Accessibility

Web Accessibility Statement

The Public Appointments Service is committed to providing information and services that are fully accessible to the widest possible audience. Our commitment to this is stated in our Customer Charter.

The Public Appointments Service is committed to ensuring that this website achieves "Double-A" conformance with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0). This means that every page will comply with all checkpoints in the top 2 priorities of WCAG 1.0, to comply with the National Disability Authority's Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information Provided by Public Bodies.

The Public Appointments Service is committed to ensuring that any new additions to the website will achieve "Level AA" conformance to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).

The Public Appointments Service is committed to ensuring that accessibility will feature in any future procurement requests for 3rd party systems or upgrades to existing systems.


Statement of the website's conformance with official accessibility guidelines

The Public Appointments Service are committed to achieving "Level AA" conformance to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. While some areas of the site conform to these guidelines, some pages do not conform yet. We will address the pages that do not conform in forthcoming releases of publicjobs.ie.

To improve the accessibility of the website, we recently simplified our registration page to make it easier to use. Here are some changes we made:

  • • We stopped using invisible tables to position things on webpages.
  • • We grouped parts of our forms together to make them more intuitive and easier to understand.
  • • We made the text and the buttons bigger.
  • • We replaced some drop-down menus with radio buttons.
  • • We simplified the Job Search process.
  • • We added alternative text for all images on the website. This ensures that screen reader software will be able to provide a text equivalent for any images present.

Guide to Site Layout

Below is a guide to the structure of the site:

The main navigation is on the left hand side of the page. The navigation is divided into 4 sub sections. You can also navigate the site using the site map.

The Job Seekers section provides information to job seekers, including job listings and career information. Click on the Job Search link to search for jobs by Employer Type or Job Category.

The Employer Services section provides information to employers who use the services of publicjobs.ie. Some information in this section is only accessible with a username and password, which are allocated to registered employers.

The Decentralisation section provides information on the government's programme of decentralisation. It also allows applications for decentralisation to be made by certain public servants who are covered by the decentralisation provision.

The About Us section provides information on the Public Appointments Service, which is the centralised provider of recruitment, assessment and selection services for the Civil Service.

The site may be viewed in Irish or English. To switch languages, select the required language indicator at the top right side of the page.

The title bar for each page includes links to Candidate Login/logout, Registration and Home.

There is also a secondary navigation at the bottom of the page. Links on this navigation include site map, terms and conditions, privacy statement, FOI etc.


Current accessibility limitations

We are aware of some areas on the website where we can improve accessibility. Here are some examples:

  • • Some pages, including the home page, the contact page, the job search page, the site map page, the "Site Requirements" page, the "Our Team" page, the "Customer Charter English (2008-2010)" document, and the pages that show details of jobs, do not have properly structured headings.
  • • The "My Job Alerts" page needs labels for its forms.
  • • The "Employee Profiles" videos need captions.

We are currently reviewing our website, focusing initially on the most commonly used webpages. We will audit these pages and improve them as necessary. Then we will audit the remainder of the website. We will involve web users with disabilities in our User Acceptance Testing for this.

When you apply for a job through this website, you might have to download a PDF form to your computer and fill it in using Adobe Reader. We chose this method because we want you to be able to complete the form in your own time. If you have a problem during this process, please let us know.

In addition, we will review all new content for accessibility, Plain English, and usability, before we publish it. We will review the website every quarter.


Areas for improvement and alternatives

Certain documents on this website are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). In order to access PDFs, you need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

We have, whenever possible, provided a non-PDF alternative where there is a PDF document. If you cannot access the information in any PDF document on this website, please email info@publicjobs.ie or phone 01 8587400 and we will provide it in an alternative format.

We have also provided a text transcript of the employee videos as an alternative to video captioning.


Public Appointments Service Accessible Information Communications Policy


Request for Information in an Alternative Format

  • Request_info_alternative_formats.doc
    (Please note that requests for alternative formats related to participating in a recruitment campaign are made at application stage)
  • DOC | 480KB | Request_info_alternative_formats.doc
  • Request_info_alternative_formats.pdf
    (Please note that requests for alternative formats related to participating in a recruitment campaign are made at application stage)
  • PDF | 233KB | Request_info_alternative_formats.pdf

Customer Feedback in relation to Accessibility


Public Appointments Services Access Handbook

A customer way-finding guide to the Offices location, means of access, transport options, accessibility and emergency evacuation procedure


Accessible Customer Services Information Booklet

Features and services of the Public Appointments Service for customers with special needs


How to send feedback on this website's accessibility

We welcome any feedback regarding accessibility, and would be glad if you would bring any items that we may have overlooked to our attention. Please email info@publicjobs.ie to report any accessibility issues.

If you have difficulty accessing any parts of this website, or wish to discuss any matter relating to the accessibility of our building or services, please contact our Access Officer Gerard Murphy.

Email address: gerard.murphy@publicjobs.ie

Telephone: 01-8587576

By post or in person
Human Resource Unit,
Public Appointments Service,
Chapter House, 26-30 Abbey St. Upper,
Dublin 1.