some aspects of MyWelfare may not be accessible to people using assistive technologies, such as screen readers or voice recognition software.
  
  
• Session expiry: MyWelfare is currently developing an enhanced session expiry modal that will allow users to extend their session. As this modal is not currently in place, users will be automatically logged out of their MyWelfare session after 30 minutes. After this time, users will have to log back in with their MyGovID to continue using MyWelfare. 

This above is not an exhaustive list of non-accessible content and limitations.

MyWelfare.ie is compatible with the following browsers and operating systems:

• The latest version of Chrome
• The latest version of Firefox
• The latest version of Safari
• Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11
• Recent versions of Android and IOS

MyWelfare.ie is not compatible with Internet Explorer and will therefore not perform optimally using this browser.

The accessibility of MyWelfare.ie relies on the following technologies:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of MyWelfare.ie. If you have any concerns or complaints about the accessibility of this website, please contact us at DigitalServices@Welfare.ie. We will respond to you within 7 working days.

If you have difficulty accessing services on this website, please contact DigitalServices@Welfare.ie to request the information in a different format. We will respond to you within 7 working days.

If you are not happy with MyWelfare’s response, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman under the Disability Act.