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Accessibility

Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for www.herefordshire.gov.uk

This accessibility statement applies to all websites owned and maintained by Herefordshire Council

This website is run by Hoople Group IT services.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • 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)

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

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand and are constantly reviewing and updating the website to improve this.

How accessible this website is

Website accessibility features

We offer the following accessibility feature on our site:

  • 'Skip to content'
    At the top of every page is a link that is spoken by screen-reading software and will appear when 'tabbed to' using a keyboard. It is the first link and, when selected, will skip past the rest of the menu items and start at the beginning of the main page content
Headings and navigation menus

HTML heading tags are used to convey document structure. H1 tags are used for main titles, H2 tags for subtitles etc.

Navigation menus are marked up as HTML lists.

This ensures that the number of links in the list is read out at the start and it can be skipped easily. We also provide consistent navigation.

Accessibility and usability of our site

This website aims to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

Useful links

NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Providing feedback via synthetic speech and Braille, it enables blind or vision impaired people to access computers running Windows for no more cost than a sighted person.

Free site translation with Google Translate or Yahoo Babelfish.

Parts of this website are not fully accessible

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

  • The text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • Live video streams do not have captions
  • Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • There's a limit to how far you can magnify the map on our 'contact us' page

Feedback and contact information

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 or if you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.

If you cannot view the map on our 'contact us' page, call or email us for directions.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment. Find out more on the Relay UK website

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

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

Herefordshire 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 standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

  • Non-compliances - this means the content in question is in scope of the regulations, but there's an accessibility problem with it
  • An exemption - this means the inaccessible content is out of scope of the regulations, or it'd be a disproportionate burden for you to make it accessible

Non-accessible content

While Herefordshire Council strive to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents don't meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be marked up so they're accessible to a screen reader.

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 don't 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.

For herefordshire.gov.uk
  • Map-based resources
  • Most older PDF documents aren't fully accessible to screen reader software
From external websites directed to from herefordshire.gov.uk

Some parts of this site link to or use content provided by other websites and we cannot guarantee that these resources are fully accessible. Examples of these are:

  • Better Off - benefits system
  • Capita payments system - Capita Council Tax, Housing Benefit, business rates systems
  • Capita Prism - library catalogue
  • Elgin roadworks map
  • Homepoint - housing system
  • Microsoft Dynamics - form processes
  • Modern.gov - councillors information
  • RDB - job vacancies
  • Servelec Synergy (Enrol, FISO) - for applying for a school place
  • Unicard Ltd - bus pass applications
Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, because some form controls are missing a 'label' tag.

Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and 'skinned' to look like our website.

We are in the process of updating this functionality.

Navigation and accessing information

It is not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.

It is not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

Exemptions

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

How we test our website

This website is formally tested on a weekly basis. We use Siteimprove for automated tests and check manually any highlighted issues.

This statement was prepared on 20 September 2000.

It was last reviewed on 21 December 2021.