This accessibility statement applies to the Warwick District Council website and anything within the https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/ domain.
This website is run by Warwick District Council. Our website has been created and is maintained with accessibility in mind. We are committed to making our website accessible and as user-friendly as possible, regardless of disability or impairment. Read our website accessibility policy.
Using our website
We want as many people as possible to be able to use our website. For example, that means you should be able to:
- Change colours, contrast levels and fonts
- View the website in both portrait and landscape orientation on mobile
- Zoom in up to 300% without the text overlapping for most content
- Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- Easily bypass repetitive menu links via a skip to content link on all pages
- Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
- Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand by using plain English.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Navigation
- A-Z – Find pages quickly and easily using our A-Z index.
- Site Map – This lists all the pages in each category of the website.
- Search – The search appears on every page and allows you to search the whole site for specific information.
- Consistency – The navigation is consistent across the whole site to make finding information easier.
Plain English
We aim to use plain language and try to avoid unnecessary jargon and acronyms. Text in some documents, such as committee reports, may contain more complex or technical language. The website is approved by the Plain English Campaign.
Opening and downloading Adobe Acrobat documents
Downloadable documents on the site are in Portable Document Format (PDF). Where we have attached a PDF document, we provide a link to the Adobe Acrobat website so that you can download the free Adobe Reader needed to open a PDF. Acrobat Reader now has improved accessibility features and includes the facility to read the text out loud.
Browsers
Our website has been tested in a variety of browsers. Supported versions are largely dictated by usage, but all content should be readable, usable and functional in the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. For browser types not included in this list, page content should still be readable; although in reality it is possible they will have the correct appearance and function. Decisions on supporting older versions of browsers will ultimately be decided by current usage, and users may be encouraged to upgrade.
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- Some animated content cannot be paused, stopped, or hidden.
- Some form elements do not have labels that are programmatically associated.
- Some video content may not be fully accessible in terms of captioning and provision of transcripts and audio description.
- Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- We are unable to save progress in some partially completed online forms
- Form pages have a 20-minute timeout, and progress is lost if this is reached. We have designed forms purposefully to have short pages to attempt to avoid this issue
- Online maps are not fully accessible
A full listing of known issues with our web pages that may affect users with disabilities is available below under non-accessible content.
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'll consider your request and get back to you within 14 days.
You can also use the details listed on our contact us page to get in touch with specific departments.
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, you can let us know using the website feedback form or by contacting the Website Services Manager at webmaster@warwickdc.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’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
Warwick District Council are committed to making our 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.
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
A website accessibility assessment 2024 highlighted the following issues:
A issues:
- STAS-F01: Non-Functioning ‘Skip’ Navigation
- STAS-F02: Incorrect Heading Structure
- STAS-F03: Empty Headings
- STAS-F04: Missing Alt Text
- STAS-F05: Non-Descriptive Alt Text
- STAS-F06: Empty Button
- STAS-F07: Form Error Handling
- STAS-F08: Empty links
- STAS-F09: Non-Descriptive Link Text
- STAS-F10: Incorrect Table coding
- STAS-F11: Element Markup
- STAS-F12: Users unaware of content change
- STAS-F13: Unable to Pause Moving Content
- STAS-F14: Untitled Frames
- STAS-F15: Video and Audio missing Text Alternatives
- STAS-F16: Video missing Audio Description
- STAS-F17: Mouse Dependant Areas
- STAS-F18: Link Styling
- STAS-F19: Inaccessible Non-HTML Documents
- STAS-F20: HTML Markup Errors
AA issues:
- STAS-F21: Insufficient Colour Contrast
- STAS-F22: Obscured Text
Advisories
- STAS-A01: Links to Non-HTML Documents
Documents
There may be some documents published after 23 September 2018 that do not meet the requirements due to the following reasons:
- Forms in PDF or Word format which can't be completed online
- Documents supplied by third parties (for example, documents attached to planning applications)
- Documents that are automatically generated by third party systems (for example, letters created by iDox)
We plan to migrate any PDF or Word forms to online versions, and work with suppliers to get templates updated to get these resolved by December 2022
Disproportionate burden
Planning committee reports
Planning committee reports are created by our planning department and published as PDF files for items discussed at Planning Committee and are available to download from our website. The planning team have undertaken a revew and determined that it is a disproportionate burden to make these documents fully accessible. There are roughly 10 reports created per month, which can take between 2 and 40 hours for each report. Accessibility checks and updates will create between 240 to 600 hours of additional work a month. Accessible versions of a planning committee report can be provided if requested.
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
This content is not part 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’re not essential to providing our services.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams, because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Maps
Whilst every effort has been made, it is not currently possible to make Geographic Information System (GIS maps) completely accessible to all users. You can access a wide range of the information available in the GIS maps in text format within the my property pages. If you require help with the interactive maps call our GIS team on 01926 456663.
Individual pages may contain embedded third party maps in an iframe. The accessibility of these maps is beyond our control, and there may be issues with keyboard access. We aim to provide relevant addresses in text format where these maps appear.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are doing a number of things to improve our website accessibility:
- We aim to ensure that all new documents are either converted to HTML web pages, or made fully accessible before publishing.
- Using user feedback received through the website feedback form
- Guidance and training for staff on how to create accessible website content, adopting the SCULPT accessibility guidance for documents, created by Worcester County Council
- Procedures introduced to check for accessibility when procuring or developing new online systems
- Regular usability testing with the public to highlight issues with our site
- Website accessibility audits held every 2 years
- Ongoing monitoring of accessibility issues using automated testing software provided by Monsido
- Using tools such as WAVE and the Web AIM colour contrast checker
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 10 May 2024.
This website was last tested in March 2024. The test was carried out by The Shaw Trust and tested all pages of our website along with manual user testing of user journeys. See further information about our website accessibility audit