Accessibility

Accessibility statement for www.harlow.gov.uk

This accessibility statement applies to www.harlow.gov.uk and selfserve.harlow.gov.uk

This website is run by Harlow 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
  • 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’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:

  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • 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 the Communications team at communications@harlow.gov.uk.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 10 working 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, email the Communications team at communications@harlow.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, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Harlow 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 2.2 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.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

WCAG 1.1.1 Non-Text Content

  • In some of our PDFs there are no text alternatives for non-text content.

We have text alternatives for non-text content in our top 25 most-used PDFs. We are continuing to update our less frequently-used PDFs.

WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled

  • Some of our PDF documents do not have descriptive titles.

We have updated the titles in our top 25 most-used PDFs. We are continuing to update our less frequently-used PDFs.

WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page

  • Some of our PDFs do not have a specified language.

We have specified the language in our top 25 most-used PDFs. We are continuing to update our less frequently-used PDFs.

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

Many of our older PDF documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

Some of our PDF documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have a PDF form to apply for discretionary housing payment. We are working on either fixing these or replacing 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 the Harlow Sculpture trail map document.

However, if you need information in an alternative format, email the Communications Team at communications@harlow.gov.uk.

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

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are working to resolve all identified accessibility issues which are within our control.

We are working with suppliers to resolve any identified accessibility issues where we do not have direct control over their product.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 18 November 2019. It was last reviewed on 12 October 2023.

This website was last tested on 12 October 2023. The test was carried out by Harlow Council’s Communications team using Siteimprove.

Siteimprove checks across the whole of our site on a regular basis and reports on:

  • pages that conform to WCAG A, AA or AAA standards
  • issues with CSS validation
  • issues with HTML validation
  • PDF accessibility including problems with tagging, language definition, headings and labels