Vacancy List
Primary user task: Find a Care UK vacancy near a postcode, optionally filtered by role type, sortable by distance or drive time.
~1 phone-screen of scrolling could be reclaimed on this page if these findings are addressed.
The shortest page in the audit, just 6 phone-screens of scrolling. Each vacancy row is roughly 70 pixels tall, the most compact list pattern observed across the six pages.
A useful reference point: Care UK already render 70 px vacancy rows here in a 36-item grouped list. Compared with the rest of the audit, page length is not the issue on this page. The findings here cluster around touch targets (10 group-header tap targets sit below the recommended size), the density of small disclosure controls, and feedback after a search runs.
Page-specific findings
F6.9 Low touch Footer link rows at 19 px height (site-wide)
8 footer links each at 19 px height, below the AA 24 minimum. Site-wide footer issue, not page-specific.
F5.3 Low accessibility 1 Empty H3 heading in vacancy stream
Between "Appleby House" and "Arkall Manor" an empty h3 appears in the DOM. Empty headings break screen-reader heading navigation (VoiceOver / TalkBack rotor reads "heading, level 3, [silence]"). Probable cause, a CMS-rendered group whose home name field is empty.
Cross-page findings that apply here
These are component-level findings catalogued in the Cross-page findings view. Each is observed on multiple pages, so they're worth highlighting separately from page-specific issues.
C-ALIGN.1 High layout P01P02P03P04P05P06 3 Section components sit with inconsistent alignment to the page edges, breaking visual flow
Across the audit, several different section components on the same page render with mismatched left and right page margins. Some sit flush to the left edge with a wider right gutter; others reverse it; some sit roughly centred but with their inner content offset. On a mobile viewport where horizontal space is already at a premium, the result is a page that reads as misaligned. Each section starts at a slightly different horizontal position, the vertical rhythm down the page breaks, and the side with exaggerated padding wastes content area. Beyond the wasted space, the inconsistency carries a cognitive cost. Each new section asks the eye to re-anchor on a different horizontal axis. The user is constantly recalibrating where content begins and ends, which interrupts the natural top-to-bottom reading flow and adds friction to scanning the page. On a long page (the Care Home Detail page is 27 phone-screens deep), that friction compounds. The pattern is observable on the Care Home Detail page across the purple intro panels, the lighter-grey content cards, the Feature text panels (variants A and B), Care at our home, Reviews & Ratings, and the Nearby homes block. It carries over to the listing, promo-landing and careers templates, which inherit the same section components.
C-CHAT.1 High layout P01P02P03P04P05P06 2 Two persistent bottom-anchored widgets compound on every screen
Two competing always-on bottom widgets reduce the effective scrollable viewport by ~80–200 logical px on every screen of content the user reads. WCAG 2.4.11 (Focus Not Obscured), content under a persistent widget cannot be focused without scrolling around it. Per page: - P01, Olark chat icon + Recently Viewed (2 widgets) - P02–P03, Recently Viewed only - P04, Recruiting Assistant + Recently Viewed (2 widgets) - P05–P06, Recently Viewed only
C-IMG.1 High layout P00P01P02P03P04P05P06 2 71% of images across the audit are missing width / height / aspect-ratio
Images without explicit dimensions cause **layout shift** as they load, content jumps as the browser reserves space. This produces a poor Core Web Vitals CLS score (a Google ranking signal) and a janky perceived performance. The brief explicitly calls this out. Per page: - P00: 21 / 72 (29%) - P01: 242 / 297 (81%) - P02: 13 / 15 (87%) - P03: 10 / 12 (83%) - P04: 18 / 69 (26%) - P05: 3 / 5 (60%) - P06: 104 / 106 (98%)
C-FONT.1 Medium typography P00P01P02P03P04P05P06 11–14 px text used in 100+ places site-wide
WCAG and iOS HIG both recommend ≥ 16 px for body text. 11–12 px text is below that floor; 14 px is borderline (acceptable for footnotes / captions, not body copy). P01 alone has 39 elements at 11 px, 38 at 12 px, 99 at 14 px.
C-NAV.1 Low density P00P01P02P03P04P05P06 2 Top utility tab bar consumes ~50 logical px on every page
The three audience tabs (CAREERS / CARE HOMES / CUSTOMERS) sit at the very top of every page, they're a Care UK Group navigation (sister-site switcher) but consume permanent vertical space on a small viewport.
C-FOOTER.1 Low touch P00P01P02P03P04P05P06 Eight footer navigation links sit below the WCAG AA tap minimum on every page
Eight footer links measure 19 px tall on every audited page: About Care UK, Press & media, Feedback & complaints, Careers at Care UK, Legal & regulatory information, Privacy policies, Cookies policy, Web Accessibility. The WCAG 2.5.8 AA minimum is 24×24 px. These don't qualify for the inline-text exception in 2.5.8, since each link is its own row in a stacked footer navigation list, not a phrase inside a sentence. They are explicit navigation controls.
Potential ways forward
Observations on patterns that could improve the issues above. These are possibilities worth exploring, not committed solutions, the audit's deliverable is the diagnosis.
Group-level disclosure
Every vacancy currently has its own "Read more" expander. Disclosing at the home-group level instead would reduce the number of small interactive controls on screen while still letting the user expand the roles relevant to them.
Clearer group headers
Each home name doubles as a link to the home and as a visual anchor for the group of vacancies. Wrapping the group in card framing with the home name as a heading and a separate "View care home" action would make the touch targets and navigation intent clearer.