Accessibility Statement

This website is run by Mole Valley District Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • use browser technology to change colours, contrast levels and fonts
  • zoom in without the content 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)
  • Use Readspeaker to read web pages

We’ve also made the website text as easy as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible is this website currently? (as of 10 October 2023)

We know some parts of this website aren’t fully accessible:

  • most PDF documents published before September 2018 aren’t fully accessible to screen reader software
  • YouTube hosted videos published before September 2018 don’t directly have captions
  • the MyMoleValley section of the website, we are liaising with our supplier to fix an issue with navigating links

Scope of this statement

This accessibility statement applies to molevalley.gov.uk and also news.molevalley.gov.uk, jobs.molevalley.gov.uk operated and managed by Mole Valley District Council.

Content that’s not within the scope

PDFs and other documents

Many of our PDFs and Word documents published before September 2018 don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This doesn’t 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’re not essential to providing our services. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Those non-accessible documents that are essential to providing our services and had been published before September 2018 will be either fixed or replaced with accessible HTML pages.

Feedback and what to do if you can’t access parts of this website

Tell us if you need information in a different format.

In your message, include:

  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your email address and name
  • the format you need – for example, plain text, braille, BSL, large print or audio CD

email webteam@molevalley.gov.uk

call 01306 885001

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact webteam@molevalley.gov.uk.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We have a hearing induction loop in our Reception. We also have a limited number of staff capable of offering interpretation services (by appointment only).

Find out how to contact us here

If you are deaf or hard of hearing you can contact us by SMS text on 07771 576411 (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm).

Enforcement procedure

If you contact us with a complaint and you’re not happy with our response contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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’).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Mole Valley 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.

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 currently non-accessible for the following reasons:

Older PDF documents
Many PDFs published before September 2018 are not accessible using screen reader software. We are currently focusing on PDFs and will be converting them to web pages, fixing or removing them. Any documents which have to be in that format will be made accessible unless identified as a disproportionate burden to fix.

Planning Application PDF documents
These are produced using software provided by a third party. They also contain site plans and maps produced and submitted by third parties. We have carried out an assessment of this section and identified it as a disproportionate burden to fix.

MyMoleValley
It is not possible to navigate the sub navigation of this application using the tab key. This service is provided using third party software and we are liaising with the supplier to resolve this issue.

Past Agendas and Minutes
Many of these were produced before we had to comply with accessibility legislation. Some have complex numbering systems which may be difficult to navigate. We plan to work on new templates to ensure all future documents are made accessible wherever possible.

Statement of Accounts
We are aware that there are still issues related to table headers and merged cells on the 2021 – 2022 version of this document. We are working to ensure new versions of this document in 2023 – 2024 will be accessible.

Business and Budget Planning 2023 – 24
Some financial documents contained within this report are not accessible.

PDF Leaflets
Some leaflets have been designed for print so lack digital accessibility features such as correct reading order, colour checks and alternative text on images. Wherever possible, we will be providing the same content in HTML text on the pages on which they are available to download.

Scanned Legal Documents
There are scanned legal documents related to recent Public Space Protection Orders which we are unable to be read by a screen reader. We are currently identifying where these exist and have agreed with service areas that text versions also be made available on the website.

Non compliance with the accessibility regulations

  1. Some pages in third party applications cannot be found through more than one type of navigation. https://molevalley-self.achieveservice.com/MyServices This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.5 (Multiple Ways). This particularly affects external cloud based applications which have not been fully integrated into our website. Our procurement criteria now specifies the availability of external APIs in new web applications which will assist with integration of these products.
  2. Some content looks like headings but is not. This makes it difficult for screen reader users to navigate the page. https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/council-tax/council-tax-charges/bands-valuations-amounts-payable This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships). We aim to fix this on web pages by June 2022.
  3. Many documents are in less accessible formats, for example PDF. Non-HTML documents published on or after 23 September 2018 must have an accessible format. We are currently reviewing all PDFs on our website to either convert them to web pages or remove them. https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/council/finances/statement-accounts-2020-21 We will aim to make the remaining documents accessible by November 2023. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Disproportionate burden

There are some areas which we have identified as being a disproportional burden, or out of our control to make fully accessible.

  • Planning application documents
  • Council minutes and agendas published before September 2018
  • Documents with complex numbering and layouts
  • Strategy and policy documents published before September 2018
  • Business Planning documents
  • Documents related to the Local Plan – Disproportionate Burden Statement

Where possible we could provide accessible formats of these documents on request. Contact: webteam@molevalley.gov.uk

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

  • Maps and plans
  • Third party content which is not in our control

PDFs and other documents

Many of our PDFs and Word documents published before September 2018 don’t meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader.

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. By November 2023, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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

Live video

Live video streams don’t have captions. This doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions – live).

We don’t plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Recorded Video

We add subtitles to any new videos which appear on our Social Media channels.

How we tested this website

We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines V2.1 level A and level AA to test how accessible molevalley.gov.uk is.

We continually test/monitor this website by selecting a sample of pages to test. We have tested the core website articles as these are produced using one template. We have also tested the homepage and user interfaces.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 19 August 2019. It was last reviewed and updated on 10 October 2023.