Accessibility Statement for Wychavon District Council
This website is run by Wychavon District Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website.
In order to adapt the content to meet your needs and preferences, you should be able to:
- change colours, contrast levels and fonts styles
- zoom in up to 500% without the text spilling off the screen
- navigate through 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)
- read transcripts with most video materials
- request material in alternative formats, for example Word documents and PDF
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible the website is
Although we aim to exceed the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards, we know that parts of our website are not fully accessible:
- some PDF documents cannot be interpreted by a screen reader
- websites and documents that are produced by third-party organisations and are linked from Wychavon District Council
- keyboard navigation while using interactive features (such as My Local Area, Planning Search, Self Service)
Feedback and contact information
If you cannot access parts of this website or you need information that is on this website in a different format, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 01386 565106.
We’ll respond to your request and get back to you within five working days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We are continually seeking to improve our website. We therefore welcome feedback or suggestions about how we can improve accessibility. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements.
Enforcement procedure
If you have a complaint about the accessibility of our website, you should raise a complaint using our Complaints, Compliments and Suggestions procedure.
If you are not satisfied with our response then 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’) and you should contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
If you wish to contact us about anything not covered, please visit our Contact us page.
Technical information about the accessibility of our website
Wychavon District Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Compliance status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standards, due to the non-compliances listed below;
Non accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
- A 1.1.1 Avoid alternative text that is the same as adjacent text.
4 instances - Ensure Alt text is appropriate for all media. To be investigated. - A 1.1.1 Ensure PDFs are machine readable.
12% incomplete - Includes scanned documents. Fix to be implemented. - A 1.3.1 Add a legend for all fieldsets
1 instance - All fieldsets should offer a description of the field group. To be investigated. - A 1.3.1 Mark navigation as lists
4 instances - Lists of related links should be written as lists. Fix to be implemented. - A 1.3.1 Add headers to tables
39 instances - tables which contain information should have clear headers defined. - A 1.3.1 Ensure every page contains a heading
1 instance - every page should contain a heading. To be investigated. - A 1.3.1 Specify headings for every PDF
433 instances - PDF files should have headings - A 1.3.1 Fix untagged PDFs
345 instances - Tags should be made in a valid reading order - A 1.3.1 Ensure PDF follows a logical order
1.7% incomplete - Headings should follow a sequence without skipping intermediate headings. - A 1.3.1 Ensure the first heading in the PDF is a H1
3 instances - The first heading should be a Heading 1. - A 2.4.2 Define a title for all PDFs
463 instances - All PDFs must define a valid title. - A 2.4.4 Avoid using the same link text for different destinations.
24 instances - Every link’s purpose is clear from its context. Fix to be implemented. - A 3.1.1 Language of Page
2 instances - Every page should specify what language it is written in. Fix to be implemented. - A 4.1.1 Fix duplicate IDs
6 instances - All ID attributes on a page must be unique. To be investigated. - AA 1.3.5 Identify the purpose of fields programmatically
1 instance - Fields must identify what their purpose is programmatically. - AA 1.4.10 Ensure pages don't scroll in two dimensions on small screens.
39.2% incomplete - When viewed on small screens (like mobile phones) content must fit without requiring scrolling in two dimensions. To be investigated.
Disproportionate burden
At present there are no accessibility problems on www.wychavon.gov.uk that we consider to be a disproportionate burden to resolve.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
Our older PDFs, Word and Excel and third-party documents do not meet accessibility standards. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). However, 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, unless found otherwise. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Video captions
Prerecorded videos published before 23 September 2020 do not include captions. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded). Captions may not be added to these videos because a prerecorded video published before 23 September 2020 is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. Any prerecorded video content we publish after 23 September 2020 will meet accessibility standards.
Maps
Interactive maps are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. Any new interactive maps will be published to meet accessibility standards.
How we tested this website
This website was last tested on 28 September 2020. A desktop audit and automated test software (Silktide) was carried out by Wychavon District Council.
We tested:
- our main website platform, available at wychavon.gov.uk
- The My Local Area, Planning Search Map and Self Service technical platforms which are ‘skinned’ to look like our website
This statement was last updated on 28 September 2020
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
Web Officers and developers who are responsible for content and design on the website, are undertaking training in producing more accessible content and improving content that is already on the site.
Any new content we publish to the website will:
- Be structured well
- Use plain English
- Use shorter sentences
- Contain accessible PDFs
Website testing will be carried out weekly to identify accessibility problems, in which they will be tackled in order of those with the greatest impact.
Diverse Accessibility User Testing will be carried out in the future to test the accessibility and usability of the functions on the website.
My Computer My Way (MCMW) offer guides to using assistive technologies to use websites with a range of devices.