Accessibility statement for www.solihull.gov.uk

Accessibility statement for solihull.gov.uk website and online services

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

This website is run by Solihull Metropolitan Borough 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.

Help to read and use our website

ReciteMe is our accessibility tool and translation software that is available on our website in the top right hand corner of every page.

You can access the toolbar by selecting ‘accessibility tools and translation’ link at the top of this page. You can access a user guide showing you how to use the toolbar.

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:

  • many documents are in PDF format and are not accessible
  • some of our online services are hosted by third-party suppliers and you may find navigating these services difficult depending on their level of web accessibility
  • some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.
  • live video streams do not have captions

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:

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 10 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, please contact us by:

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 or visiting us in person

We provide a Live chat service for our customers which may be particularly useful for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our Solihull Connect Walk in Centres have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. We have Accessible access guides for each of our Solihull Connect Walk in Centres.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Solihull 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 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

Interactive tools and transactions

We are aware of the following issues with our web applications:

  • On some pages the language has not been set in the code. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.1.1 (Language of Page).
  • Some pages have poor colour contrast. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
  • On some pages there are empty headings, which may confuse people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Information and Relationships) or 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
  • Some links are not clearly identifiable. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Colour).
  • Some links do not have a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context)
  • Element IDs are not unique on some pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1: (Parsing)
  • Some pages have no title. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2: (Page Titled)
  • We have a few buttons without a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2: (Name, Role, Value)
  • Some form fields are not labelled. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.3.2: (Labels or Instructions)
  • Text is clipped when resized on some pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.4: (Resize text)
  • A container element is empty. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships)
  • There are a few Images without a text alternative. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1: (Non-text Content)
  • Visible label and accessible name do not match on a few pages. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.5.3: (Label in Name)
  • No data cells assigned to table header. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1: (Info and Relationships).

We are working with our web application developers and third party suppliers to ensure all our online services meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard.

PDFs and other documents

Some documents are in PDF format and may not be fully accessible. We are carrying out a rolling programme of reviewing and removing PDFs from our site. In the meantime you can contact us to request any information they contain in an alternative format.

We will ensure new documents essential for accessing our services meet accessibility standards.

Our democracy system relies on the use of PDFs and we are carrying out a longer term project to make these PDFs accessible. Alternative versions of this information are available on request in the interim.

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

PDFs and other documents

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. However we are reviewing and removing as many older PDFs and documents as possible on an ongoing basis.

Video content

The accessibility regulations do not require us to make pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020 accessible.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Online maps and mapping services

Online maps are exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations, as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are urgently fixing content which fails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We will update this page when issues are fixed.

Some of our services that we embed or link to from our website are based on a different technical platform or provided by a third party supplier. We are working with our third party suppliers to ensure all our online services meet accessibility standards.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 29 October 2020. It was last reviewed on 22 November 2021.

This website was last tested on 19 November 2021. The test was carried out by the web team using Siteimprove. SiteImprove provide automated testing of websites to highlight usability and accessibility issues. All pages and PDF documents within the website were tested.

We also sample tested our web services using a combination of:

  • Google Lighthouse (Used by our supplier before deploying any services)
  • SiteImprove
  • The free browser extension provided by Axe; and
  • Manual testing using browser plugins (Font & colour identifiers) alongside websites such as WebAim