Accessibility statement for Wyre Council website
Scope
This accessibility statement applies to www.wyre.gov.uk
This website is run by Wyre Council. 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
- listen to most of the downloadable PDFs using a screen reader
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.
Change the text size
You can use your browser to change text size for this website.
- Internet Explorer: Select the "View" menu, then "Text size"
- Chrome: Select the "More" menu in the top right, next to 'Zoom' choose the zoom options that you want
- Firefox: Select the "View" menu, then "Zoom" or "Zoom text only"
- Safari: Select the "View" menu, then "Make text bigger" or "Make text smaller"
- Opera: Select the "View" menu, then "Zoom"
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
1. You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
2. Some older PDFs published prior to September 2018 are exempt from the regulations and are not likely to work with assistive technology.
3. Some minutes and agendas hosted on Modern Gov are not accessible and are not likely to work with assistive technology.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, or braille:
Email: communications@wyre.gov.uk
Call: 01253 887587
Write to: The Web, Intranet and Internal Communications Officer, Communications and Visitor Economy team, Wyre Council, Civic Centre, Breck Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 7PN
We will consider your request and get back to you in five working days.
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, please contact the Web, Intranet and Internal Communications officer
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)
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide an audio induction loop service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment. Find out how to contact us
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Wyre 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 listed below.
Non accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:
- We have had to add a download to a direct debit form for customers that are unable to verify their council tax account details. This has made the form inaccessible: https://www.wyre.gov.uk/downloads/download/212/direct-debit-form
- Some older PDF documents (published prior to 23/09/2018) are not fully accessible to screen reader software and are exempt from the regulations for non-essential services provided by the council
- Some PDF documents are produced by a third party provider and are therefore exempt under section 4.2 of the regulations, although we will make every effort to obtain an accessible version where possible
- Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. 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 and our monthly content reviews will aim to fix any issues found.
Some of our services are built and hosted through third party software and 'skinned' to look like our website such as:
- Agendas and minutes of council meeting on the Modern Gov system provided by Civica
- Booking services for our Wyre Theatres pages provided by Patronbase
- Planning application search facilities provided by Public access
- Job vacancy information and application services provided by JGP
We are working with these suppliers where possible to bring these platforms up to standard, but are unable to give a date when this will be. If you require an accessible version of any document in Modern Gov, please get in touch with us.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
1. Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. 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.
2. Technical issues within the HTML as detailed in the audit report. These will be addressed by the web and digital team.
Disproportionate burden
Some PDFs relating to council meetings on the Modern Gov system are hosted by third party provider Civica and this can cause potential accessibility issues with regards to content structure of the PDFs.
Due to the high volume, large size and the regular frequency of these documents and the amount of time and resource that would be needed to convert every document that is required to be added to the website to accessible versions, causes a disproportionate burden. In addition Civica are not able to provide assurances that the PDFs will retain their accessibility once hosted on their systems.
As a solution to this issue Wyre Council will recover and create accessible versions of these documents by specific request, when required. Please contact 01253 887587 or email communications@wyre.gov.uk to request.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
Maps are exempt from the regulations, however we can provide an alternative version on request.
Live streaming – is not in scope of the Accessibility Regulations. YouTube has a built in captioning functionality that a viewer can switch on.
Pre-recorded video or audio captions: If recorded and published before 23 September 2020.
Documents on our site provided by a third party that we have not paid for (for example, a planning masterplan).
PDFs and other documents
Some of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
Some of our PDFs documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix the Local Plan 2011 – 2031.
Any new PDF's or other documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
How we tested this website
The content of this website was fully manually tested by the councils web and digital team between January and July 2021 prior to its launch on 2 July 2021. An independent audit was commissioned with Sitemorse in January 2023.
We tested:
- Full site assessment of our main website platform www.wyre.gov.uk in accordance with government guidelines
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We conduct a rolling programme of checks and audits on all content, downloads and links to ensure we maintain, and where appropriate improve the amount of accessible content.
1. Following the Sitemorse audit we carried out a full analysis of the issues, to identify:
- what we can fix
- what needs to be raised with our website provider to correct.
2. Build ongoing checks on accessibility into our regular monthly review of website content, fixing priority actions first.
3. Carry out regular audits to ensure we maintain strong accessibility standards.