Accessibility

This accessibility statement applies to www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk

At Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) we are fully committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility and usability of our website by adhering to AA Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1

Web content accessibility

We aim to improve our accessibility to remove barriers and maximise inclusion.

For example, that means you should be able to:

• Zoom in up to 500% 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)
• Subtitles are available on archived webcasts and videos
• We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to ‘the non-compliances’ listed below.

• PDF’s published before 23 September 2018 may not be accessible. Those published after this date will be accessible.
• We use Google maps or GIS online Maps
• Subtitles are not provided for live video and audio content
• Audio description is not provided for pre-recorded video content
• We are working with Capita to fix issues WCAG 2.1.1 / WCAG 2.4.3 / WCAG 1.4.3 / WCAG 2.4.4 on our Council Tax / Business rates portal
• We are working with Granicus to fix issues WCAG 1.4.3 / WCAG 1.3.1 / WCAG 4.1.2 / WCAG 4.1.1 / WCAG 1.4.4 on our online forms

Website testing

This website was tested on 20 July 2019 by Shaw Trust, both technically and manually to ensure the highest possible standards of accessibility are maintained.

The website was tested by a team of experienced pan-disabled testers. The team is made up of individuals with different disabilities to cover the widest range of accessibility barriers as possible. Each testing team consists of the following:

• Keyboard only user
• Voice activation user
• Screen reader user
• Low vision user
• Colour blind user
• Deaf or hard of hearing user
• Learning difficulties user

Amendments to the website have been made in conjunction with our website hosts CIVIC.

Feedback and contact information

If you have any problems using our website or want to make any suggestions about how we could improve it, please contact us

• Email Media@eppingforestdc.gov.uk
• Call 01992 564000

Accessibility regulations

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).

Epping Forest 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 statement was prepared and reviewed on 14 October 2020.