Accessibility

What's an accessible website?

An accessible website allows users to navigate freely and view content without creating barriers. This means that information has to be easy to reach and available to as many visitors as possible.

To ensure that these challenges are met, the website must assume that there is no standard user or browsing device.

Accessibility statement for East Renfrewshire Council

This accessibility statement applies to the East Renfrewshire Council website - www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk - and its 'Impact of Covid-19 on council services' sub domain.

This website is run by East Renfrewshire 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.

The AbilityNet website (opens new window) 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 aren't fully accessible. For example:

• some functional images have inaccurate text alternatives
• some headings and lists are not semantically marked up for assistive technology
• some text colours have inadequate contrast with the background
• some form fields do not have labels associated with the input fields
• some PDF documents aren't fully accessible to screen reader software

A full listing of known issues with our web pages that may affect users with disabilities is available below under non accessible content.

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:

Contact the Communications team.

We'll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

Translations

All of our online content can be provided in alternative formats and languages. 

Contact Customer Services for more information.

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, contact the Communications 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, 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 D/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.

Contact Customer Services for more information.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

East Renfrewshire 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 (opens new window)  due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

There is some content on our website which is non-accessible for the following reasons.

• Images and non-text content
• Colour and contrast
• Page and content structure
• Keyboard navigation
• Links and other interactive elements

Content that's not within scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Accessibility regulations don't require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018. However, for those PDFs and Word documents which are classed as 'active administration documents' and are essential to providing our services, we'll look to review these later in 2023. Where a PDF is not accessible to all we will provide contact details where you can request a printed version.

We plan to fix our PDFs by in a variety of ways. We will:

• replace the PDF with an accessible HTML page, or
• transform the PDF into an online form, or
• ensure that, if the PDF is to remain as a document, it meets digital accessibility standards. 

In the meantime, if you're experiencing any difficulties with a PDF on our website please email communications@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk.

Live video

We don't plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Planning and Building Standards

ePlanning

ePlanning is a free to use online service that is provided by IDOX plc and is managed by the Scottish Government in partnership with all Scottish local authorities. This portal allows you to complete and submit planning applications, notice of reviews, appeals, and other permissions under planning law, all online from the comfort of your own home or office.

Read IDOX plc's conformance to WCAG 2.1 (PDF) [389KB] (opens new window) .

Review of this accessibility statement

This statement was reviewed on 14 June 2023

This website was last tested on 15 February 2023. The test was carried out by AbilityNet.