Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for www.highpeak.gov.uk.

This accessibility statement applies to www.highpeak.gov.uk.

This website is run by High Peak Borough Council.

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

• 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

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. The RNIB also have useful information about built in accessibility tools that are part of your computer or browser, and free assistive technology solutions including NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access).

Using the ReachDeck application which can be found at the bottom of every page (just click on the orange icon) you can:

• Listen to the text on the page
• Translate the page in to over 100 languages
• Enlarge the text on a page
• Use a screen mask so only smaller chunks of text can be seen
• Choose different colours to highlight the text
• Simplify pages

We have also tried to make the text on the website as simple as possible to understand.

How accessible this website is.

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

• 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
• you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
• you cannot change colours, contrast levels and fonts using functionality on our website
• some of our older videos may not have captions or may rely on auto-generated captions which may not be completely accurate
• Use of Excel and Word documents which cannot be presented in a different way
• The interactive maps are not responsive so do not adjust to the size of your screen
• Images cannot be opened as a stand-alone image and so have limitations on zooming in
• Some images may not have alternative text
• some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard

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 contact us using our online form. We'll consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

If you cannot view the map on our 'find us' page, call 0345 129 7777 or 01298 28400 for directions.

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, contact us using our online form.

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.

High Peak Borough 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.

• Some images don't have a text alternative - this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1. We plan to add text alternatives for all images by December 2024. When we publish new content we'll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
• Some images used as links don't have a text alternative - this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2. We plan to add text alternatives for all images by December 2024. When we publish new content we'll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.
• The same text is used for different links on some pages - this fails WCAG 2.1 techniques 1.1.1, 2.4.4 and 2.4.9. This will fixed as part of an upgrade to our content management system (CMS) by December 2024.
• There isn't a language attribute in the HTML coding - this fails WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page. This will be added as part of an upgrade to our CMS by December 2024.
• The home page tab panel on the home page currently uses aria attributes that are no longer valid - this fails Home Pages  - WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships   + WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. We plan to fix this by December 2024.
• The colour contrast  on some of our pages, including the home page, does not meet accessibility criteria - this  fails Home Pages  - WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast. We plan to fix this as part of our CMS upgrade by December 2024.
• Wrap elements in landmarks needs adding to all pages. For example the header block needs to be wrapped in HTML5 tags such as <header>. We plan to fix this as part of our CMS upgrade by December 2024.
• Some older PDF's, Word, Excel, CSV and PowerPoint documents may not be accessible. The accessibility regulations do not 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. We are currently working to make sure all our published documents are accessible.
• There is no visible keyboard tab focus on the search button in the header - WCAG 2.4.7 Focus visible. We plan to fix this as part of our CMS upgrade by December 2024.

Disproportionate burden.

Some of our online application forms may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard. Our forms are built and hosted through third party software (IEG4, Civica and Digital Interactive) and 'skinned' so they look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1.

We've assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make further assessments as and when relevant contracts are up for renewal. 

Third party software suppliers: Disproportionate burden assessment (PDF) [118KB]

We are also aware that some service areas third party software has customer facing web pages which have also been 'skinned' to look like our website do not comply with accessibility and usability standards. Some is old software that we cannot easily change. We've assessed the cost of fixing all the issues on the applications listed below and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations:

• geographical information mapping (GIS) and interactive maps
• https://democracy.highpeak.gov.uk/uuCoverPage.aspx?bcr=1
• https://identity.onevault.digital/core/login?signin=a09ae80f9e26823cc529afc675679e13
• http://planning.highpeak.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet
• https://highpeak-consult.objective.co.uk/kse

Third party software suppliers: Disproportionate burden assessment (PDF) [118KB]

Navigation and accessing information.

Our website content management system is supplied by a third party.

There is currently no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a 'skip to main content' option). It's not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content. It's not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

We will be carrying out an upgrade to our website in December 2024 - we hope to fix this as part of this process.

Third party software suppliers: Disproportionate burden assessment (PDF) [118KB]

Interactive tools and transactions.

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, this could be 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've assessed the cost of fixing the issues with navigation and accessing information, and with interactive tools and transactions. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the supplier contract is up for renewal.

Third party software suppliers: Disproportionate burden assessment (PDF) [118KB]

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 how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By December 2024, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible PDFs or HTML pages.

The accessibility regulations do not 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.

PDF document conversion: Disproportionate burden assessment (PDF) [104KB]

Live video.

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

External links.

This website links to third-party, external websites or services that may not be fully accessible.

What we're doing to improve accessibility.

We are working with service areas to make sure that any newly commissioned third party software complies with the latest accessibility regulations. We are also working to make sure that any new documents created and published online are accessible.

We are working with Sitemorse® ContentQA to carry out regular assessments of the website. A sample of 125 pages is tested and reviewed on a weekly basis.

We are also working with Goss Interactive to carry out a content management system framework upgrade to resolve other issues on our website.

Preparation of this accessibility statement.

This statement was prepared on 18 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 09/08/2024

This website is tested weekly by Sitemorse.

A sample of 125 pages including a variety of layouts is tested and reviewed regularly along with the use of colour contrast checkers.