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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. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 400% without problems
  • navigate the website using just a keyboard
  • navigate the website using speech recognition software
  • use 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.

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
  • keyboards cannot be used to close to cookie banner within MyAccount pages
  • some of our online forms in MyAccount are difficult to navigate using a keyboard
  • there are difficulties within MyAccount in general when using assistive technology
  • not all PDF and other documents are fully accessible to screen reader software
  • content and functionality provided by third party suppliers is not always fully accessible

Feedback and contact information

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

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

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. Any accessibility issues will be picked up by our website team.

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).

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.

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.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

Navigation and accessing information 

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025,

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • 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 are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

  • Keyboard cannot be used to close the cookie banner at the bottom of webpages within MyAccount. The X is not accessible. This fails WCAG success criterion 2.1.1

We are currently in the process of replacing our MyAccount system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

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 issue and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. 

We are currently in the process of upgrading payments system, the above issue will be resolved as part of the new solution which is estimated to be in place by March 2025.

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. 

MyAccount accessibility issues

There are some known accessibility issues within our MyAccount system that is our CRM and form solution that is used for customers to report issues to the Council. 

The MyAccount system is currently under review, with replacement on the forward plan as part of the Councils Digital Strategy.

We have assessed the cost of fixing all of the issues within MyAccount and believe doing so would be a disproportionate burden considering the full system is to be replaced in March 2025.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on planning policies, and minutes of council meetings, and forms published as Word documents. By March 2025. we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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 'Statement of Accounts 2007 to 2008' PDF

Some PDF's are not accessible as they are meant for print such as maps and walking route PDF documents.

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. 

The next accessibility audit will be in March 2025.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was last reviewed on 9 July 2024.

This website was last tested on 15 January 2021. The website will undergo a new accessibility audit in March 2025.

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 contact us page for more information on how to provide feedback.

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