Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to Manage family support services and accounts.

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 you 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 (opens in new tab) 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. For example:

  • conditionally revealed questions are not always announced by screenreaders
  • some tables do not have row headings
  • some form elements do not have visible labels

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, email manage-family-support.service@education.gov.uk.

We'll consider your request and aim to get back to you in 5 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, email the details to manage-family-support.service@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 (opens in new tab).

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 WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) version 2.1 AA standard, due to the following non-compliances (and/or) the following exemptions.

Non-accessible content

The content is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  1. Conditionally revealed questions are not always announced by screenreaders and fail WCAG criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (opens in new tab). This is because ARIA elements are not supported for conditional reveals. However, the GOV.UK Design System team has found that conditionally revealed questions performed well in user research. You can find out more in their update about the accessibility of conditionally revealed questions (opens in new tab).
  2. Some tables in content do not have table row headers when needed. This means assistive technologies will not read the tables correctly. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (opens in new tab).
  3. Some form elements do not have visible labels. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A).

How we tested this website

We tested all pages of the service to check they complied with WCAG 2.1 AA. We did this using the following accessibility testing tools:

  • Axe
  • WAVE
  • Lighthouse

Any issues identified have now been fixed or added to our list of accessibility issues to fix in as soon as possible.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We’ll continue to test the service for accessibility issues, and create a prioritised list of issues to resolve.

We do not propose to take conditionally revealed questions out of this website. Evidence shows that they work for users of assistive technology, despite technically failing a WCAG criterion. We do not currently consider them a barrier to accessibility.

We plan for external experts to run a full accessibility check of the website in early 2024.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 23 October 2023. Testing was carried out by our testing team.