This accessibility statement applies to the Middlesbrough Council website, www.middlesbrough.gov.uk.
This website is run by Middlesbrough 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've 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:
- The latest news items on our homepage may be difficult to navigate for those using a screen reader. Whilst we are working to fix this issue, users with a screen reader can alternatively view our dedicated latest news page where this issue is not present.
Feedback and contact information
If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Digital Team at Middlesbrough Council by email: digital@middlesbrough.gov.uk.
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
- email digital@middlesbrough.gov.uk
- call 01642 729311
We'll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
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
Middlesbrough 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
The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.
The latest news items on our homepage may be difficult to navigate for those using a screen reader. This fails accessibility testing due to ARIA hidden elements must not be focusable or contain focusable elements.
Non-accessible content
All content on web pages on this website is fully accessible, however not all documents are accessible.
Whilst we make every effort to ensure PDF documents created by the Digital Team are fully accessible and we attempt to fix documents that are sent to be uploaded to the website by other teams and third parties, we do occasionally have to publish complex PDF documents that cannot be easily fixed which we know are not 100% accessible.
In those instances, if you are unable to view a PDF document please contact us and we will make every effort to provide you with an accessible version.
Some older PDF documents may also not be accessible. 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.
A new policy is to be introduced across all departments at Middlesbrough Council to ensure all documents created are done so in an accessible way.
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
Our accessibility roadmap below shows how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.
Issue: The latest news items on our homepage may be difficult to navigate for those using a screen reader.
How we plan to fix this issue: The latest news section on our homepage that show the 4 top stories will be rebuilt so it is fully accessible.
This fix will be in place by 30 July 2024 (three months from today).
Issue: Non accessible PDFs
How we plan to fix the issue: A policy will be introduced to ensure all teams either creating documents or commissioning documents to be created are done so in an accessible way.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 28 September 2023. It was last reviewed on 26 April 2024.
This website was last tested on 26 April 2024 against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.
The test was carried out by the Middlesbrough Council Digital Team. The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools.