This website is managed by East Ayrshire 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 using the browser or mobile device
- 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 and we are continually reviewing content on older pages.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
Accessibility of this website
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- To modify the line height or spacing you can attach your own stylesheet to do this.
- Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software. We are reviewing our current procedures for creating PDFs.
- Live video streams and embedded videos do not have captions. Closed captions can be switched on via YouTube.
- Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard. This would also be the same of PDF forms.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
Reporting accessibility problems 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’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact communityplanning@east-ayrshire.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 enquiry, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Non compliance with the accessibility regulations
The content listed below is non-accessible. We are currently resolving these issues using a Quality Assurance checker within our web content management system. This work is ongoing.
When we publish new content we’ll make sure it meets accessibility standards.
Images
Some images contain text, so people with dyslexia or using a screen reader will not be able to read the information. We plan to review these and if still required on the website we will make sure they have alt text. Any new images contain text will be reviewed before adding to the website.
Links
On some pages the same link text is used for different link destinations, for example, 'click here'. We plan to resolve this issue on all new pages.
Tables
On some pages tables do not have captions but show a descriptive heading. Where applicable, all new tables will have captions to ensure they meet accessibility standards.
PDFs and other documents
Some PDFs and other documents are not formatted so they’re accessible to a screen reader. We are in the process of reviewing all documents published after 23 September 2018 with the view to fixing or replacing with accessible HTML pages.
Any new PDFs we publish should meet accessibility standards and will be reviewed by the Communications Team before approval.
Contrast
On some pages there may not be sufficient contrast between the colour of the text and the background, making it hard to read the information. If necessary, we will improve colour contrast.
Forms
Some of our online forms can be difficult to navigate using screen readers. The Our East Ayrshire Customer Service platform will gradually replace any forms that are not compliant.
Navigation
Due to the nature of content on some pages of our website there may be some issues with the order in which certain content is accessed when navigating using a keyboard. Where this is identified as an issue the pages in question will be analysed and redesigned in order to ensure that all content is fully accessible via the keyboard.
All new pages published after September 2020 will be designed in such a way that the content will be logically accessible via the keyboard. We will review this as required.
HTML
On some pages:
- HTML has been used to format content rather than CSS
- the iFrame has no 'title' attribute or the 'title' attribute is empty
- the italics-tag 'i' is used to highlight text
We will review these as required.
Disproportionate burden
PDFs, Word and other documents
PDFs and Word documents published before 23 September 2018 may not be accessible for several reasons. Due to the high number of documents on the website, to amend every document would be a disproportionate burden, therefore we are unable to fix this problem.
We will continue to review all documents as part of our ongoing website monitoring arrangements.
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.
Other burdens
- The video controls do not have enough contrast. This is an issue with the YouTube video player and not within our control. We will continue to look for ways around this.
- Some video controls have a tooltip which does not stay open when moving the cursor to them. This is an issue with the YouTube video player and not within our control. We will continue to look for a more compliant player.
- Older Council minutes and agendas.
- Older large document repository systems.
Where possible we could provide accessible formats of these documents on request. Contact communityplanning@east-ayrshire.gov.uk.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
- Third party content which is not in our control
How we tested this website
This website is continually tested by the Community Planning and web teams as an on-going process. We have six monthly reviews of website accessibility and make any large scale decisions at that time.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are using a quality assurance module within our content management system to help with WCAG AA compliance. We are currently updating our guidance documentation for our editors focussing on accessibility when creating and editing content.
Last update
This statement was prepared on 17 September 2020. It was last updated on 22 September 2020.
East Ayrshire Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
Under the Equality Act 2010 we must ensure we do not unlawfully discriminate in our service delivery and make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities where necessary. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility and usability of our site.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed above.