Accessibility options
- Adapt this website to meet your needs
- Contact us using British Sign Language
- Access our sensory services
Accessibility statement for Surrey County Council
This accessibility statement applies to surreycc.gov.uk
This website is run by Surrey County Council. We are committed to providing an accessible website that is easy to use by anyone, whatever their age, background, access device or level of ability/disability.
This means that:
- Our pages are written to be clear and easy to understand.
- The website is organised so you can find what you need.
You should be able to:
- Change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
- Zoom in up to 400% 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 aim to meet the AA level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This is the international standard for accessible websites and content.
How accessible is this website?
Most of our website should be accessible. It should work well when used with access devices such as screen readers, braille readers, as well as smart phones and other devices.
These are the internet browsers that we support on our website.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
We know some content on this website is not fully accessible and this includes:
- Most older PDF documents. These are not fully accessible to screen reader software.
- Live video streams. These do not have captions.
- Some page content.
- Some PDF and other document content.
A detailed list of known accessibility issues and how we plan to address them is available further down this statement. We regularly review the site and add further issues to this statement as they are identified.
Feedback and contact information
If you need information in a different format to the one that we provide, please email us at contact.centre@surreycc.gov.uk.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
If you have difficulty using any part of our website or think that we're not meeting accessibility requirements, email us at contact.centre@surreycc.gov.uk and mark your email for the attention of the Web and Digital Services team.
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 about the accessibility of our website, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Technical information about this website's accessibility
Surrey County 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 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
Video captions
Some video captions are auto-generated and are not always accurate. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.2 (captions (pre-recorded)). We are working to correct this.
PDFs and other documents
Some PDFs and documents may not meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be structured so they're accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).
Currently, all documents are checked with an automated test before being published on the site. This eliminates many common accessibility errors but does not guarantee that documents will be fully accessible.
We manually check and fix:
- the most-viewed documents (currently, approximately the top 10%).
- documents that are essential for using our services.
- documents intended for audiences likely to have accessibility needs.
These documents should be fully accessible.
If you are unable to read a document on our site, please contact us and we will help you. Email us at contact.centre@surreycc.gov.uk and mark your email for the Web and Digital Services team's attention.
See the section on disproportionate burden for further details.
Images
Some of our pages and documents contain complex images such as diagrams, charts, graphs or infographics. Some of these may not be adequately described. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We are working to correct this.
Legal and financial documents
Some legal and financial documents on our site are provided as records of the original documents and may not be fully accessible. For example, they may not be structured so they're accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). Please contact us for accessible alternatives.
Surrey Pension Fund accounts 2023 to 2024
This PDF may be difficult to read using assistive technology such as screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (non-text content), 1.3.1 (information and relationships), 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence), 2.4.3 (focus order), 4.1.2 (name, role value). We are working to improve this document and will replace it with an accessible version later this year.
Draft annual governance statement 2023 to 2024
This PDF may be difficult to read using assistive technology such as screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (non-text content), 1.3.1 (information and relationships), 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence), 2.4.3 (focus order), 4.1.2 (name, role value). We are working to improve this document and will replace it with an accessible version later this year.
Statement of accounts 2022 to 2023
This PDF may be difficult to read using assistive technology such as screen readers. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (non-text content), 1.3.1 (information and relationships), 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence), 2.4.3 (focus order), 4.1.2 (name, role value). We are working to replace this with an accessible version by the end of August 2024.
Statement of accounts pre-2022
Some tables in our statements of accounts prior to 2022 , may be difficult to read using assistive technology such as screen readers. They may fail WCAG 2.1 level A success criteria 1.3.1 (information and relationships), 1.3.2 (meaningful sequence). Please contact us if you need this information in an accessible format.
What can I recycle?
Some of the content within our 'what can I recycle?' tool may be difficult to use with some accessibility software. This may fail WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard). We are currently investigating how to improve this.
Van permit terms and conditions page
The page times out after a short period of time without warning the user or allowing the user to turn off, adjust or extend the timeout. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 2.2.1 (timing adjustable).
Declaration form - Child 2023/24 Funded Early Education
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Contact EYcommissioningteam@surreycc.gov.uk to request support or alternative formats.
Feedback button/pop-up
A small number of pages on our site use a legacy system for user to provide feedback. When viewing the page at 400%, the 'Don't show again' button is not visible and cannot be accessed. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 1.4.10 (reflow).
No error messages are displayed when submitting the form without entering any information into the form fields. This fails WCAG criterion 3.3.1 (error identification). We are discussing this issue with our supplier.
We have replaced this legacy feedback system with an accessible version on most pages and are reviewing options to replace it on the remaining pages.
Registration service: appointment bookings and copy certificates
The date picker popup in these forms is not fully accessible. Not all controls in the date picker can be accessed using a keyboard when a screen reader is in use. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 (keyboard). Dates can be entered manually without using the date picker in the format dd/mm/yyyy.
H1 headings in these forms are not sufficiently distinct. Users may not understand where they are in the journey. This fails WCAG 2.1 criterion 2.4.6 (headings and labels). The first H2 heading on each page, which directly follows the H1 heading, is distinct and reflects the page's purpose.
Library virtual tours
Some users may have difficulty using the virtual tours due to multiple issues including not being able to use all controls with a keyboard (this fails WCAG 2.2 criterion 2.1.1 ), some images not being described (this fails WCAG 2.2 criterion 1.1.1) and reliance on dragging controls (this fails WCAG 2.2 criterion 2.5.7). We are currently investigating solutions.
Happy or not customer survey
We are also aware of certain usability issues users can face while filling out the form. There is currently no way of going backwards in the form process. Upon a page refresh, there is a glitch whereby the form will be automatically submitted. Additionally, if the form is already open and then opened again in multiple tabs, the same glitch occurs whereby the form is automatically submitted. We are discussing this issue with our supplier who are investigating how to improve this.
Disproportionate burden
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix accessibility issues if doing so would be a disproportionate burden (where fixing an issue would cost a lot but provide minimal or no benefit and would affect our ability to provide our services).
PDFs and other documents
We've assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden to make all PDFs and documents published on our websites fully accessible.
Most of our documents are rarely viewed (in many cases, less than 50 times a year from a population of 1.1 million people) and so users with disabilities or impairments are unlikely to be negatively impacted. For this reason, we don't believe the cost to fully fix all documents is justified.
For the majority of our documents, we have committed to ensuring they pass an automated accessibility check. This will eliminate many common accessibility issues but will not necessarily ensure that the document is fully accessible.
For our most-viewed documents (approximately, the top 10%), documents that are essential for using our services, and documents intended for audience likely to have accessibility needs, we are committed to manually checking them and making sure they are fully accessible.
If you are unable to read a document on our site, please contact us and we will help you. Email us at contact.centre@surreycc.gov.uk and mark your email for the Web and Digital Services team's attention.
We will continue to investigate cost-effective ways of improving the accessibility of all our documents.
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.
The accessibility regulations also do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents provided by third-parties that we have no control over.
Live video
Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).
We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.
Supplementary Information Forms (School Directory/School Admissions)
We are legally required to offer these documents on our site, but each document is owned by their respective school. The accessibility regulations do not require us to make third-party content (content created by other organisations) accessible. Please contact the schools directly for alternative formats.
Maps
Maps are excluded from the accessibility regulations as long as any essential navigational information they provide is available.
How we test this website
We use an automated tool, Siteimprove accessibility checker, to check the accessibility of our website every five days. We also use Siteimprove to assess the accessibility of most PDFs prior to publication on our site. We routinely carry out manual checks on a proportion of our pages and documents to identify issues that can't be detected automatically.
We are testing:
- our main website platform, available at www.surreycc.gov.uk
- these services based on a different technical platform but 'skinned' to look like our website:
- adult learning course finder
- adult social care portal
- blue badge portal
- councillors and committees
- crisis fund
- family information directory
- find my nearest
- free bus pass applications
- GIS maps
- highway defect reporting
- highway insurance claims
- identity and authentication
- library catalogue
- payments
- petitions
- planning register
- registration bookings
- rights of way reporting
- school admission appeals
- schools directory
- street light fault reporting
- student fare card applications
- Surrey history centre archives catalogue
- real time traffic and travel
- waste permit applications
- other online forms
What we're doing to improve accessibility
We aim to fix any issues that are identified by our testing as soon as possible. If a prompt fix is not possible, we will plan a longer-term solution to address the issue.
We have a programme of work in place to address the accessibility of our PDFs and documents. We have allocated new staff specifically for this programme.
We have increased the training and support available to our staff to help them create accessible content.
About this statement
This statement was prepared on 23 September 2019. It is reviewed every three months and was last updated on 21 October 2024.
