Norwich City 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 listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non-compliance with accessibility regulations
Image alternative text
- On the website's home page there are two promotional images where the alternative text is the same as the adjacent text. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Avoid alternative text that is the same as adjacent text)
We have engaged with our suppliers (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Links
- There are some pages where links need to be distinguished by more than just colour in order for users with visual impairments to see these links eg latest news section and some older style forms. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of colour)
- On some pages, links to different destinations use the same link text. This fails WCAG A success criterion 2.4.4 (Avoid using the same link text for different destinations)
- On some pages links may not identify the purpose of the link in order to help users decide whether they want to follow the link. This fails WCAG AA success criterion 2.4.4 (Link purpose in context)
We have engaged with our suppliers (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Colour contrast
- Text on the colour gradient in the footer has insufficient contrast. This fails WCAG AA success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
- Some links on the home page have insufficient foreground and background contrast. This fails WCAG AA success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
We have engaged with our suppliers (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Pop-up windows (dialogs)
- Some dialogs may not have accessible labels therefore cannot be read out by screen readers. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1
We have engaged with our supplier (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Controls including links, buttons, and fields
- Some link buttons and fields don't change appearance when they are selected on the keyboard. This fails WCAG AA success criterion 2.4.7
We have engaged with our supplier (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed
Embedded Google Maps (directory pages)
- Some ID map attributes in the directory pages are not unique. This fails WCAG A success criterion 4.1.1
We have engaged with our supplier (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
- Form controls on directory pages where there is an embedded Google Map do not have labels on the map marker icon. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships)
Our supplier (Jadu) has advised that Google Maps will need to address this. Whenever we add a marker to an address on a map, we also show the address as text.
Table headers
- Some tables with many columns do not display properly on mobile devices and require left or right scrolling or using the device on its side. THis fails WCAG AA success criterion 1.4.1
- Tables which contain information should have clear headers. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1 (headers and tables)
- Some table headings do not have scope. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1
We have engaged with our supplier (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Forms
- Some form fields do not identify what their purpose is programmatically, which allows browsers to help users fill in forms with known information. This fails WCAG AA success criterion 1.3.5
- In some forms, labels in the document fragment do not point to valid IDs. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1.
- Search functions at the bottom of each A-Z entry page do not contain a submit button. This fails WCAG A success criterion 3.2.2
- In some forms the radio buttons are not contained within a field set element. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1
- Wrap items with the same name inside a field set. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1
- Some form controls do not contrast sufficiently with their surroundings. This fails WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.4.11
We have engaged with our suppliers (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Scrolling horizontally on small screens
- When viewed on small devices like mobile phones, some pages require scrolling horizontally. This fails WCAG AA success criterion 1.4.10
We have engaged with our suppliers (Jadu) to correct this - timescale to be confirmed.
Lists
- Lists of related items should be tagged correctly to allow assistive technology to navigate from item to item more easily. In one instance this fails WCAG A 1.3.1 success criterion 1.3.1
Headings
- Some headings do not contain any text content. This fails WCAG A success criterion 1.3.1
We are working to complete this by end of February 2023.
Disproportionate burden
We have assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden to fix all inaccessible documents published since September 2018 and have published a disproportionate burden statement to explain this.
Many PDFs and other documents are not compliant for the following reasons:
- PDFs are not machine readable (WCAG A 1.3.1)
- Tagging hasn't been carried out correctly (WCAG A 1.3.1)
- Headings have not been specified (WCAG A 1.3.1)
- The first heading is not H1 (WCAG A 1.3.1)
- Headings don't follow a logical order (WCAG A 1.3.1)
- Default language is not specified (WCAG A 3.1.1)
- Titles are not defined (WCAG A 2.4.2)
- Titles are weak (WCAG A 2.4.2)
- Long pdfs may not have bookmarks (WCAG AA 2.4.5)
- Documents have been photocopied and converted to pdfs
- Forms are in PDF or Word format
- Documents have been provided by third parties
We aim for any new PDFs or other documents we publish to meet accessibility standards. Where possible we provide an accessible HTML version of the information. Where it is necessary to publish a document for customers to print that cannot be made fully accessible, it will be published alongside accessible HTML web pages.
Pdfs and documents can be made available in an alternative format on request
Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
You can find the complete list of content exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations on legislation.gov.uk.
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. For example, we do not plan to fix the Air Quality Progress Report published in 2015. However, we will aim to provide alternative versions on request.
We are also not required by the regulations to fix documents provided by third-parties that are neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of the council eg Government leaflets and documents supporting planning applications.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Embedded maps
Our website makes use of embedded maps. We are not required to make these accessible as long as essential information is always provided in an accessible format like an address.
Archived content
Some of our content, such as news articles and minutes of meetings is archived and not within scope of the accessibility regulations.
Third party applications
Some of our online services are provided by third-party applications which are platforms and websites developed by external suppliers and ‘skinned to look like our website. The development of these websites is partly, or wholly out of our control, so they may not conform to the same levels of accessibility of the main website.
We are requesting compliance statements from our suppliers and where these are found to be unsuitable, we will engage with each supplier to agree measures to achieve compliance:
- CMIS (councillor information, meetings, agendas and minutes)
- Idox (planning applications search)
- Civica (payments) - currently being upgraded. Timescale to be confirmed.
- Gateway (parking enforcement)
- Land charges search
- Northgate (council tax and business rates online)
- iTrent (job applications)
- My Norwich
How we tested this website
This website is tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA on an ongoing basis. Testing is carried out internally every five days on all web pages and documents by the web team, using automated software (Silktide).We also use WAVE and manual sampling of template pages to help identify any issues that arise.
The latest Silktide report shows we have an overall score of 95% for accessibility compliance. Checks are carried out on the following three levels:
- 95% compliancy for level A WCAG 2.1 checks
- 94.7% compliance for level AA WCAG 2.1 checks
- 92.2% compliancy for level AAA WCAG 2.1 check
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are continuing to fix the accessibility issues listed in this statement both in-house and with our developers and third party suppliers. Product contract renewals and upgrades will be reviewed.
We are raising awareness of accessibility and developing training to support services across the organisation.
We have begun the process of outlining our requirements for a refreshed online presence including the website and online forms etc. - timescale subject to detailed planning.
We will be looking to include accessibility compliance as part of the contract evaluation for third party suppliers.
We will update this page when issues are fixed or when we expect them to be fixed.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 23 September 2020. It was last updated on 31 January 2023.
