We are committed to making the website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below, which are all third party plug-in sites.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Forms
We use a forms package to create our forms called Form Assembly. Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and skinned to look like our website.
Our form controls do not all have labels which fails 1.3.1 (Information and Relationship) of the WCAG2.2 criteria, which makes it difficult to complete using assistive technology. We are working to fix this.
On our Sign up for e-mail updates form the user cannot keyboard tab to the hamburger menu in the header. We are working to resolve this. There is also a 1.1 error on the form - Location: <html dir="ltr" lang="en_gb">.
As part of our digital transformation project our forms will be changing and we will aim to address any outstanding accessibility issues as part of this.
Payments
Our payment form is not accessible and has the following errors:
- Missing headings 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships).
- Form labels 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships).
- Contrast issues. 1.4.3 (Contrast Minimum).
This payment system is being upgraded and a new accessible form should be in place by March 2024.
Planning
Our planning application search is not fully accessible, it is:
- Missing alternative text for image buttons (1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
- Missing form label 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships).
We are working to resolve these issues.
We do not make planning documents accessible before adding them to the website. The documents are taken from the Planning Portal.
Planning appeal documents
We have a large number of planning appeals taking place over the next few months (October 2024-March 2025), which require a lot of documents to be added to the website. There are often more than 200 documents for each appeal, from the appellant and our planning team. Due to the time involved in making these accessible and our capacity to do this work, we have decided not to make them fully accessible. Anyone who needs an accessible version is advised to contact us.
Planning policy maps
We use a mapping service to provide maps for our planning policies and this system is not fully accessible.
We are working with the supplier to see how we can improve the map system and will update this information. Customers can contact us to find out how we can help them access the information in a different way.
Homechoice
Our Home Choice system which people on the housing register use to bid for council house is currently not fully accessible. We are working with the supplier to resolve these issues.
Events
On the events page the tab order is not consistent. The autocomplete for the location name is incorrectly formatted.
All pages
The tab order is not consistent.