The Houses of the Oireachtas is committed to making its websites and mobile applications accessible, in accordance with the European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020.
Website accessibility statement
Measures to support accessibility
This accessibility statement applies to www.oireachtas.ie.
- We have optimised our web pages for reading on screen. To see a simplified view of the website, useful when reading large pieces of text, click Reader view at the top of any page.
- We strive to publish information openly as HTML on our website but a number of PDFs are still published each sitting day. When we publish PDFs we aim to ensure they have a high standard of accessibility.
- We provide Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpretation of website text on approximately 30 static content pages on our website. We also provide a dedicated ISL page where signed content produced by Oireachtas TV is located.
- You can listen to the text on our website pages by clicking on the Listen icon in the header. It opens a third party toolbar called ReachDeck. Functional cookies will need to be turned on in order for this feature to display and work. The ReachDeck toolbar has other accessibility features too, such as dual-colour highlighting of text, text magnification, screen masking and PDF reading.
Compliance status
This website is partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 level AA standard. Partially compliant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. The non-accessible content items are listed below and we aim to fix these issues. Some of our content falls outside the scope of the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
Non-accessible content
- Some components have low colour contrast
- Some interactive controls are not nested properly for people using screen readers
- PDFs do not have file size information included
- Some PDF links open in a new tab
- Captions are not available on recorded videos of proceedings made available after 23 September 2020
Out of scope content
- Live streaming of proceedings of the Oireachtas
- Video files of proceedings of the Oireachtas made available before 23 September 2020
- Some PDFs and Office file formats published before 23 September 2018
- Some PDFs and Office file formats submitted by third parties and published as part of Oireachtas business, eg, committee opening statements and submissions, documents supporting written answers
How to send feedback on the website’s accessibility
We welcome feedback on the accessibility of this website.
Email us: web@oireachtas.ie
Phone us: (01) 618 3000
Write to us: Leinster House, Kildare St, Dublin 2, D02 XR20, Ireland
If you want particular content in an accessible format please include the following details:
- Your required format
- The content you wish to receive (please include the web address of the content)
- Your name and email address
We will make all reasonable efforts to fulfil your request.
Enforcement procedure
If you have any complaints about the accessibility of content on our website you can contact our Access Officer by email at info@oireachtas.ie. The access officer is available in accordance with section 26(2) of the Disability Act 2005.
If you are not happy with our response you can make a complaint. Our Customer Service page has details on how to do this. If you are still unhappy with our response, you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman under the Disability Act.
Preparation of this website accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 12 July 2023 and is based on the findings of an independent accessibility audit. We will update this page as issues are fixed and improvements are implemented.
Mobile app accessibility statement
This accessibility statement applies to the Oireachtas iOS and Android apps publicly available in the App Store and Google Play.
Measures to support accessibility
- Logical and consistent navigation is provided for users
- It is possible to navigate through the app using Voiceover (iOS) or TalkBack (Android)
Compliance status
Our app is partially compliant with the WCAG 2.1 level AA standard. Partially compliant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. The non-accessible items are listed below.
Non-accessible content
- Screen readers cannot always read elements inside webviews
- Webviews are not scalable
- Some tab text is difficult to read when scaled
- Colour contrast on some text is insufficient
- The app cannot be zoomed whilst using Voiceover
Out of scope content
- Live streaming of proceedings of the Oireachtas
How to send feedback on the app’s accessibility
We welcome feedback on the accessibility of our app.
Email us: web@oireachtas.ie
Phone us: (01) 618 3000
Write to us: Leinster House, Kildare St, Dublin 2, D02 XR20, Ireland
Enforcement procedure
If you have any complaints about the accessibility of our app you can contact our Access Officer by email at info@oireachtas.ie. The access officer is available in accordance with section 26(2) of the Disability Act 2005.
If you are not happy with our response you can make a complaint. Our Customer Service page has details on how to do this. If you are still unhappy with our response, you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman under the Disability Act.
Preparation of this app accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 09 Jun 2023 and is based on the findings of manual and automated accessibility testing processes. We will update this page as improvements are implemented.