Accessibility

Accessibility statement for mansfield.gov.uk

This accessibility statement applies to mansfield.gov.uk

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 without the text spilling off the screen
  • Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • Resize text and adjust line, letter and word spacing
  • Listen to most of the website using a screen reader.

We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet (opens in a new window) has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

We have listed areas of the site that we know are not fully accessible:

  • Some PDF and word documents published prior to 23 September 2018 are not fully accessible to screen reader software and provide no information on the structure of the document for assistive technologies.
  • Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.
  • Our online forms do not have any programmed autocomplete functions, if you have signed up for an account some fields such as name and address will be autocompleted.  If not your browser may still provide some autocomplete options.
  • Some of our image labels and descriptions are inconsistent.
  • There’s a limit to how far you can magnify the maps on pages.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF or large print please contact us:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you. If you cannot view the map on our contact us page, call or email us for directions.

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 contact us:

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) (opens in a new window).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Find out how to contact us on our contact us page.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Mansfield District 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 (opens in a new window), due to certain non-compliances and exemptions listed on this page.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This non-compliant list relate to the whole of the site, this external audit was run by Silktide (opens in a new window). Some of these non-compliant items have been flagged as requiring attention, but may not actually have any content, however we will make the appropriate checks to ensure this is the case and correct any errors.  This external audit was last carried out on the 19 January 2022 and shows the current percentage of all the errors found that have so far been corrected.  

Current level A non compliant elements:

Tag all PDFs WCAG A 1.3.1 81.5% completed
Specify alternative text for all media in PDFs WCAG A 1.1.1 41.8% completed
Ensure PDFs are machine readable WCAG A 1.1.1 98.0% completed
Ensure form controls have labels WCAG A 1.3.1 99.8% completed
Ensure PDFs have a title WCAG A 2.4.2 89.5% completed
Specify headings for every PDF WCAG A 1.3.1 32.8% completed
Add headers to tables WCAG A 1.3.1 99.8% completed
Ensure PDF headings follow a logical order WCAG A 1.3.1 83.2% completed
Ensure PDFs specify a default language WCAG A 3.1.1 85.8% completed
Ensure the first heading in a PDF is a H1 WCAG A 1.3.1 86.1% completed
Add a scope to table headings WCAG A 1.3.1 99.7% completed
Improve weak PDF titles WCAG A 2.4.2 99.7% completed

Current level AA non compliant elements:

Identify the purpose of fields programmatically WCAG AA 1.3.5 94.4% completed
Ensure long PDFs use bookmarks to aid navigation WCAG AA 2.4.5 91.4% completed

We plan to fix these issues as soon as possible, our web team are committed to complying with all the WCAG 2.1 AA or below and perform weekly updates and checks.

Disproportionate burden

Interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard. Some of our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website. With specific reference to "Not all form fields identify the purpose of fields programmatically WCAG AA 1.3.5" which is the issue for accessibility that relates to our forms, we are working to resolve this with our suppliers.  However the burden on the council to replace these systems is significant.

JADU, our website provider have stated that the fix is available in their release XFP 8.1.0, we are currently at release version XFP 7.3.1 and have asked JADU to prepare the update for us as soon as possible.  It is expected to be available from August 2022.

We have contacted NEC Northgate, our Revenues and Benefits system provider and are awaiting a suitable response in this matter.  The costs for the Northgate product over the current 3-year contract is £242,2794, the current contract expires 31/03/2023.  The costs and timescales to replace this product, given the values involved is considered a disproportionate burden, as the costs to the council would be significant.  The council offers support to those citizens unable to complete the forms online through the contact centre via phone and on site at the Civic Centre.

We have contacted GovTech, who provide forms to integrate into the Northgate products and are awaiting a suitable response.  The costs for the products are £96,252 for a 3 year period, the current contract expires 31/12/2022. The costs and timescales to replace this product, given the values involved is considered a disproportionate burden, as the costs to the council would be significant.  The council offers support to those citizens unable to complete the forms online through the contact centre via phone and on site at the Civic Centre.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing the accessibility issue "Not all form fields identify the purpose of fields programmatically WCAG AA 1.3.5" and we believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden (opens in a new window) within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.  However we will work with our suppliers to continue to resolve the issue.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. 

The accessibility regulations (opens in a new window) 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 [example of non-essential document].

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Online maps that are present on our website and are not used for navigational purposes are exempt under the regulations. We use several maps to show planning or other geographical information. If users require an accessible alternative to this information, please contact us.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations (opens in a new window).

What we are doing to improve accessibility

Training everyone that publishes to the web in creating accessible content.

Providing guidance to services on creating accessible multimedia content.

Moving away from PDF documents to web pages where possible.

The Mansfield District Council web team will perform the required tests and corrections every Wednesday and update this statement on a monthly basis.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. It was last reviewed on 24 February 2022.

This website was last tested in February 2022. The test was carried out by Silktide (opens in a new window).  You can read the latest test report at the silktide.com council report for Mansfield District Council (opens in a new window).

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test "How silktide choose which pages are tested" (opens in a new window).

We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability.

We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.