Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to www.boston.gov.uk website.

This website is hosted by Public Sector Partnerships Services Ltd (PSPSL) and content is provided by Boston 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 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)

We aim to make the website text as simple as possible to understand.

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:

• Some PDF and Word documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
• Some pages and attachments are not written in clear, plain English.
• Some iframes do not have titles.
• Some online forms contain unlabelled search fields within selectors, do not present error messages in the correct manner for screen reader users and do not have a logical tab order for keyboard-only users.
• Some of our online services are hosted by third-party suppliers (for example council and democracy) and you may find navigating these services difficult depending on their level of web accessibility.

Request Accessible Content

If you need any information provided on this website in an alternative format that suits your needs, please email our Communications Team to make your accessible content request.

We'll consider your request and get back to you within five working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We welcome any suggestions you may have to improve the accessibility of our website. If you experience any accessibility problems that aren't mentioned on this page, please let us know by emailing our Communications Team.

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) in the following ways:

• contact EASS online
• call EASS on 0808 800 0082
• EASS textphone 0808 800 0084

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our reception area has audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out more on our contacting the council page.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

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

We launched our new website in September 2022 with accessibility guidelines and regulations included as part of the design.

Compliance Status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

PDFs and documents

Some PDFs and documents published since September 23, 2018 are inaccessible to screen reader users.

This fails on the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

• Non-text Content: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed below. (Level A)

This issue remains with reasoning of disproportionate burden and to comply with transparency requirements to publish in certain formats.

Online forms

Some online forms contains unlabelled search fields within selection inputs.

This fails on the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

• 1.1.1 Non-text Content: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed below. (Level A)
• Controls, Input: If non-text content is a control or accepts user input, then it has a name that describes its purpose. (Refer to Guideline 4.1 for additional requirements for controls and content that accepts user input.)
• 1.3.1 Info and Relationships: Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text. (Level A)
• 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions: Labels or instructions are provided when content requires user input. (Level A)
• 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value: For all user interface components (including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), the name and role can be programmatically determined; states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set; and notification of changes to these items is available to user agents, including assistive technologies. (Level A)

The forms also rely solely on visual cues to relate errors to the user.

This fails on the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

• 3.3.1 Error Identification: If an input error is automatically detected, the item that is in error is identified and the error is described to the user in text. (Level A)
• 3.3.3 Error Suggestion: If an input error is automatically detected and suggestions for correction are known, then the suggestions are provided to the user, unless it would jeopardize the security or purpose of the content. (Level AA)

The forms also have an illogical tab order, making them difficult for some users to navigate.

This fails on the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

• 2.4.3 Focus Order: If a Web page can be navigated sequentially and the navigation sequences affect meaning or operation, focusable components receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability. (Level A)

These forms were built using a legacy form package and is on our roadmap to be replaced. It will however be reviewed by 30^th March 2023 as to whether these issues are fixable in the legacy system.

Frames

When a screen reader user hears a list of frames on a page, the user needs to know the purpose of each one.

Some iframes on our pages do not have titles.

This fails on the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:

• 1.3.1 Info and Relationships: Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text. (Level A)
• 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks: A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages. (Level A)

The iframes link to legacy systems and are on our roadmap to be replaced. They will however be reviewed by 30^th March 2023 as to whether these issues are fixable in the legacy systems. When we publish new content we'll make sure our use of frames meets accessibility standards. 

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

PDFs and Other Documents

Any PDF or document that is not essential to providing our services and was published prior to September 23, 2018 will not be reviewed and as such, may not meet the accessibility standards and falls within 'disproportionate burden'.

Live Video

Any live videos produced by the council will not have captions or a transcript, as these are exempt from the accessibility regulations.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

As part of the launch of our new website, we continue to train web editors in good practice in relation to accessibility and to check the content and accessibility regularly with a view to continuous improvement. We encourage feedback on the content and accessibility of the website.

Disproportionate Burden

Throughout this statement we have highlighted those issues that we have determined as a 'disproportionate burden'.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 15th September 2022 for the launch of the new website. It will be reviewed in six months from this date and regularly thereafter.