Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to Lancashire.gov.uk, which is managed by Lancashire County 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
  • 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:

  • some older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • colour contrast on some text elements is not sufficient
  • some image elements do not have alternate text attributes
  • some forms content does not have associated labels
  • some links may not have distinguishable names
  • some of our videos do not have captions
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard

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 need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille
  • if you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
  • if you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made

Complaints process

If you have reported a problem with our website or asked for an alternative format, but you are not happy with our response, you can use our complaints process to register your difficulty.

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

Lancashire County 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

Older images

Images uploaded to the site before 2018 may not have alt tags or captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).

We will correct insufficient or needed alt-text over time as we review sections of the site. When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

Selective headings

Some web page headings don't cascade inside the features on the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.10 (Section Headings).

We correct the incorrect usage of heading as we review sections of the site. Some of the heading are on legacy systems we may replace in the future

Select link text

Some pages use the same link text more than once, but each goes to a different URL. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

Tables

Some older pages may use tables using incorrect markup or may be used incorrectly. We will correct usage of tables as we review sections of the site.

Insufficient colour contrast

Some images contain text that does not meet minimum colour contrast requirements.

Images with insufficient colour contrast are not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.3.

We will correct the contrast on these images over time as we review each page.

Links indistinguishable from text

On some pages links may not be underlined and only identifiable by colour: Users with visual impairments cannot see these links.

This is not compliant with WCAG guideline 1.4.1.

We will correct these links over time as we review each page.

Disproportionate burden

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms are difficult to navigate using a keyboard. For example, 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.

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.

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.

Live video

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

Video

Video content embedded on our website before August 2019 may not meet accessibility standards: They may not feature subtitles, audio-description or offer a written transcript.

Any video added to our site since August 2019 meets accessibility regulations.

We use YouTube and Vimeo to embed videos onto our webpages. We are not responsible for the accessibility of the YouTube or Vimeo platforms.

Third party content

Our website contains third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we endeavour to work with the third party to improve its accessibility. This may include:

  • links to non Lancashire.gov.uk websites
  • content/functionality on our website
  • content hosted on other websites, such as social media sites

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 1 June 2020. It was last reviewed on 11 September 2020.

This website was last tested on 14 September 2020. The test was carried out by staff at Lancashire County Council.