If you need more help to use any of our services or information on the website, or need the information in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or Braille, please contact us or call 0300 131 2 131.
Accessibility statement
This accessibility statement applies to our main website. This website is run by North Yorkshire Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use the 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 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.
Translating our website into other languages
Popular web browsers include the option to translate web pages by default when they detect that the website language is different to the language installed on the computer, tablet or smartphone. When browsers do not offer to automatically translate, plug-ins are often available to help you do this.
- Google Chrome should offer to translate pages automatically
- Internet Explorer can translate pages with the Google toolbar extension
- Edge can translate pages with an extension from the Microsoft store
- Safari on MacOS can translate pages with an extension available on the Safari extensions website
- Safari on iOS can translate pages with an extension from the App store
- Firefox can translate pages with various extensions
How accessible this website is
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:
- PDF documents may not be fully accessible to screen reader software
- some of our online services are hosted by third-party suppliers and you may find navigating these services difficult depending on their level of web accessibility
- some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that are not listed on this page or you think we are not meeting the accessibility requirements, contact us. We will direct your report to the right team, which will either be our Digital Team or our Communications Team depending on the issue.
Enforcement procedure
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing 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
A text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment is available via your telephone provider. Text relay offers text-to-speech and speech-to-text translation services. A relay assistant in a call centre acts as an intermediary, enabling people with hearing or speech impairments to communicate with other people over the telephone. You can find out more about the text relay service here. Once familiar with the service, you can use it to contact us.
Our offices have audio induction loops and we can arrange for a British Sign Language interpreter to attend any meetings you need with us. Just let the person you are meeting know and they will arrange this for you.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
North Yorkshire Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with The Public Sector Bodies (websites and mobile applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.
Non compliance with the accessibility regulations
We plan to correct the following content issues that affect some of our pages by the date shown below.
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Content |
Detail |
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PDF's and other documents |
Some documents are in PDF format and may not be fully accessible. Depending on the PDF these may fail some or all of the following WCAG 2.1 success criterion:
We are carrying out a rolling programme of reviewing and removing PDFs from our site and this has been completed for the majority of PDFs which were required to access our services. Some of these PDFs still remain but we hope to have these removed by September 2023. In the meantime you can contact us to request any information they contain in an alternative format. In some cases we are legally required to publish documents in a certain format and we cannot make these PDFs fully accessible. In these cases we will provide accessible information alongside them and / or contact details so the information can be requested in an alternative format. Due to the relatively short timeframe, the complexity and the legal requirements of some documents relating to certain consultations, we may not be able to make all temporary consultation documents fully accessible. In these cases we will provide accessible information alongside them and / or contact details so the information can be requested in an alternative format. We will ensure new documents essential for accessing our services meet accessibility standards. Our democracy system relies on the use of PDFs and we are carrying out a longer term project to make these PDFs accessible. Alternative versions of this information are available on request in the meantime. |
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Headings |
On some pages there are empty headings, which may confuse people using a screen reader. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships) or 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels). On some pages, there are headings without the preceding heading earlier in the page e.g. there is a ‘h2’ heading but no preceding ‘h1’. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships) or 2.4.10 (Section Headings). On some pages, the page is missing a title or has duplicate page titles. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled). We aim to resolve these issues by September 2023. |
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Images |
On some pages, images on some pages are missing the alt attribute or alt text. This doesn’t meet WCAG 1.1.1 (Non-text Content) We aim to resolve this by September 2023. |
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Language |
On some pages the language has not been defined. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page). We aim to resolve this by September 2023. |
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Documents |
Some documents have limited using user scaling. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4 (Resize Text). We aim to resolve this by September 2023. |
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Coding |
HTML tags have been closed without being opened. For example, closing an unopened tag 'p'. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing) HTML does not validate. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing). HTML does not fully conform to specification. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). Fragment identifiers have been used more than once. For example, an id on a page is not unique. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships) and 4.1.1 (Parsing). Some input fields do not have a descriptive label. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions) and 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels) Some pages are not valid HTML. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (Parsing). We aim to resolve these issues by September 2023. |
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Forms |
Some of our forms use a system called Lagan which has the following accessibility errors:
As part of the move to the new council for North Yorkshire, all systems currently managed by ourselves and the seven district and borough councils are being reviewed and we anticipate that a WCAG 2.1 AA compliant forms solution should be in place by 2025. |
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
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. However, we are reviewing and removing as many older PDFs and documents as possible on an ongoing basis.
Video content
The accessibility regulations do not require us to make pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020 accessible. Plain text transcripts or captions will be provided alongside all videos after this date.
The accessibility regulations do not require us to make live audio and video accessible.
Third party content
Our adult social care section includes some embedded content from the Care Quality Commission to show the latest inspection reports. The link text within this does not properly specify the purpose of the link. The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix third party content that’s under someone else’s control if we did not pay for it or develop it ourselves.
Data tables
The size and complexity of some of the data we are required to make public means that some tables have to be scrolled in two directions to see all of the data. This data can be made available in other formats if required.
What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We plan to identify and fix issues according to the timescales shown for each area above.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 28 March 2023.
This website was last tested in November 2023 by Sitemorse. They provide automated testing of websites to highlight usability and accessibility issues. All pages and PDF documents within the website were tested.
We tested all content on our main website platform
Accessibility of our other websites and online services
Some of our services that we embed or link to from our website are based on a different technical platform or provided by a third party supplier. These include (but are not limited to):
- applying for a place at a school
- applying for a job
- joining a library
- enrolling on an adult learning course
- responding to a consultation
We are working with our third party suppliers to ensure all our online services meet accessibility standards.