Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Chorley Council website and the following domains:

https://chorley.gov.uk/
https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/
https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/

This website is run by Chorley Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website on a variety of devices. For example, that means you should be able to:

change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and TalkBack)
discern the structure and order of web pages and content
we have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

View the website your way

We use Recite Me accessibility tool on our website, which lets you customise your website experience to work in a way that helps you.

To use Recite Me accessibility tool, select Audio Visual tools from the top bar.

View more information on accessibility tools on this website.

British Sign Language translation

We have translated some of our most common services so they are accessibile to British Sign Language (BSL) users. View BSL translation videos. We will look to develop more translated services where we can,

How accessible this website is

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

there is no skip to content link on some pages of the website
links on some pages are only distinguished by a change in colour
focus is not visible through the main menu on the MyAccount pages
the focus order is not logical in places
error messaging is not announced by a screen reader
PDF and documents aren't fully accessible to screen reader software
content and functionality provided by third party suppliers is not fully accessible.

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, easy read, audio recording or braille:

email contact@chorley.gov.uk
call 01257 515151

We will consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We can provide a text service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please email contact@chorley.gov.uk.

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Chorley 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-accessible content

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

Images

Some online reporting processes within the MyAccount pages of the website require users to pinpoint a location on a map. This sensory functionality is not accessible to some users and fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We plan to add an alternative reporting approach for these processes that does not require using a map by August 2021.

Design

Some of our in-text links within the MyAccount pages of the website are only identified by a change in colour which can make them difficult to distinguish for visually impaired or colour-blind people. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (use of colour).

We plan to change our link convention so all will be underlined by August 2021. Any new links will follow this new convention.

Some text within the MyAccount pages of the website does not pass colour contrast requirements. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast (minimum)).

We plan to correct all instances of colour contrast failure by August 2021. All new colours added to the website will be checked for contrast before being used.

Navigation and accessing information

Some pages are missing ARIA landmarks that help screen reader users navigate our site. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and relationships).

We plan to add missing ARIA landmarks by August 2021. Any new page templates will be built with appropriate ARIA landmarks as standard.

A skip to content link is not present on the MyAccount pages of our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1 (bypass blocks)

We plan to add a skip to content link to these pages by August 2021.

Some of the links within the MyAccount pages of the website are not clear on their own, they require the context of the surrounding text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose (in context)).

We plan to review and update these links so they make sense without the surrounding context by August 2021. Any new links and buttons added to the site will be checked to ensure purpose is clear.

The focus order through some areas within the MyAccount pages of the website is not logical, which can be disorientating for some users. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus Order).

We plan to review and update the focus order in these areas of the site by August 2021.

In some places within the MyAccount pages on our website the keyboard focus is not visible. This makes it hard for keyboard users to identify which part of the site is active and fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible).

We plan to make the focus visible across the site by August 2021.

The pages within the MyAccount section of our website are missing a lang attribute. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).

We plan to add a lang attribute to these pages by August 2021.

Within the MyAccount pages of the website are a number of forms containing radio buttons. These radio buttons are not programmatically grouped so are announced without their associated labels. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels and Instructions).

We plan to fix this radio button programmatic issue by August 2021. Any new forms will be added with correctly marked up radio buttons.

There are a number of minor issues within the MyAccount pages with how page elements are announced by a screen reader because they are missing programmatic labels. This fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value).

We plan to fix all these issues by adding appropriate accessible labels by August 2021. Any new functionality will be developed with accessibility in mind.

The logged in MyAccount pages of the website currently time out without giving the user any warning. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable).

We plan to create a mechanism that warns users when their session is coming to an end and implement this by August 2021.

Errors

Error messages are currently not announced by the screen reader so blind people will not know the errors exist. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 (status messages).

We plan to make all error messaging assertive so it is announced by the screen reader by August 2021.

Disproportionate burden

Payment forms

The Civica payment page does not reflow when viewed at high magnification, requiring users to scroll horizontally and vertically to view content. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.10 (Reflow).

Our payment process is built and hosted through third party software so we do not have direct control of the presentation or functionality of these pages.

We have assessed the cost of fixing this issues and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We are in the process of reviewing our payment system provider and are actively considering accessibility as one of the criteria.

Parsing

When our website is run through the W3C HTML Validator it identifies a number of errors and warnings, which may impact how well assistive technology interacts with our website.

Following comprehensive assessment of the website with a range of assistive technologies we are confident that, in spite of the errors, the website is fully navigable by keyboard and with a screen reader.

We have assessed the cost of fixing all these validation issues on every page of our website and believe doing so would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

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

PDFs and other documents

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.

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

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We plan to identify and fix issues with accessibility as soon as issues are discovered.

We have carried out an accessibility audit in January 2021. We aim to resolve these issues by August 2021, when another accessibility audit will take place to ensure we have resolved issues previously identified.

We will carry out an accessibility audit on an annual basis applying WCAG 2.1 AA standards, aiming for AA.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 2 February 2021. It was last reviewed on 2 February 2021.

This website was last tested on 15 January 2021.

This website was tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA, and the test was carried out by Web Usability Partnership Ltd.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

We value your feedback

We value feedback from real website users and would love to hear from you and the experience you had with us. Please view our website feedback page for more information on how to provide feedback.