Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for Our South Tyneside Data Observatory

This accessibility statement applies to content published on the https://data.southtyneside.gov.uk/ domain.

This website is run by South Tyneside 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)

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

    • text is overlapping on the homepage
    • when using a keyboard and tabbing into the search bar, the beginning of the search bar is covered by the South Tyneside Council logo
    • text cannot be re-sized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality
    • on the data explorer pages, buttons do not have discernible text
    • on the cookie policy page, links are not distinguishable without colour

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements:

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

In your message, include:

    • the web address (URL) of the content
    • your email address and name
    • the format you need – for example, plain text, braille, BSL, large print or audio CD

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 working days.

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

South Tyneside Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

This website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Text

Text overlaps on the homepage. Text cannot be re-sized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.4: Resize Text. WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible

Buttons

Buttons do not have discernible text.

On the data explorer pages, buttons do not have discernible text. Buttons must have discernible text that clearly describes the destination, purpose, function, or action for screen reader users. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value).

Navigation

Focus visible

When using a keyboard and tabbing into the search bar, the beginning of the search bar is covered by the South Tyneside Council logo. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible.

The keyboard focus is not fully visible on the logo at the top of the website. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible.

Aside elements contained in other landmarks

This may disable screen reader functionality allowing users to navigate through complementary content. This does not meet best practice.

Ensure landmarks are unique

Landmarks must have a unique role or accessible name (i.e. role, label, title) combination. This does not meet best practice.

All page content should be contained by landmarks

All content should be within distinct regions such as the header, nav, main, and footer. This may stop screen readers navigating through the webpage. This does not meet best practice.

Documents should not have more than one banner landmark

The banner landmark should only appear once on an element that is unique. This may stop screen readers’ ability to navigate to sections of a webpage. This does not meet best practice.

Colour contrast

On the cookie policy page, links are not distinguishable without colour. This does not meet the minimum colour contrast ratio of 3:1. Some users may find it difficult to read the text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1: Use of colour.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We have reported issues in this statement to our website supplier on 1 July 2024.

We are urgently fixing content which fails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard. We will update this page when issues are fixed.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 28 June 2024. It was last reviewed on 30 September 2024.

This website was last tested on 30 September 2024 against the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. The test was carried out by South Tyneside Council.

We tested a sample of pages including the following templates:

    • Homepage
    • Search results page
    • Content pages
    • Cookie policy page

We carried out both manual checks, and automated tests using the axe accessibility checker.