Technical problem areas
Technical problem areas
Known usability and accessibility issues
Royal Mail is committed to making the whole of royalmail.com accessible. It is part of our maintenance process to upgrade pages whenever we make other changes to them. It’s only when the cost is prohibitive, that we temporarily put things back on the to-do list instead of addressing them right away.
Technology-Related Accessibility and Usability Problems
This table gives an overview of the technologies that cause problems for both able-bodied and disabled users on royalmail.com.
| Technology | Problems | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Layout tables | Long download times, can cause erratic screen reader behaviour | Ongoing |
| Syntax errors | Can crash screen readers and mobile browsers | In progress |
| JavaScript error messages | Error messages won’t be read by screen readers or are very intrusive | In progress |
| Form structure | When missing it can confuse screen reader users and make it hard to click radio buttons and checkboxes for mobility-impaired users | In progress |
| Poor language: jargon, overly complex, non-descriptive links | Makes the site harder to read and understand for all users. | In progress |
| Legacy Flash | Old, inaccessible Flash is unusable for screen reader users and some mobility-impaired users | Ongoing |
| Inaccessible PDF | Layouts in columns and forms are unusable for screen reader users and images are not described. | Ongoing |
Problem Areas
Some pages on the site were conceived back when the main goal was to get the site up and running as quickly as possible. These pages still contain problems for all kinds of users. The table below lists the areas of the site worse affected.
| Area | Problems | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SmartStamp Account Holders Area | Cannot increase text size, layout tables, not tested in all supported browsers, no form structure | Planned |
| Business Collection Order form | No form structure, forms too long | Ongoing |
| Site registration | No form structure | In progress |
| Address/postcode finder | Layout tables, no form structure | Done |
| SmartStamp Registration | Cannot increase text size, layout tables, not tested in all supported browsers, no form structure | Done |
| Customer services | JavaScript error messages | Planned |
