Accessibility statement

We are committed to making our 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.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• live video streams have captions, but the quality may depend on the sound quality of the recording
• some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Navigation and accessing information

Previously, there was no way to skip the repeated content in the page header. We have now implemented a "Skip to content" link that allows users to directly navigate to the main content of the page, bypassing the repetitive header information. This feature is accessible via keyboard tab for users who rely on keyboard navigation.

Device Orientation

While most modern devices allow for easy orientation changes, there may still be instances where adjusting the orientation from horizontal to vertical can present challenges. We are continually working to ensure that our website content is adaptable to various screen sizes and orientations, minimizing any difficulties users may encounter.

Text Size Adjustment

We have conducted thorough testing to ensure that users can adjust the text size on our website without encountering overlapping content. While modern browsers and devices generally support text size adjustments, we recommend using the browser's built-in zoom or accessibility settings for optimal results.

Interactive Tools and Transactions

We have ensured that form fields on our website have programmatically associated names or labels. This is essential for users who rely on screen readers or other assistive technologies to navigate our interactive forms.

While we have made significant progress in improving the accessibility of our forms, we acknowledge that there may still be instances where certain form fields within our directories require further attention to ensure optimal keyboard navigation.

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

PDFs and other documents

Some of our PDFs and Word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2020, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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.

However, we understand that certain PDF documents, such as those intended for printing. For example,campaign packs with posters, may still be valuable resources for our users. While these documents may fall outside the scope of digital accessibility guidelines, we strive to make them as accessible as possible within reasonable limits.

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

Live Video

This website (www.rotherham.gov.uk) does not currently offer live video streams. However, Rotherham Council meetings are livestreamed on our dedicated Public-i webcasts website.

Public-i Webcasts: The Public-i webcasts website is a separate platform provided by Public-i for Rotherham Council. While this website strives for accessibility, it currently meets a partial compliance level with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard.

Accessibility Information: For detailed information on the accessibility features and limitations of the Public-i webcasts website, please refer to their dedicated accessibility statement.