Accessibility statement for the API Developer Portal

This service is part of the wider GOV.UK website. There’s a separate accessibility statement for the main GOV.UK website.

This page only contains information about the API Developer Portal, available at API Developer Portal.

Using this service

This service is run by Defra Trade services. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this service. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • use browser settings or plugins to change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • use browser settings or other software to zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the service using just a keyboard
  • navigate most of the service using speech recognition software
  • listen to most of the service using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the text as simple as possible to understand.

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

How accessible this service is

The site fails to meet the requirements of WCAG 2.1 A and serious accessibility issues were identified. Many people will find parts of this service difficult to use.

People using screen reader technology may find the service to be particularly challenging to use. A small amount of content will be inaccessible on a screen reader and many parts of the service aren’t easily navigated using screen reader technologies. Mobility impaired users may find some elements of the service confusing as some parts may be mislabelled. Users with low vision may have trouble with poor colour contrast in the service. There are some parts of the service where it is not possible to magnify content without losing some information.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format such as large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 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, contact:

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).

If you live in Northern Ireland, complain to the Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

This website is not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. The non-accessible parts are listed below.

Non-accessible content

There is content on this service on this website that is non-accessible:

If you are navigating the service using any type of assistive technology then you may find some content inaccessible, unpredictable or see surprising results when you try to use technology to navigate the site. This fails WCAG 2.4.1 A and 4.1.1 A.

If you are using a screen reader or navigating using only a keyboard you may be frustrated by a missing ‘skip to main content’ link on the homepage and on some other pages. This means you’ll find navigation will be slower and you’ll experience some information being repeated. This fails WCAG 2.4.1 A.

When you go to a new page you may not be taken to the top of the page but instead sent to another element of that page. You may be sent to the help link or to the page footer, which may be confusing and frustrating when you are trying to navigate the page. This fails WCAG 2.4.3 A.

Some page titles are duplicated across several different pages, including parts of the sign in process, so that different parts of the service may seem to be one single page. This is likely to be confusing. This fails WCAG 2.4.2 A.

In the part of the service where you are asked to create sign in details, you may see an error message referring to an email address. However, there is no field for you to enter an email address in this part of the service. If you then try to take action on the email address error message, you will be directed to a hidden email field that was never presented to you initially. This is generally confusing and frustrating. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A and 2.4.3 A.

In the sign in part of the service, the content of the form has not been properly grouped. If you’re using a screen reader, you may find it tricky to understand the relationship between the options available and the question, making it hard for you to complete the form. There’s a similar problem with the yes/no question asking if you have an invitation code, and the part of the service for accepting the terms and conditions and privacy policy. Content isn’t properly grouped with its label, meaning it’s hard for you to tell the purpose of each piece of content. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A.

In at least one part of the sign in part of the service, the accessible label is not the same as the visible label that is on screen. The visible label reads ‘First name’ but the accessible label reads ‘Given name’. If you’re using voice activation to use the service, you may find that the expected voice commands will not work. This fails WCAG 2.5.3 A.

In some parts of the service single items have been presented as if they were a descriptive list. This makes the information structure confusing and adds unnecessary complexity. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A.

Some headings have an illogical structure that does not accurately reflect the hierarchy of the content. If you’re using a screen reader, you may not be able to identify the structure and relation of content including both the ‘Schemas’ and ‘Operations’ content sections. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A.

You may find that you can’t interact with some parts of the service in the way you might expect. For example, when you want to use the part of the service inviting you to try an API and try to execute a request to a specific endpoint you may not be able to do this using voice commands or keyboard-only. If you are using a screen reader you may also struggle to interact with this part of the service. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A, 2.1.1. A, 4.1.2 A, and 2.1.3 AAA.

In the part of the service where you are asked which APIs you want to use, the checkboxes have labels that are badly presented. Because the labels are not well associated with the checkboxes they relate to, you may find it hard to interact with this part of the service using voice commands. On a screen reader, the checkboxes may appear as if unlabelled. There is a similar problem with the part of the service where you are asked if you want to add another team member to your application, and the part where you are asked to add a team member’s email address, and to state which permissions they should have. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A, and 3.3.2 A.

In the part of the service describing the operation of the Export Health Certificates’s API, one form field has a missing label, and only the pre-enter text is available to guide you what is required. This fails WCAG 3.3.2 A.

The form field asking you to enter a redirect URL is poorly labelled, making this question appear unlabelled. This is likely to be confusing. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A and 4.1.2 A.

Some parts of the service use tables to present information but the tables do not present headers properly or the headers are completely missing. This is likely to cause problems if you are on a screen reader, as you won’t be able to easily tell how each cell relates to its content. This makes it hard to make sense of the information being presented and generally navigate this content. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A.

In some parts of the service screen readers will not get the information they need to announce what the purpose, name, or state of various elements are. This means you may get trapped in this part of the service if you are using this type of technology. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 A and 4.1.1 A.

A number of links are not properly described. This means you may not be able to tell the purpose of the link or where it is likely to send you to. This is likely to make navigation harder and make it difficult to decide whether to click through or not. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 A and 2.4.9 A.

The privacy policy is inaccessible for many different users. This is a particular problem because users are required to accept the policy before they can proceed to use the service, yet it is not accessible on mouse or keyboard. This fails WCAG 3.3.2 A.

Some navigational elements of the service aren’t well described. On the operations section of the service, you will see a button which is labelled ‘open all’ but it’s unclear which content sections this relates to. This means you won’t be able to see what the button is for if you’re on a screen reader. There’s a similar problem in the part of the service where you’re asked to add a URL, as the button to add a URL is also poorly described and labelled. This fails WCAG 2.4.6 AA.

The colour contrast between foreground and background colours isn’t strong enough and this may cause problems if you are visually impaired. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 and 1.4.6 AA.

Magnifying the screen content causes a loss of functionality and the site won’t behave as you might expect when magnified. The screen also needs to be scrolled in 2 directions when magnified. If you have low vision this is likely to be frustrating. This fails WCAG 1.4.10 AA.

The error messages that you see may not always give you the information you need to fix your issue and proceed through the service. If you’re using a screen reader, you may not be given an error message. This fails WCAG 3.3.3 AA.

There are a number of problems with the part of the sign in process where you are asked to enter a verification code. When you sign in to your account, you are asked to enter a verification code that is sent to you via text message (SMS). There are several problems with the way you’re guided through the process of sign in using a verification code.

If you enter the wrong code or the code has expired, you won’t be told this and you aren’t given any help or guidance to correct the problem. You may be given confusing information about the code being removed or deleted. This fails WCAG 3.3.3 A and 3.3.1 A.

You may be given an error message but this may not be presented in a logical position, meaning that it’s unclear that the error you’re experiencing is because of the verification code you’ve entered. This fails WCAG 3.3.1 A.

Verification codes have a time limit, which can cause a number of problems. If your verification code has expired, this may not be explained clearly and the message you do get may not be presented in a helpful way. This fails WCAG 2.2.1 A and 3.3.2 A.

When you enter a verification code, the code is submitted automatically as soon as you enter 6 characters. This behaviour isn’t standard practice on entry forms and may be confusing if you are expecting to be able to check your entry before manually submitting it. This may be particularly difficult for voice activation users, who may find their commands do not work as expected. This fails WCAG 3.2.2 A.

Now that we have identified these problems we are working on fixing them. We intend to have this done by 2 November 2022.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Some accessibility problems fall outside the scope of the accessibility regulations

  • some abbreviations are used without proper explanation
  • the cookies message disappears before it can be read
  • some links don’t take you to the destination you might expect
  • the error messages aren’t laid out well
  • sometimes the page answers are pre-selected

We are working on fixing some of these problems.

How we tested this service

This service was last tested on 26 July 2022. The test was carried out by the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) using both manual and automated test techniques to assess compliance against the desired AA rating against the WCAG 2.1 standard for accessibility. Manual checks included keyboard navigation, page zoom, contrast and high contrast / reverse mode, to simulate users relying on assistive technologies to access the pages within scope. Tests were carried out on mobile/tablet devices and on desktop, and using technologies including:

  • Screen Reader (Windows)
  • Apple Voicever (Mac)
  • Dragon Voice Activation v15
  • NVDA
  • JAWS 2019
  • Talkback/Voice assistant

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We’re fixing the problems that are stopping us from being compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We intend to have this done by 2 November 2022.

During this timeframe we will also work on fixing the problems that fall outside the scope of the accessibility regulations.

This page was prepared on 2 September 2022.