Website Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.staffordbc.gov.uk.

The website is run by Stafford Borough Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • display the text in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using device and/or browser settings
  • zoom in up to 300% 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)

The website is designed to be used by all current browsers and devices. We try to make the content of the website as clear, concise and free of jargon as possible.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

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

  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams do not have captions (live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations)
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader

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 corporatesupport@staffordbc.gov.uk.

We will contact you regarding your request within 5 working days.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Our offices have audio induction loops if required or you can contact the relevant department prior to your visit to arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

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 Corporate Support by emailing the issue to corporatesupport@staffordbc.gov.uk

We will contact you regarding your issue within 5 working days.

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

We are committed to making our website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Our website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Fixed Line Height

On the main landing pages (People, Business, Council, Pay/Apply/Report) and events calendar there is an issue with the line height being fixed. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.8 (visual presentation).

Images

Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This includes images supplied by a third party for use on the events calendar. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

PDFs

Many older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software. They may have issues such as no text alternatives for images. From September 2020 new documents will meet the accessibility standards.

Third Party Websites

Some services such as online forms and the planning applications system are built and hosted through third party software and are designed to look like our website. We are reviewing the content on our third party websites. Planning documents are not currently compliant.

Third Party Content

We link to Google Maps. Directions may not always be available in an alternative format (text only), including for externally submitted events listed on the events calendar. Images supplied by a third party for use on the events calendar may not have a text alternative.

Third Party Documents

Some documents produced by a third party are not compliant.

Consultation Responses

Consultation responses submitted by third parties, such as residents and private companies, may not be in an accessible format.

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents.

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services.

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

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

This website is automatically tested every 7 days by Siteimprove. It checks the website according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, gives us an accessibility score and reports on all the issues found. The web team regularly review and resolve the issues detected.

We will encourage web authors to publish website content on web pages (HTML) rather than in PDF format.

From November 2023 we will start to replace our online forms with accessible versions.

This statement was prepared on 8 March 2019. See 'Last Updated' date below to see when this page was last reviewed and updated.

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