Accessibility

Accessibility statement for South Tyneside Council Housing Services

This accessibility statement applies to www.housing.southtyneside.gov.uk.

The website is run by South Tyneside Council Housing Services. 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.

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:

  • PDF and Word documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • When you zoom in on the website using a mobile device there may be some loss of content and functionality
  • Our repairs and maintenance videos do not have captions
  • Some pages and document attachments are not written in plain English

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:

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.

Ways we can help

We are always looking at ways to make access to our services easier for everyone.

Some of the ways we can help support you include:

  • help with filling in forms
  • language interpreting
  • British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting and lip speakers
  • written information in a range of languages and electronic formats (for example email) or in large print
  • Braille or audiotape
  • arranging for an interpreter to explain our written information
  • welcoming calls through Typetalk
  • arranging for you to speak to a member of staff of the same gender as you
  • home visits to customers who are unable to access out offices

To find out more please contact us on 0300 123 6633 (Textphone users please prefix our telephone number with 18001).

Find out more about how to contact us.

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 you think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, please email webteam@southtyneside.gov.uk or call 0191 427 7000. The Web and Digital team are responsible for dealing with these reports.

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 (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status

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

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Navigation

On the homepage, the keyboard focus is not fully visible on the 'view all news' button. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.7 Focus Visible. 

On the homepage, when using a keyboard and tabbing into the 'view all news' button, the colour contrast is insufficient. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum). 

On the news page in mobile view, ARIA hidden elements are focusable or contain focusable elements. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. 

When you view the website on a mobile device text cannot be re-sized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.4: Resize Text and 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum). 

On a mobile device the live chat tool covers the screen when you try to resize the text to 300%. This fails WAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured.

Cookie pop-up 

On the cookie pop-up, elements with ARIA roles do not have all required ARIA attributes. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. 

Recite Me tool

When the Recite Me tool is active screen readers may not be able to inform the listener that they are listening to items from a list. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships.

Text cannot be re-sized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.4: Resize Text and 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum). 

PDFs and Word documents

Many documents are in less accessible formats, for example PDF. Non-HTML documents published on or after 23 September 2018 must have an accessible format. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value). 

Issues within documents include: 

  • Images on some pages do not always have suitable image descriptions. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to information conveyed in images. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content). 
  • Some tables are structured incorrectly, so screen readers cannot understand the relationships between information in the table. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships). 
  • Some headings do not display correctly. They may look like normal text or a different type of heading. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships). 
  • Some images use colour as the only way to convey meaning. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.1 (Use of Color). 
  • Some images include text with poor colour contrast to its background. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast (Minimum). 
  • Some pages use images of text instead of text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.5 (Images of Text). 
  • Some images include elements with poor colour contrast to the background. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.4.11 (Non-text Contrast). 
  • Some headings don't accurately describe the content underneath. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels). 

We plan to replace PDF and Word documents on our website with accessible versions. 

We are prioritising: 

  • documents which have essential information about how to access our services 
  • forms which can't be submitted online 
  • documents which are regularly downloaded 

When we plan to fix these issues

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. 

We are making sure any new content or digital services we build meet accessibility standards. 

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

PDFs and non-HTML 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.   

Video

The accessibility regulations do not require us to provide a text only format for pre-recorded video published before 23 September 2020.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

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 23 September 2019. It was last updated on 25 September 2024.

This website was last tested on 25 September 2024. The test was carried out by South Tyneside Council.

We tested a sample of pages on our main website platform, including the following templates:

  • Homepage
  • Content pages
  • Search page
  • News search page
  • News pages
  • Online forms

We carried out both manual checks and automated tests. We used the axe accessibility checker for the automated tests.