Accessibility statement for Southend New Local Plan
This accessibility statement applies to https://localplan.southend.gov.uk/
This website is run in partnership by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and JDi Solutions Ltd. 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)
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
How accessible this website is
We have upgraded this website to an improved platform that has been designed with accessibility in mind.
We have systematically gone through the content on this website, and continue to do so, to ensure text is in plain English, free from jargon and of a reading level lower than secondary education (WCAG 3.1.5). The majority of this website complies with this, however some policy documents or planning regulations do not meet this criteria.
All buttons, images and banners have colour contrast that adheres to the accessibility regulations.
All videos uploaded after 17 June 2020 will have captions and/or a transcript.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
- you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
- email planningpolicy@southend.gov.uk
- call 01702 215408
We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 5 days.
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: planningpolicy@southend.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.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and JDi Solutions Ltd are committed to making this 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, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
- contrast levels are set and not able to be altered. However in re-designing this website, we have ensured that all navigation and body content has colour contrast compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA
- many of our pdf downloads are not accessible. We have created a register of PDFs which are essential for service delivery and are working through these to create HTML pages.
- there are a number of policy documents that are necessary to have on our website and that are not compliant
- non-compliant pdfs include
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Some text is written in language that is not plain English. We are reviewing all content and by September 2020, all on-page content will comply with WCAG 2.1 AA.
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 council policies. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.
The accessibility regulations 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 this pdf.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Live video
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We are constantly monitoring and improving the access to this platform
- ensuring body copy of web pages are in plain English
- removing non-essential pdfs and placing content on web pages where possible
- ensuring new pdfs created after September 2020 are accessible
- ensuring new videos have subtitles
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 21 July 2021. It will be reviewed on 21 January 2022.
This site has not had a formal external accessibility audit.