Accessibility

Find out how accessible our website is, how to report issues and what to do if you can't access parts of suffolk.gov.uk.

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Accessibility statement for suffolk.gov.uk

This website is run by Suffolk 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)

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible. For example, some files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

What to do if you can’t 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:

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

You can call the number above if you need to talk to us using an interpreter. Find out more about our interpreting and translating services.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Content Design team by emailing ContentDesign@suffolk.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).

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.

Find out more about our interpreting and translation services, including how to contact us to make a request.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Suffolk 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 fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard.

Disproportionate burden

We don't categorise any accessibility issues on suffolk.gov.uk as a disproportionate burden to fix within the meaning of the regulations, with the exception of PDFs and other documents. 

You can read our disproportionate burden assessment that explains how we approached checking and fixing documents on suffolk.gov.uk. 

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

Many of our older PDFs and other documents may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. This fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role Value.

The accessibility regulations don’t 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 don’t plan to fix old PDF newsletters that might still be published and accessed through our website. 

We planned to fix the top 10% most viewed PDFs and other documents published since 23 September 2018 (plus any essential service documents published previously) by 23 September 2020. 

Video

Live video streams may not include captions. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.2.4 Captions (Live). We may not add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Some prerecorded videos published before 23 September 2020 do not include captions. This fails WCAG success criteria 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded). We may not add captions to these videos because prerecorded video published before 23 September 2020 is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

Some prerecorded videos published before 23 September 2020 may require, but don't include, audio description. This fails WCAG success criteria 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded). We may not add audio description to these videos because prerecorded video published before 23 September 2020 is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. 

Any prerecorded video content we publish after 23 September 2020 will meet accessibility standards. 

Maps 

Online maps and mapping services are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. From 23 September 2020 we'll ensure that where maps are intended for navigational use essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We want to go above and beyond the legal web accessibility requirements to make suffolk.gov.uk more inclusive for everyone.

This includes fixing issues to conform with Level AAA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2.

To achieve this we will:

  • work with our supplier to fix known accessibility issues
  • continue monitoring our website for issues using automated software
  • carry out manual checks for problems that software can't detect
  • test the site with users who have disabilities at regular intervals
  • perform a formal accessibility audit at least once every 12 months
  • maintain our content guidelines to help site editors create accessible content
  • aim to produce information in more accessible formats, such as easy read guides

We'll update our accessibility statement when we find issues that'll take time to resolve, and when we carry out an audit. 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This accessibility statement was last reviewed on 11 October 2023.

A detailed accessibility check of www.suffolk.gov.uk was last carried out in December 2022 by Suffolk County Council's Digital Content Team.

We carried out our testing based on a sample of our most used pages, forms, documents and other media.

We used a combination of methods to check this website, including:

  • automated software (Siteimprove)
  • manual sampling (using WAVE and other tools)
  • user research with people who have disabilities