Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to www.swale.gov.uk and news.swale.gov.uk.

This website is run by Swale 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
• 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

Most of our website is fully compliant with the W3C WCAG 2.2 A, and AA accessibility standards.

However, we know there are some parts of this website where we’re working to meet guidance that doesn’t directly fall within the WCAG A and AA standards. These are:

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

What to do if you cannot access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

• email csc@swale.gov.uk
• call 01795 417 850

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in three days.

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

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 let us know via this form or contact the Communications and Marketing team at webfeedback@swale.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 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 at www.swale.gov.uk/new-news-and-your-council/contact-us

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Swale Borough 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 fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standards.

Content that’s not within the scope of 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. By summer 2024, we plan to either fix these or replace 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.

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

Live video

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

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on Sunday 13 October, 2024. The test was carried out using Siteimprove on https://swale.gov.uk and news.swale.gov.uk.

This testing is carried out at least monthly to identify issues we need to address to maintain and improve the accessibility of the site.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We continue to regularly test the site both manually and using automatic tools to monitor accessibility.

We aim to be at least maintain the AA standard, and reach the AAA standard.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 21 September, 2020. It was last reviewed on Thursday 17 October, 2024.

This website was last tested on Sunday 13 October, 2024. The test was carried out by Swale Borough Council.

We tested all pages on this website.