Accessibility statement for UKSA’s Monitor your satellites service

This accessibility statement applies to the ‘Monitor your satellites’ website (www.monitor-your-satellites.service.gov.uk).

This website is run by the UK Space Agency. 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
  • 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.

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

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • The text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window to 400% on a mobile device
  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • Graphs do not have a text alternative
  • PDF documents for the Terms and Conditions and data privacy notice are not fully accessible to screen reader software

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 please email monitoryoursatellites@ukspaceagency.gov.uk 

We’ll consider your request and get back to you soon as possible.

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, contact us via:

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The UK Space Agency 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 version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

  1. The site is incompatible with Internet Explorer.
  2. Graphs do not have a text alternative, so users of screen readers will not have access to the information presented this way. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). However, all information displayed in the graphs is also included in the event information tables, and the event history table. Screen readers will be able to access this information. The graphs also change as events are updated and are unique to events so it is not possible to provide a tailored description of each graph for screen readers.
  3. On the Auth0 login page, non-text content does not have a suitable alternative for screen reader users. This fails to meet WCAG 2.1 A success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text content).
  4. On the Auth0 login page, the image link has an aria-label which reads ‘Link to Auth0 website’ which screen reader users may find difficult to understand the purpose of the link. The link also takes you to another window and serves no purpose to users navigating the service. This fails to meet WCAG 2.1 A success criterion 2.4.4 (Link purpose).
  5. On the Auth0 login page, error messages when fields are filled in incorrectly are not descriptive of what the error is and what is required to rectify the problem. Error message then disappears which could affect multiple user groups. This fails WCAG 2.1 A success criterion 3.3.1 (Error Identification).
  6. On the Auth0 login page, the ‘Email address’ and ‘Password’ text labels do not meet the guidelines for text contrast, which may affect users with low vision. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text contrast).
  7. On the Auth0 login page, the image link, the focus indicator for image link and continue button do not meet the guidelines for non-text contrast, which may affect users with low vision. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text contrast).
  8. On the Auth0 login page, when users enter incorrect credentials, the error message reads ‘Wrong email or password’ and has been placed in a span below the input fields, which may pose a challenge to users using screen readers. This Fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 4.13 (Status Messages).

PDFs and non-HTML documents

Some of our PDFs are essential to providing our services. We have PDFs with information on the site’s Terms and Conditions and Data Privacy page. Both pages are also available in HTML. 

Any new PDFs or Word Documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Interactive tools and transactions

It is not possible to navigate the graphs with a keyboard, to display interactive labels for lines on the graph. This is because the graphs were taken from a pre-existing graph library, as no approved GDS components exist, and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. 

How we tested this website

This website was tested by the internal team on 25 April 2022 using the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool which is able to identify failures that do not comply with WCAG guidelines. 

An external accessibility audit was conducted by Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) during the week commencing 16 May 2022, in which the service was tested for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA. 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We aim to fix content which fails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We will update this page when issues are fixed.

The use of third-party services 

Auth0 is a third-party authentication service used by Monitor your satellites. We are unable to address the non-compliance with accessibility regulations on the Auth0 pages. We have documented all features that do not comply with WCAG 2.1 AA and have contacted Auth0 to improve the accessibility.

Disproportionate burden 

The service is not supported in Internet Explorer and we believe this issue would be disproportionate to resolve as it is being retired by Microsoft in June 2022. As such, support for Internet Explorer 11 (and older versions 8-10) will be dropped everywhere in preference of modern, secure browsers.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 25 April 2022. It was last reviewed on 7 June 2022.