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Accessibility statement

This website is run by North Yorkshire 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; and
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).

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.

How accessible this website is

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

  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text;
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard; and
  • some headings are not organised in a hierarchical layout. 

What to do if you can't access parts of this website

You can contact us if you would like information in another language or different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille. 

We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. You can email: buylocal@northyorks.gov.uk if you find any accessibility problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements.

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

Find out how to contact us here.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

North Yorkshire Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with The Public Sector Bodies (websites and mobile applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

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

Content Detail
Headings

On some pages there are empty headings, which may confuse people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships).

On some pages there are headings that have not been nested correctly, which can make content difficult to read. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships).

We plan to correct our use of headings on pages by September 2020. When we publish new content we'll make sure our headings meet accessibility standards.

Links

On some pages we've used the same link text that points to different URLs. Link text helps users understand the purpose of each link so they can decide whether they want to follow the link. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (link purpose in context).

We plan to correct link text on all pages by September 2020. 

Other technical and web development issues

We plan to correct the following additional technical issues that affect some of our pages by September 2020:

Detail WCAG 2.1 success criterion
Providing link text that describes the purpose of a link for anchor elements

1.1.1 (non-text content)

Using label elements to associate text labels with form controls 1.1.1 (non-text content)
Providing descriptive labels 2.4.6 (labels or instructions)
HTML tags have repeated attributes. For example, the tag `nav` has a repeated attribute `class` 4.1.1 (parsing)
HTML tags have been closed without being opened.  For example, closing an unopened tag 'p' 4.1.1 (parsing)
HTML does not validate 4.1.1 (parsing)
HTML does not fully conform to specification 4.1.1 (parsing)

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We understand that maintaining an accessible website is an ongoing project and are working to resolve all identified accessibility issues. Over the next 12 months we plan to perform a manual accessibility audit of our site. This will highlight issues that currently can’t be replicated automatically by a computer.

We will regularly monitor the accessibility of the website and ensure our content editors and web developers keep up to date with the latest accessibility best practice.

This statement was prepared on 9 April 2020.