Accessibility

Accessibility statement for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's website

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is committed to making the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

This statement applies to www.stockton.gov.uk  

This website is run by Stockton-on-Tees Borough 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 colors, 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. 

 Visit the AbilityNet website which has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability. 

Compliance status 

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and the exemptions listed below. 

Non-accessible content 

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons. 

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

A small number of pages require scrolling in two dimensions on small screens this fails WCAG AA 1.4.10. 

PDFs 

A small number of our PDFs are not fully accessible, we are continually reviewing them and replacing them with accessible alternatives including moving them to online forms or page content.  

The remaining issues are: 

• some of the PDFs are not tagged correctly which fails WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1 
• on some of the pages within the PDFs the text colour does not contrast sufficiently with the background colour which fails WCAG 2.0 A 1.4.3  

In regard to the contrast issue, some of our main corporate branding colours were not meeting the requirements and we have since established a web version of each of these colours which are to be used for all PDF documents that are included on this website going forward. However, we acknowledge that some of our older documents may still include the non-compliant version of colours which we are actively replacing. 

Videos 

One of our videos on our working for the council page does not include captions, a transcript or an audio description this fails WCAG 2.1 1.2.2 and WCAG 2.1 AA 1.2.5. 

The rest of the videos on this website include captions and a transcript when there is spoken dialogue however, there is often a small amount of text used on the videos that isn't available in another format for those who can't visually see the video. This text in some instances provides important visual content, which fails WCAG 2.1 1.2.5. 

We have implemented rules around the future development or procurement of videos to ensure going forward all video content is fully accessible. 

Content is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations 

Google maps  

A small number of our pages include an embedded Google map, the map marker icon within these does not include a label for screen readers, this fails WCAG AA 2.1 4.1.2. 

On these pages, we have included the address as written content to help users with this issue.  

What we're doing to improve accessibility 

We are currently working across our services to ensure all content produced for the website is in an accessible format. We plan to regularly review our accessibility through user testing of new content and online services as well and manual testing using NVDA and diagnostic software such as Wave, Axe and Silktide to ensure compliance of WCAG 2.2 AA standards and AAA where possible. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 28 February 2022. It was last reviewed and updated on 23 September 2024. 

This website is tested regularly using diagnostic software called Silktide. Manual testing is also carried out on a regular basis for new content. Testing is carried out by our Digital and Website Development Team. 

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 digital.accessibility@stockton.gov.uk 

Feedback and contact information 

If you need information on this website in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille email webmaster@stockton.gov.uk 

We'll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible. 

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).