01892 602005 building.control@wealden.gov.uk

Using this website

This website is run by Wealden District Council.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

We are always working to make our website as accessible and usable as possible.

For example, that means you should be able to:

  • 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 have also tried to make the website text easy 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:

  • most older PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some parts of the main menu is difficult to navigate using just a keyboard and screen reader software – you can use the site search function instead to find what you are looking for
  • some of our older videos may not feature captions
  • many of our videos are embedded from YouTube and may feature labelling from YouTube itself, which is incorrect or not sufficiently descriptive – you can visit our YouTube channel to see more of our videos
  • some colour contrasts need improving and you cannot change the contrast, font or colour of pages

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

If you need information on this website in a different format – like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille – please email us at building.control@wealden.gov.uk or call us on 01892 602005.

We will consider your request and aim to reply within 20 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or think we’re not meeting the requirements of the accessibility regulations, contact us:

We (Wealden District Council) are responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations.

If you are 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.

If you need to get in touch with us and you are a British Sign Language (BSL) user, you can contact us using online interpreting or text to speech service.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Wealden District 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 listed below.

Issues with text

Some colour contrast needs improving.

We plan to fix these issues when we redevelop the website. When we publish new content we will make sure link text meets accessibility standards.

Issues with PDFs and other documents

Many of our older PDFs, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents don’t meet accessibility standards. For example, they may not be marked up so they are accessible to a screen reader.

The accessibility regulations don’t require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we don’t plan to fix older research reports. If you need help reading information on a PDF or help with completing a form, please contact us using our contact details as on our home page.

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Issues with images, video and audio

Some of our older videos may not feature captions.

Many of our videos are embedded from YouTube and may feature labelling from YouTube itself, which is incorrect or not sufficiently descriptive – you can visit our YouTube channel to see more of our videos

Issues with interactive tools and transactions

Some of our interactive forms may be difficult to navigate using a keyboard or screen reader software.

We’ve assessed the cost of fixing these issues and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations.

We do offer alternative formats. If you need information on this website in a different format please contact us by emailing us at building.control@wealden.gov.uk or calling us on 01892 602005.

We will make another assessment when we next do a major redevelopment of the website, likely to be before the end of 2020.

How we tested this website

This website was last tested on 26 October using an automated software called SiteImprove and we carried out audits from July 2021 to September 2021.

We are now redeveloping this website to make sure it meets accessibility requirements.

This statement was last updated on 26 October 2021.