Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the www.welhat.gov.uk website and sub sites run by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

This website is run by Welwyn Hatfield 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 using browser or device settings
• zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We have also made 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:

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• live video streams do not have captions
• some maps are not accessible to screen readers

Feedback and contact information

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements please contact the Web Team at webadmin@welhat.gov.uk.

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille contact us:

• email: webadmin@welhat.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01707 357 000

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

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is committed to making its websites 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:

• Some PDF documents do not have a title, language or tabbed reading order set. This fails WCAG success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of page),  2.4.2 (Page Titled) and 1.3.2 (Meaningful Sequence). 
• Some PDF documents contain tables that do not have correctly marked up headers. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
• Some PDF documents contain images that are not tagged correctly with alternative text. This fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text content).
• Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live)
• Some maps are not fully accessible to screen readers.

Disproportionate burden

PDFs and other documents

Most of our documents published after September 2018 are accessible. There are some exceptions to this which include:

• complex documents aimed at specific audiences, such as the Local Plan Examination library
• documents where the information is already available in an alternative accessible form, such as the weekly list of planning applications
• documents provided in a specific format by third parties which we are unable to edit ourselves but are required to publish by law, such as our Budget Book or Annual Monitoring Report
• documents designed specifically for printing which can not be made fully accessible

We have assessed the cost of fixing these issues against the benefit it would provide to users and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We are working with third party suppliers to improve the accessibility of the documents they provide.

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

PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards, for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they are not essential to providing our services.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards, except where it is a disproportionate burden to do so.

Live video

Live video streams such as our council and committee meetings do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).

We do not currently plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Maps

The interactive mapping system we use to provide information about planning applications, ward boundaries and tree preservation orders is not fully accessible. We also use Google maps to provide information such as car park locations which is not fully accessible. 

We do not currently plan to make these accessible as maps are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We are working to move all our services from less accessible legacy systems and formats into our new accessible digital platform wherever possible. For services which cannot be moved into our digital platform we are working with the third party suppliers to improve the accessibility of existing systems, and include accessibility as a requirement when commissioning any new systems.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 27 August 2024.

This website was last tested on 22 August 2024. We carried out the tests using SiteMorse and axe.

We used this approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.

This statement was reviewed on 3 September 2024.