Accessibility statement

This website is run by Lewes District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. We provide a free accessibility toolbar on all our webpages called ReachDeck (previously BrowseAloud). This allows you to:

• have the page or selected text read out loud to you
• get written and spoken translations in multiple languages
• convert selected text into an MP3
• block distractions on screen with a tinted mask
• enlarge text and read it aloud
• remove clutter and display only the main text
• customise options to suit your individual needs or preferences

You should be able to zoom in up to 300% without problems. We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

Most of our Councillor and Committee webpages and documents are managed through the Civica Modern.Gov platform. Their PDF accessibility statement is on their Committees webpage.

Our Report It app is on the Love Clean Streets platform managed by bbits. On the app, to find their accessibility statement:

• Tap on My Profile
• Then select the view our full privacy notice link
• Scroll down to the footer
• Tap on their Accessibility statement link

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:

• The Lewes District Local Plan 2003 pages and maps have pop-ups and a few broken links as they were developed by third parties and are subject to copyright
• We include YouTube player and Twitter feeds that can cause accessibility issues
• Some of our older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• Some PDFs have been created from Tiff images, so cannot be made fully accessible
• Live video streams do not have captions
• Our pages do not have skip navigation on them as the top navigation content is small and the main content is reached quickly
• When using a browser, the third-party Lewes Planning Public Access website scrolls in both directions when you zoom in. On some mobile browsers you may not be able to zoom. However, you can amend your accessibility settings to be able to zoom.
• A small number of pages, such as those with maps provided by Google, do rely on JavaScript and will not be accessible to users of some assistive technologies or users who have turned off JavaScript in their browsers.
• A small number of pages use embedded Google Maps and are not fully accessible. We have provided a link so users can open the map directly in Google Maps to allow for better access.

Feedback and contact information

Tell us if you need information in a different format.

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
• You can also request a PDF in an accessible format

Request information in a different format.

You can get alternatives to non-accessible content by:

• Viewing PDFs by getting the latest free Adobe Reader software
• Listening to our website or translating it using ReachDeck free toolbar

Feedback

We continue to try to improve the accessibility of the website and your feedback is important to us for this. Please fill in our Report a website fault form if you think that there is an accessibility problem with the site and explain the difficulties you are having. We will try to overcome any problems we are made aware of.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please fill in our Report a website fault form. This will be sent to the Digital Services Team.

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the 'accessibility regulations'). If you are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

The best way to contact us is online, using our contact us form. This also provides details of our quietest phone times.

Details of our office locations and how to find us.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Lewes District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council are committed to making their 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 listed below.

Non accessible content

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• The Lewes District Local Plan 2003 pages and maps have pop-ups and a few broken links as they were developed by third parties and are subject to copyright
• We include YouTube player and Twitter feeds that can cause accessibility issues
• Some of our older PDF documents are untagged, have no bookmarks or title as they were provided by third parties or are security protected
• Some PDFs have been created from Tiff images, so cannot be made fully accessible
• Some embedded third party Google maps do not use correct ARIA commands and elements. We have provided links for customers to access the maps direct through their device which may improve their experience using their personal device settings.
• Our pages do not have skip navigation on them as the top navigation content is small and the main content is reached quickly

Disproportionate burden

Navigation and accessing information

Our documents are within tables where HTML is used to format content in presentational attributes instead of css styling. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (information and relationships).

We have assessed the cost of fixing this issue. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We will make another assessment when the Content Management System (CMS) is due for renewal.

PDFs on our third party planning systems

Our third party planning systems produce inaccessible image PDFs - for example, delegated officer reports, which do not have tags, titles or language specified.

We have assessed that to fix this issue would require a complete overhaul of the systems requiring considerable work, resource and cost. We believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. 

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Some of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they are accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. We plan to fix these by adding tags and specifying their language.

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

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.

How we tested this website

Our website is checked by Siteimprove for Level A and AA standards of the WCAG 2.1. We continue to monitor issues that arise using their live report for our website. We aim to fix them as soon as we are able to.

We tested sample pages using Deque Axe and fixed those issues. We then ran a full manual test of all pages on our website using the same tool (October 2021). We are fixing any issues that we found. Those we cannot fix are listed in Non accessible content, above.

We also subscribe to Socitm Better Connected. They use Silktide to test local authority sites for accessibility according to The EU Directive on accessibility of public websites and mobile applications. Our results are published on the Socitm Better Connected website.

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We continue to fix issues as they arise from the live SiteImprove report for our website.

This statement was prepared on 23 March 2020. It was last reviewed on 26 October 2021.

Other accessibility information

Listen to or translate our website with ReachDeck

Listen to our website by using free software called ReachDeck. ReachDeck can read the content of this site out to you and offer translations* of the site into many other languages. You can use the ReachDeck tool on every page to listen to the content on that page. Visit the ReachDeck website for more information and to add the link to your device's browser.

* Translations are through ReachDeck partner programme with Google Translate. Eastbourne Borough Council and Lewes District Council cannot be held responsible for the quality or accuracy of the translations.

Colour schemes

Using ReachDeck, you can change the colour scheme and text size to meet your needs. The options you choose here will be stored on your computer in a file called a 'cookie' (read about cookies on our site) and used every time you visit this website.

Text sizes

Using ReachDeck, you can change the text size when browsing the site. The options you choose here will be stored on your computer in a file called a 'cookie' (read about cookies on our site) and used every time you visit this website.

Browsers and operating systems

Our website is designed to work best on the latest operating systems and browsers. We recommend Windows 10 with Google Chrome for optimal performance.

The website is also designed to work with Mac OS X operating systems and Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

On mobile devices, using the latest Chrome browser on Apple and Android should also perform without issues.

You may experience issues when using older operating systems and browsers.

More help available

More help is available from:

• the BBC's accessibility help provides links to resources and documents to help users access the BBC's content
• AbilityNet's My Computer, My Way pages to find and use all accessibility features that are built into your computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone
• RNIB's technology resource hub gives you facts, tips and guides on phones, tablets, desktops and specialist access technology
• Scope's Making your phone easier to use with apps suggests apps that can help make your phone or tablet easier to use
• Living Made Easy's Computer controlled software and apps webpage includes apps and software that provide alternative methods of computer input
• University of Sussex's assistive technology for students webpage provides links to guidance on how to change settings on your computer and to software that you may wish to use

• British Assistive Technology Association raises awareness of assistive technology, has forums, special interest groups and knowledge bank for its members