Accessibility statement

Introduction

This accessibility statement applies to the Norfolk Museums website, which is made up of:

• www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.norwichcastle.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.gressenhall.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.timeandtide.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.museumofnorwich.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.elizabethanhouse.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.strangershall.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.lynnmuseum.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.cromermuseum.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.tolhousegaol.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.ancienthouse.norfolk.gov.uk
• www.museumscollections.norfolk.gov.uk

This website is run by Norfolk County Council.

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 400% without the text spilling off the screen and without content being truncated or overlapping  
• 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)  

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.  

How accessible this website is

We aim to meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at AA level.  

However, we know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:  

• The close button on image galleries is not fully visible when zoomed in or on smaller screen sizes 
• The cookie consent preferences button has a tooltip that users can't dismiss using the escape key
• Pages with an image gallery have an illogical focus order 
• The collections search form may submit when users are not expecting it to 
• Some link text does not accurately describe where it will take the user 
• Some meaningful images are not coded as meaningful or don't have sufficiently descriptive alt text 
• Headings in image galleries aren't sufficiently descriptive
• Status messages about search results may not be recognised by screen readers 
• Some buttons don't communicate that they are disabled in an accessible way 
• Some form fields rely on a colour change to communicate that they have changed state 
• Some videos do not have audio description 
• Some email newsletter sign up forms: 
  • Have an email form field that does not support autocomplete 
  • Do not show error messages when the form hasn't been correctly completed and the user attempts to submit the form using a keyboard. This makes it hard for users to identify errors they have made and correct them.
  • Tell screen reader users that all fields have invalid input until they have been completed correctly. This may confuse users as this is not typical form behaviour.
  • Are embedded on the page in an iframe that does not have a descriptive accessible name. This may make it difficult for users to identify the form or find it on the page.
  • Have text that does not resize
• Some PDF documents may be difficult to access or use 

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 museums@norfolk.gov.uk

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 webaccessibility@norfolk.gov.uk 

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 3 working days.  

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).  

Contact us by phone or visiting us in person

Our museums have audio induction loops at all ticket/reception desks.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Norfolk County Council is committed to making its website 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 (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Resize text

On the Farm labourer's clothing page: On some smaller devices at 200% zoom, the gallery close button (x icon) is not fully visible. This fails WCAG 1.4.4. 

Reflow

On the Farm labourer's clothing page: At screen resolution 1280 x 1024 and 400% zoom, when the image gallery is open, some of the buttons obscure the image.This fails WCAG 1.4.10. 

Tooltips

On all pages: The cookie consent preferences button has a tooltip that users can't dismiss using the escape key. This fails WCAG 1.4.13.

On focus and input

• On the Search the collections page: Ticking/unticking the 'Only objects with images' and 'Highlights from the collections' checkboxes causes the collections search form to be submitted again. Users will not be expecting this.  
• On the Search the collections page: Entering text into the 'Search artist/maker' field causes the search artist/maker form to be submitted. Users will not be expecting this.  

This fails WCAG 3.2.2. 

On the Farm labourer's clothing page: When the user closes the gallery dialog, focus is not returned to either the view gallery button or the button directly after it in the focus order. This fails WCAG 2.4.3. 

Link purpose  

• On the Kick the dust page: The 'Facebook' 'Twitter' and 'Instagram' link text isn't sufficiently descriptive.
• On the Search the collections page: Some links have the same link text (eg. 'correspondence') but go to a different url. This means they don't sufficiently describe where the link will take users.

This fails WCAG 2.4.4. 

Images 

• On the Ancient House landing page: The alt text for the Friends of Thetford museum logo is not sufficiently descriptive. 
• On the Shoes page: The images in the timeline section are coded as decorative but they are meaningful. 
• On the Catherine Maude Nichols: Making her Mark page: The painting images are meaningful but are coded as decorative.  
• On the Farm labourer's clothing page: The image gallery images are not coded as either meaningful or decorative.

This fails WCAG 1.1.1. 

Accessible names 

• On the Farm labourer's clothing page: The close button in the gallery dialog has the accessible name 'Close gallery title'. This doesn't sufficiently describe the button functionality.  
• On the Farm labourer's clothing page: The page buttons in the gallery dialog have the accessible name eg 'Show content 3'. This doesn't sufficiently describe the button functionality.  
• On the Farm labourer's clothing page: The gallery dialog has the accessible name 'Gallery title'. This doesn't sufficiently describe the dialog. 
• On the Farm labourer's clothing page: None of the image buttons have an accessible name apart from the first image. 
• On the Search the collections page and the Museums events search page: The collections/events search button has the accessible name 'Search'. This doesn't sufficiently describe the button purpose (ie. there is nothing to differentiate it from the site search button, which has the same accessible name).  
• On the Search the collections page: The 'Clear' and 'Apply' buttons in the in the 'Department', 'Displayed at' and 'Artist/Maker' sections to not have sufficiently descriptive accessible names (ie. they are all the same).  

This fails WCAG 3.3.2. 

Headings

On the Farm labourer's clothing page: The gallery dialog includes a H2 'Gallery title'. This doesn't describe the content.

This fails: 

• WCAG 1.3.1
• WCAG 2.4.6

Status messages

• On the Event search page: When the user submits the events search form, the page text changes to say what results it's showing (eg. 'Showing results for art between 30/01/2025 and 07/02/2025') or to say there aren't any results ('Sorry, but nothing matches your search criteria'). This is classified as a status message, but that text isn't nested in a container with the attribute and value 'role="status"'.
• On the Search the collections page: When the user submits the collections search form, the page text changes to say how many results it's showing ('[number] results found'). This is classified as a status message, but that text isn't nested in a container with the attribute and value 'role="status"'. Note: looks like this issue may be present across all our sites (eg. on search result pages).  

This fails WCAG 4.1.3. 

Cues

On the Search the collections page: The 'Grid view' and 'List view' buttons are effectively disabled when the page is already showing that view - ie. if you activate the 'Grid view' button when already in grid view, nothing happens. However, there is no information in the button markup to communicate this to users.  

This fails: 

• WCAG 1.3.1
• WCAG 4.1.2

Color as meaning  

On the Search the collections page: The 'Department', 'Displayed at' and 'Artist/Maker' widgets have a white background in normal state, which changes to a light grey background in hover state. There is no other visible indication that the state has changed and the colour contrast between the white and light grey is less than 3:1. This means that colour is used as the visual means to communicate that the state has changed.  

This fails WCAG 1.4.1. 

Audio description

Some videos have informative visuals that are not explained in the audio.  

This fails: 

• WCAG 1.2.3
• WCAG 1.2.5

Email newsletter sign up forms 

• Some email newsletter sign up forms do not provide error messages when one or more fields do not have valid input and the user attempts to submit the form using a keyboard. This fails WCAG 3.3.1 
• Some email newsletter sign up forms include 'aria-invalid="true"' on all form inputs until they have valid input, which triggers the value to change to "false". This is incorrect use of the attribute - on form load it should be set to "false" and it should only be set to "true" if invalid input is detected when validation is performed. This fails WCAG 3.3.1 
• Some email newsletter sign up forms are embedded on the page using a script. This creates an iframe element within the html. The iframe does not have a descriptive accessible name. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 
• The email form field in some email newsletter sign up forms does not include the attribute and value 'autocomplete="email"'. This fails WCAG 1.3.5 
• Some email newsletter sign up forms have text that does not resize. This fails WCAG 1.4.4 

Norfolk Museums Pass application form 

There is a Norfolk Museums Pass application form PDF on the Norfolk Museums Pass page. The PDF does not meet accessibility standards because: 

• It is an untagged PDF. This means it doesn't contain tags to tell assistive technologies what content is in the document. It can be difficult for people using assistive technologies to navigate, find content, and determine where they are in this document. Screen readers might not read the content in the correct order. This fails WCAG 1.3.1
• Some of the text in the document does not have sufficient colour contrast against the background colours used. This means it can be difficult for users with visual disabilities to read this text. This fails WCAG 1.4.3

The content is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Older documents

Many of our older documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they're accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, role, value.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix documents published before 23 September 2018 if they're not essential to providing our services.

Any new documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Older videos

Some of our older videos do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not include captions. This fails WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (prerecorded). 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix videos published before 23 September 2020 if they're not essential to providing our services. 

Any new videos we publish will meet accessibility standards.  

Maps   

Our maps are not accessible to screen reader users. We have ensured that essential navigation information included in maps, such as addresses or directions, are available in an accessible format.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. The statement was last reviewed on 24 June 2025.

This website was last tested in January 2025. Norfolk County Council's Digital Customer Experience Team carried out the test.  

We tested the website www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk using automated and manual tests. We used:  

• Accessibility Insights for Web browser extension 
• Browser developer tools  
• Web Developer browser extension 
• Stylus browser extension 
• Colourcontrast.cc browser extension 
• NVDA  
• WebAim.org contrast checker  

We used a sample-based approach to auditing, based on the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM).