Accessibility Statement

On this page you can adapt this website to meet your needs by changing the contrast and text size.

Choose the settings you want to use and click 'Apply settings'

If you wish to return to the standard settings, click the 'Reset Settings' button.

Kirklees Council is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. The Kirklees Local Offer website is regularly updated by the Local Offer team.  This statement was reviewed on the 7th February 2024.

Accessibility Statement for Kirklees Local Offer

This accessibility statement applies to the website, Kirklees Local Offer.

This website is run by Kirklees 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.

This website is designed to be compliant with the international standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 – Level AA.

How accessible is this website?

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• This website uses JavaScript to deliver certain features. Please make sure you have JavaScript turned on within your browser to deliver full features;
• My Shortlist doesn’t work for keyboard only users;
• Landmarks aren’t fully labelled.
• Links aren’t always underlined and contain “Read More” text;
• Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software;
• Live video streams do not have captions;

Improvements made since last statement update

Since the last update of the statement, December 2023 we have fixed the following accessibility issues with Kirklees Local Offer

• The keyboard focus is now visible on the 'A' buttons to change the size of the webpage font
• Carousel Slider on the homepage has Play/Pause control to ensure
• High Contrast styles are now working for all pages
• When viewing the website with no JavaScript, progressive disclosure items are opened by default.
• Accessibility Widget and Search Directory now have appropriate landmarks.

Further details can be found in

How to use this website?

Accessible Features

This website uses a widget that contains several Accessible features that can be used by users with specific requirements. The widget is available on the top right-hand side of the header menu.

These features include: -

Contrast & Font Size

Changing the contrast and font sizes of text can increase legibility for some users.

This website has two colour contrast settings, firstly, the “default colour scheme” which provides a suitable level of contrast for most users and satisfies the accessibility standards. However, if a user feels the colour contrast is too low in areas the website also contains a “high contrast scheme” which satisfies all accessibility standards for colour contrast.

A user can change the contrast settings by clicking on the icons at the top right of screen. For a user using voice recognition please say, “Switch to default colour scheme” and “Switch to high contrast scheme” respectively for the same result.

To increase the font size, click on the icons at the top right of the screen. For a user using voice recognition please say, “Switch to normal font size”, “Switch to big font size” and “Switch to biggest font size” respectively for the same result. The user can also use the browser’s own zoom facility. The website will work up to 200%

Keyboard Navigation of Search Directory Categories

The Search Directory allows users to filter results using category facets. There are three Categories a user can search against:- “I live in”, "I am looking for” and “Support for…” .

These will open a drop-down of a list of checkboxes. For keyboard-only users these can be navigated by tabbing down the list of checkboxes and selecting options by pressing the SPACEBAR key.

The "I am looking for” category is the only category to have multiple lists of checkboxes. The different filter groups are on the left-hand side of the screen, and the checkboxes are on the right-hand side of the screen. By default the focus is applied to the right-hand screen checkboxes. The TAB key can navigate these options.

 Navigating the different filter groups (on the left-hand side) a keyboard user must use the UP and DOWN arrow keys. A screen-reader user will have to switch their screen-reader to BROWSE mode from Forms Focus Mode to be able to read the different filter groups.

Accessible Alternatives

Efforts have been made to create accessible alternatives for content that does not meet standards where possible.  For example, we have produced a printed Local Offer booklet which is available by calling 01484 416919 or emailing LocalOffer@kirklees.gov.uk .

Where appropriate we may be able to deliver content to users in accordance with their needs.

Please see “Make a request for Accessible Content” section for further details.

Make a request for Accessible Content

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille; Please contact us at LocalOffer@kirklees.gov.uk or call us on 01484 416919

Purpose of Links

Kirklees Local Offer will use links to navigate to content on the website. External links will open in a new window.

Where possible the action of an external link will be described by extra description within the link text, so all users can understand the link’s purpose.  However, in certain areas of the website adding this extra description will become a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

We have provided the following definition for external links: -

External Links will be used for any content that has known limitations with assistive technologies OR navigates a user away from secure platforms. In summary, this means the following items are considered external links –

• Non-HTML Documentation (See “Issues with PDFs and other documents”)
• Redirection away from secure platforms
• External websites that are not part of council website.

Feedback and contact information

We are always looking for ways to improve the Kirklees Local Offer website. If you find any problems that are not listed within this statement, or believe we are not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations please contact us at LocalOffer@kirklees.gov.uk or call us on 01484 416919

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Services (EASS)

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Kirklees Council are 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 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.

Resolutions of Non-compliance with the Accessibility Regulations

Since this statement was last updated the following accessibility issues have been resolved

RESOLVED: JavaScript Issues

The website makes use of JavaScript to deliver certain pieces of functionality such as the Accessibility Widget and Progressive Disclosure menus.

 A message is displayed when telling the user if JavaScript is not enabled in their browser. All Progressive Disclosure menu items expand when JavaScript is turned off. We would advise all users of this website to use a JavaScript enabled browser.

RESOLVED: Issues with Carousel (Slider)

Since the last review of this statement Carousel (Slider) didn’t have a pause/stop feature to prevent articles moving.

A Pause/Stop functionality has been added to the Carousel (Slider). This passes WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide.

RESOLVED: Issues with High Contrast

Since the last review of this statement all pages should be working work our high contrast styles

All content paragraphs, heading levels and search facets should now be visible. This passes WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.6 Contrast (Advanced).

RESOLVED: Issues with Images

All our images contain some form of alternative text. It has been discovered that some images may not have alternative text that informs the user about an image. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 Information and Relationships.

We are reviewing content on a regular basis and will make the necessary changes when we discover them.

RESOLVED: Issues with Voice recognition

Since the last review of this statement all form and menu controls displayed on smartphones or tablets should now be accessible to users who use voice recognition software.

All menus and form input fields have a visible label associated with them. This passes WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

During our last review of this website it has come to our attention that there are areas of the website that fail to meet WCAG 2.1: 

• WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow - At 400% zoom and in mobile view (320 x 256 pixels), the accessibility button obscures options in the toolbar and the user has to scroll to view content. At 400% zoom and in mobile view (320 x 256 pixels), once the accessibility button has been expanded and 'change settings' expanded, the content does not reflow properly and options are cut off the screen.  This issue is with our third party accessibility toolbar (reachdeck), they are aware of the issue and the Local Offer is seeking a resolution with aim to have this resolved by December 2024.
• WCAG 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus - When hovering over the menus 'Information' and 'MyShortlist', there is no mechanism to dismiss the additional content triggered without moving pointer hover or keyboard focus.  This is due to be resolved by December 2024.
• WCAG 2.4.4 Issues with Text (and links) Some link text does not make sense when read on its own (for example, ‘click here’).
• WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow Issues with Third Party Widgets in Mobile view Our Third party widgets are not reflowing correctly in mobile view. Reviewing the regulations we believe this is not within scope of the accessibility regulations - Third Party Content that is not under direct control of Kirklees or main website provider

Issues with Landmarks

Some Landmarks that appear on custom pages are not appropriately labelled. The majority of  landmarks that are used are correctly labelled and appear inside top-level landmarks.

We are currently reviewing these pages and providing feedback to our PPL web developers

Issues with PDFs and other documents (WCAG 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.4.3, 2.4.5. 2.4.2)

Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be marked up to be accessible for a screen reader.

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with Easy Read Information on how users can access our services. 

The accessibility 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, we acknowledge that PDF's are not an ideal way of presenting information for a digital audience and we are working with other areas of the council to reduce the number of new PDF's produced.  On the Kirklees Local Offer we will not be publishing new information and content in a PDF or Word doc only way, but will be taking a "mobile first" approach and creating content in a HTML format using our own webpages.

Our audit (using Silktide) identified a number of other issues with PDF's:

• Non-tagged PDF's
• Ensure all PDF's have a title
• Specify headings for every PDF
• Ensure PDF's specify a default language
• Ensure PDF headings follow a logical order
• Ensure the first heading in a PDF is H1

We shall be looking at all PDF's produced post 23 September 2018 to ensure the above issues can be fixed.  We aim to have this work completed by the time of the next accessibility review by 22nd December 2024.

Issues with images, video and audio

Live video streams have captions auto added by YouTube, not all videos are currently checked for the accuracy of their captioning.

We are not in control of some video content as this is not our own, however we will ensure that all future Local Offer produced video content is checked for accuracy of captioning.

Disproportionate Burden

There are no issues that are considered a disproportionate burden

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

Web Content that is not subject to the standards referenced in this policy statement are as follows: -

• Content that is archived.
• Content on intranets and extranets published before 23/09/2019
• Non-HTML Documentation (PDFs, Microsoft Office files) that were published before 23/09/2018.
• Non-HTML Documentation (PDFs, Microsoft Office files) that are not essential to the services Kirklees provides.
• Live Audio and Video
• Pre-recorded Audio and Video published before 23/09/2020
• Online Maps and mapping services
• Third Party Content that is not under direct control of Kirklees or main website provider – Google Translate, Social Media links

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

WCAG 2.2 Accessibility Standard

The new version of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.2 were published on 5^th October 2023.

This will replace WCAG 2.1 as the legally required accessibility standard in October 2024.

We are working with our website provider to ensure we meet this deadline by 30^th September 2024.  

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was first prepared on 9^th November 2020. It will be reviewed every year in accordance with the regulations. It was last reviewed on 7^th February 2024.

This website was last tested on 7^th February 2024.

To prepare this statement an accessibility test was carried out by Kirklees Council Local Offer Team and PPL (web developers). The most viewed pages were tested using automated testing tools by the PPL website team. A further audit of the website was carried out to the WCAG 2.2 AA standard.

Feedback and Contact information

We are always looking for ways to improve the Kirklees Local Offer website. If you find any problems that are not listed within this statement, or believe we are not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations please contact us at LocalOffer@kirklees.gov.uk or call us on 01484 416919.