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Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to plymouth.gov.uk.

This website is run by Plymouth City 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:

  • PDFs and other documents
  • Third party applications may not be fully accessible

Feedback and contact information

Let us know if you are having problems using this website or need information in a different format such as accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille. 

Email: digital@plymouth.gov.uk

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 let us know. 

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 

We provide a text relay service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Dial 18001 followed by the telephone number.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Plymouth City 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

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 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.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

PDFs

Some older PDFs and other documents don’t meet accessibility standards, for example they not be accessible to a screen reader.

PDFs on plymouth.gov.uk will be as accessible as possible. As we move content to the new site we will be removing PDFs where we can and creating HTML content and accessible online forms.

We understand that the regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. However if you need the information in an alternative format, please contact us.

Third party content

Our website contains third-party content some of which may not be fully compliant with the accessibility regulations, where possible we aim to work with the third party to improve its accessibility of this content.

Disproportionate burden

Not applicable.

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

The following are issues that we do not need to fix right now. These are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

PDFs and other documents

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. We plan to either fix or replace them with accessible HTML pages on plymouth.gov.uk.

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 documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Third party content

Our website has some widgets that are provided by third parties and are outside our control.

How we tested this website

Our website was last tested on 17 October 2022. We use an automated tool Publica11y to flag up accessibility issues.

We also carry out manual testing using the WAVE suite of accessibility tools.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have a plan in place to improve the accessibility of our website and are working to fix any issues that don’t meet the requirements.

Staff who have responsibility for the content have been trained in producing more accessible content.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 August 2020. It was last reviewed on 2 February 2023.