This is the Accessibility Statement for Wakefield Local Offer website. This website is run by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
This website should allow any user to:
We are working on making this website achieve the WCAG 2.1 Accessibility Standard.
The Wakefield Local Offer website contains several Accessible features that can be used by users with specific requirements. The widget is available on the top right-hand side of the header menu.
The features include: -
Contrast & Font Size
Changing the contrast and font sizes of text can increase legibility for some users.
Translation
You can use the Google Translate feature at the top right of the screen to translate the text to any of the available languages, including common community languages in Wakefield such as Bengali, Chinese, and Somali. Please note that the translation is done automatically by the Google software, not by the council.
Further information on accessibility options
The RNIB has a webpage with information on options that computers have which can make it easier for people with low or no vision to use them. - RNB Accessibility Options
Efforts have been made to create accessible alternatives for content that does not meet standards where possible.
Where appropriate we may be able to deliver content to users in accordance with their needs.
Please see “Make a request for Accessible Content” section for further details.
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille; Please fill out details in Contact us form or use the appropriate details, below.
Contact Details for Wakefield Local Offer
We will consider your request and get back to you in X days.
Wakefield Local Offer will use links to navigate to content on the website. External links will open in a new window.
Where possible the action of an external link will be described by extra description within the link text, so all users can understand the link’s purpose. However, in certain areas of the website adding this extra description will become a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.
We have provided the following definition for external links: -
External Links will be used for any content that has known limitations with assistive technologies OR navigates a user away from secure platforms. In summary, this means the following items are considered External links –
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
We have an accessible high contrast alternative. Which allows us to conform
We are always looking for ways to improve the Wakefield Local Offer website. If you find any problems that are not listed within this statement, or believe we are not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations please contact us.
Wakefield 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 2.1 (WCAG) AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below. (See Non- Accessible Content, Issues With…)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Services (EASS)
Whilst Wakefield strives to adhere to accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
This sub-section lists issues that fail the current accessibility regulations.
We plan to fix the existing links, see 'Improvements' section below. When we publish new content, we will make sure link text meets accessibility standards.
Voice-recognition issues
It has come to our attention that voice-recognition software does not access controls because there is an incorrect visual label in place, or a visual label does not exist. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name.
This occurs within the search bar and accessibility widget panel. Making it difficult for users who rely on voice recognition software to navigate around our website to access these components easily.
Our website provider is currently updating our website templates with these fixes, see 'Improvements' section below.
High Contrast issues
It has come to our attention that some of our content isn’t displayed correctly with our high-contrast design. This means it will be difficult for visually impaired users who may require this design to see all content. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.6 Contrast (Advanced) a Level AAA requirement.
This website passes 1.4.3 Colour Contrast (Minimum) which is the standard Level AA requirement.
Our website provider is currently updating our designs, so all content meets required contrast standards, see 'Improvements' section below.
Keyboard navigation issues
It has come to our attention that it is difficult to bypass repeated content on certain pages. This appears to occur on pages which contain navigation menus. There are also known keyboard focus issues within these pages. These pages fail WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.7 Focus Visible and 2.4.1 Bypass blocks.
Keyboard focus will be set to use a web-browser’s default focus indicator.
Our website provider is currently updating our website templates with a fix to these keyboard issues, see 'Improvements' section below.
Keyboard focus issues
It has come to our attention that it is difficult to bypass repeated content on certain pages. There are also known keyboard focus issues within our noticeboard panels in the header. These pages fail WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.7 Focus Visible.
Our website provider is currently updating our website stylesheets with a fix to these keyboard focus issues, see 'Improvements' section below.
Screen-Reader reading issues with Landmark regions
It has come to our attention that some of our accessibility features are not correctly contained within landmarks. This means it will be difficult for screen-reader users to find all content using landmarks. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 and 4.1.1.
Navigating the website can still be achieved by using heading levels and link text.
Our website provider is currently updating our website templates with these fixes, see 'Improvements' section below.
Screen-Reader reading issues with Status Messages
It has come to our attention that status messages alerting users to changes within content are not being read out. This means it will be difficult for screen-reader users to become notified of changes within our websites. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.3 Status Message.
Finding these details can still be achieved by navigating to the first line of content after the search results page.
Our website provider is currently updating our website templates, see 'Improvements' section below.
Screen-Reader reading issues with Interactive Forms
It has come to our attention that most forms cannot be read properly using screen-readers.
Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).
Our website provider, who provides this software have been notified and will be ensuring all our forms are labelled properly, see 'Improvements' section below.
This sub-section lists issues that are exempt from the current accessibility regulations. For more information see following section, “Exemptions to the Accessibility Regulations”.
Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role Value).
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 September 2020, 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’re not essential to providing our services.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
There are no issues that are considered a disproportionate burden.
Web Content that is not subject to the standards referenced in this policy statement are as follows: -
Wakefield Council is fully committed to meeting all the accessibility criteria specified in the regulatory provisions. We plan to identify and fix issues in accordance with the timescales shown for each non-compliance area. Areas of this website that fail to meet these standards will have fixes prioritised according to usage data. Due to the amount and complexity of certain issues fixes may be applied shortly after the September 2020 deadline. Wakefield Council will make continuous assessments of this website’s content and update this statement when issues have been resolved.
Our current estimation for full accessibility fixes from our website provider is no later than 31st May 2021.
This statement was prepared on 14/04/2020. Wakefield will review this policy every year on or before the 22/09/2021.
Last reviewed: 22/09/2020