Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to content published on the www.sutton.gov.uk domain.

This website is run by London Borough of Sutton council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• 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.

For more information 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:

• most older PDF documents aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
• some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
• content and functionality provided by third party suppliers are not fully accessible.
• online maps are not accessible with screen readers and cannot be fully navigated using a keyboard.

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, please email us on webadmin@sutton.gov.uk or call us using 020 8770 5000.

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, please email us on webadmin@sutton.gov.uk or call us using 020 8770 5000.

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

London Borough of Sutton 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.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• many documents are in less accessible formats, for example PDF. Non-HTML documents published on or after 23 September 2018 must have an accessible format.
• some of our online reporting forms are difficult to navigate when just using a keyboard. This does not meet success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard of the WCAG 2.1 AA standards. We plan to fix this by delivering a programme of replacement forms from our new supplier over the next 18-24 months
• our online reporting maps cannot be fully navigated with just a keyboard. This does not meet the success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard of the WCAG 2.1 AA standards
• some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content).
• toggles and buttons on our cookies notice is not receiving visible keyboard tab focus and the cookies button is not recieving visible keyboard tab focus when minimised. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (visible focus)

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Online maps and reporting services

Online maps do not fall under the scope of the regulations. This website uses maps to report on street based issues. In each occurrence a map is accompanied by an accessible form alternative.

PDFs and other downloadable documents published before 23 September 2018

The accessibility regulations (legislation.gov.uk) does not require PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 to be in an accessible format if they’re not essential to providing our services.

Third-party applications

We require that any new third-party systems we commission for the website are Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA compliant. However, third-party applications are partly or wholly out of our control and so may not conform to the same levels of accessibility as the rest of the website. Third-party applications include:

• Capita - online payments
• Idox - planning applications search, building control regulations search, and licensing register
• Modern.gov - councillor information, meetings, agendas, and minutes
• Granicus - AchieveForms and my account
• Northgate - associated planning documents
• SrsiDynix - online library services

We monitor the accessibility of these sites and ask suppliers to fix accessibility issues that arise.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

• we continue to replace older PDF/Word documents with web pages and with online forms
• we regularly monitor the accessibility of the website
• we review all service content to ensure it is updated, easy to understand and accessible

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 25 November 2021. It was last reviewed on 25 November 2021.

This website was last tested on 19 November 2021. The test was carried out internally using semi-automated browser extensions, a manual audit and testing with assistive technologies. Any errors were checked and tested manually. A keyboard, tab through and zoom check was also completed.

We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to decide on a sample of pages to test.