Accessibility statement
This website is run by Lewisham 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 400%
- navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
- navigate the website using speech recognition software
- listen to the website using the ReadSpeaker tool
- listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver).
- discern the structure and order of web pages and content
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
Most of our site is accessible and it conforms with WCAG2.1 AA standard. We know some parts of our website aren’t fully accessible:
- online forms are missing some programmatic labels so are not announced correctly by a screen reader
- some elements in our online forms are not keyboard operable
- most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
- older videos are missing audio description
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:
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any accessibility problems that aren’t listed on this page, or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, you can
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).
Contact us by phone or visit us in person
British Sign Language (BSL) users
We provide a 24-hour online interpreting service for British Sign Language (BSL) users. Our offices have audio induction loops. If you visit one of our offices we can arrange a BSL interpreter.
Find out more about our services for British Sign Language users.
Technical information about this website’s accessibility
Lewisham 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, 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
PDFs
Some of our PDFs do not comply with WCAG 2.1 to Level A and AA which may make them difficult for some of our users to access. For example:
- they currently do not have the correct heading tags so screen reader users will be unable to navigate using heading levels
- this fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info & Relationships)
- they do not have document landmarks so screen reader users will find it difficult to understand the structure of the PDFs
- this fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info & Relationships)
- images are missing alternative text so blind people will be unable to discern them
- this fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content)
- colour contrast is insufficient in places which can impact users with visual impairments or colour blindness
- this fails WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast)
Where possible we plan to convert PDFs to HTML, which will be built to comply with accessibility guidelines. For any new PDFs, we will ensure they are created in an accessible way.
Cookie consent banner
Our cookie consent banner, operated by Cookiebot, is not fully compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. We are currently exploring how we can implement a robust, compliant consent solution.
Some of the issues are:
- some form controls do not have labels
- people using screen readers are not able to perceive the layout of the form
- this fails WCAG success criterion A 1.3.1
- some lists are not marked up correctly
- some lists contain elements that are not accurately reported as descendants by screen readers
- this fails WCAG success criterion A 4.1.1
- some dialogs do not have labels
- the consent banner pop up window does not have a label that can be read by screen readers
- his fails WCAG success criterion A 1.3.1
- controls do not change appearance when selected
- page controls such as buttons, links and fields do not change appearance when selected by the keyboard
- this fails WCAG success criterion AA 2.4.7
Disproportionate burden
Interactive maps and forms
Some of the interactive functionality on our website has accessibility issues, which will make them difficult for some people to use. This includes our service forms, newsletter registration process, and interactive maps. The issues are:
- some of the form fields do not have descriptive programmatic labels, which means they are not announced correctly by screen readers
- this can make it hard for visually impaired people to determine what information the form contains
- this fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role Value)
- when selecting radio buttons within the forms, a change of context is initiated automatically, without prior warning
- this may be confusing for some people and fails WCAG success criterion 3.2.2 (On input)
- the focus order through the forms is not always logical, meaning some people may become disorientated when using the forms
- this fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.3 (Focus order)
- the error messaging does not describe how to fix any issue, which may make it hard for some people to correct mistakes
- this fails WCAG success criterion 3.3.3 (Error Suggestion)
- when an error occurs, the message is not announced by the screen reader, which means people with visual impairments may not be aware an error has occurred
- this fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.3 (Status Message)
- some elements of our forms are not keyboard operable, which means people who do not use a mouse may struggle to interact with some elements
- this fails WCAG success criterion 2.1.1 (Keyboard)
- some forms timeout without warning and without giving people the opportunity to extend their session
- this fails WCAG success criterion 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable)
- heading elements are not used hierarchically on the forms, which might cause issues for users navigating with a screen reader
- this fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 (Info & Relationships)
Our forms are built and hosted through third party software and ‘skinned’ to look like our website.
We’ve assessed the feasibility of fixing the issues detailed above and believe that doing so now would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. This is because, as a third party application, we do not have direct access to the underlying code and cannot make the necessary changes to fix the above issues. We have flagged the issues to the third party provider to expedite a fix.
Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
PDFs and other documents
The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 unless they’re essential to providing our services.
Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.
Pre-recorded video and audio
The accessibility regulations do not require us to add audio description or text transcripts to pre-recorded videos and audio published before 23 September 2020.
Any new videos or audio added to the site will meet accessibility standards.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 20 September 2019. It was last reviewed on 10 December 2021.
This website was last tested on 15 September 2020. This website was tested for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and level AA, and the test was carried out by Web Usability Partnership Ltd.
We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to deciding on a sample of pages to test.