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Accessibility

We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to everyone

Our Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to somerset.gov.uk

This website is run by Somerset 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 400% 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 have 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 buttons on our online forms are not correctly identified
  • the skip to the main content link may not work on all pages when using a screen reader

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like large print, audio recording or braille:

We will consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

For people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired, or have a speech impediment, please contact us by text message on 07862 122246 for a text relay service.

Our offices have audio induction loops or, if you contact us before your visit, we can arrange for a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter to be present.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are 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, you can contact us by using our feedback form at the bottom of most pages, or by emailing helloSYP@somerset.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

Somerset 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

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.

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

  • 1.3.1 Info and relationships (A)
    • Some PDFs may be missing tags and headings
  • 1.3.2 Meaningful sequence (A)
    • Some PDFs contain content that cannot be tabbed through in a meaningful order.
  • 1.3.5 Identify input purpose (AA)
    • Some fields do not identify their purpose correctly
  • 1.4.3. Contrast (minimum) (AA)
    • Some PDFs do not have sufficient text contrast
  • 2.4.2 Page titled (A)
    • Some PDFs do not have a correctly formatted title
  • 3.1.1 Language of page (A)
    • Some PDFs do not specify a default language

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Non-HTML documents published before September 2018 do not need to be accessible – unless users need them to use a service.

As these types of documents are exempt from the regulations, we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible, but will replace them with accessible documents if newer versions are published.

If you need to access information in one of these document types, you can contact us and ask for an alternative format.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

To improve the accessibility of our website we are:

  • testing and monitoring web accessibility by using Silktide
  • testing and monitoring web accessibility manually
  • making our PDF documents (created after 22 September 2018) as accessible as possible
  • where possible, create HTML pages rather than PDF documents
  • creating online forms rather than PDF documents
  • replacing or upgrading third-party applications or systems to include WCAG 2.1 AA compliance

We are continuously working on our website somerset.gov.uk and associated Somerset Council websites, which will improve the overall accessibility and usability.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 04 March 2024.

Last reviewed: March 4, 2024 by Kailani

Next review due: September 4, 2024

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