Sefton Directory website accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to seftondirectory.com

This website is run by Sefton 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 200% 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 (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

 

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

My Computer My Way 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. You can see a full list of any issues we currently know about in the Non-accessible content section of this statement.

Feedback and contact information

Please contact us if you have an accessibility query including:

  • if you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
  • if you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
  • if you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made.

When you contact us there is a process in place that will acknowledge your contact, tell you who is dealing with it and give you a timescale by which you can expect a reply.

Get in touch by emailing webteam@sefton.gov.uk and we shall try to find an alternative for you.

Reporting an accessibility problem 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 are not meeting accessibility requirements, email Sefton Council’s Corporate Communications Team: communications@sefton.gov.uk If emailing, make your communication FAO Digital and Marketing Team Lead.

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 or visiting us in person

You can contact Sefton Council on 0345 140 0845 or find us at Magdalen House, Trinity Road, Bootle, L20 3JA. When calling, ask a member of our Contact Centre team to direct you to Corporate Communications.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Sefton 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 2.2 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 news content contains promotional images which contain text. All information in the image is not matched in the body of the article. Some text contrast issues are also present in these images. This fails WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A) and 1.4.5 Images of Text (AA).
  • There are some videos on the website which do not have any audio alternative or text based alternative for non-sighted users. This fails WCAG 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (A).
  • There are various videos across the website that do not have matching visuals and audio which may lead to the loss of some context for non-sighted users. This fails WCAG 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (A) and 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) (AA).
  • Many pages contain visible text that heads up sections but these visible headings are not marked up as programmatic headings. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A), and 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA).
  • Some news content refers to the colours of images to reference actions required in the case of emergency. This fails WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Colour (A).
  • Some news content contains promotional images which contain text. Some text contrast issues are present in these images. This fails WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA).
  • On Windows only, pages do not respond to user side text spacing adjustments. This fails WCAG 1.4.12 Text Spacing (AA).
  • Across the website there are numerous examples of links that are not contained with clear descriptive text that gives users information about the link’s destination. This fails WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A).
  • If a user has errors and tries to submit the form, there is a visible error message, but no audible announcement to let the user know what they should do to correctly complete the form. This fails WCAG 3.3.3 Error Suggestion (AA).
  • Some of the embedded videos present on this page do not have iframe titles. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).
  • On some pages there are broken blank links without text. This fails WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A).

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us using one of the routes described in the ‘Reporting accessibility problems with this website’ section of this statement.

 

Disproportionate burden

At this time, we have made no claims of disproportionate burden.

 

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’re not essential to providing our services. The website contains some for-information documents that predate the regulations. If you require these in an accessible format we will be happy to remediate these on request. Please contact us using the details provided in the feedback and contact information section.

 

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

 

3rd party content

Some of our services include third party content which we have no control over or are unable to remediate. For example, we currently use a CAPTCHA for our contact form which can introduce a timeout issue for keyboard users that make an error when submitting the form. Or where we are embedding NHS related services.

 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to manage some 3rd party content, but if you have a problem with any of the content hosted on this website, please contact us using the methods above and we will try to help. For 3rd party content that we cannot remediate but is within our control, we will either remove or replace this content.

 

Below is a list of known current 3rd party component related issues:

  • In the event that a user incorrectly completes the form and confirms the CAPTCHA but then must go back to rectify errors and the time limit on the CAPTCHA expires, a keyboard user can no longer get access to the CAPTCHA checkbox to re-verify and would have to refresh the page and lose their message. This fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) and WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (A).
  • On some pages, there is the inclusion of an NHS “Find services near you” widget. This has an H1 element in addition to the H1s on each page that match the page title. This fails WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A).
  • When enlarging an image from the gallery, the close button does not receive focus indication. The user can press the Esc key to get back out of the gallery view, but otherwise their focus remains on the main page rather than being moved to the enlarged image. This issue fails WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (A) and 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) (AA).

 

Video content

We have some existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the 23rd September 2020. This content is exempt from the regulations. All new video content we produce will have appropriate captions, audio descriptions and transcripts as necessary.

 

Online Maps

Our service includes the use of online maps to show certain geographical information. These are not used for navigational purposes and are exempt under the regulations. If you require the information presented in an online map in a different format, please contact us to discuss reasonable adjustments.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are currently working with the website suppliers Idox to review the website structure and they are implementing website structural accessibility fixes.  

SEND local offer website content is being reviewed by it’s authors, content will be updated and checked for website accessibility.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 4/03/2024. It was last reviewed on 15/03/2024.

This website was last tested on 25/02/2024. The test was carried out by All Able Ltd.

 

A representative sample of pages of the website were tested along with a sample of the documents from each area of the website. Testing was composed of a mixture of manual, semi-automated and assistive technology testing.

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