Accessibility Statement

Accessibility statement for https://alltogethernow.hartlepoolnow.co.uk/

This accessibility statement covers the Hartlepool Now website.

This accessibility statement applies tohttps://alltogethernow.hartlepoolnow.co.uk/

This website is run by Hartlepool 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 the website's text size.
Change the contrast / colours of the website.
Find content in two or more ways.
Control distracting flickering or movement.
Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard.
Access the content in a logical order even if styling is removed.
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:

Some third-party plugins such as Google Maps, Google Captcha, Google translate and YouTube iframes 

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:

email [email protected]
call 01429 523652
https://www.hartlepoolnow.co.uk/enquiries/new
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 working days.

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 think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us on the details above.

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide an SMS message service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our Civic Centre main reception has a mobile loop system that can be used in the interview rooms as required. There are also front-line staff that have attended deaf/deaf-blind awareness training and a number of them qualified to British Sign Language Level 1.

Find out how to contact us https://alltogethernow.hartlepoolnow.co.uk/#/enquiries/get-help

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Hartlepool Now 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 listed below.

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
We have done everything within our power to make the website comply but some third-party plugins such as Google Maps, Google Recaptcha, Google translate and YouTube video embeds that are used on this website do not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 (parsing) and / or success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value) and must be resolved by said third parties. As such, we cannot be sure when these issues will be resolved.

Specifically 3.3.2: Labels or Instructions, 4.1.1 Parsing and 2.4.3: Focus Order and 1.1.1 Non-text Content.

We are aware that some older blog articles and stories are missing alts. We aim to fix these by End April 2022 and include alts in any new articles where appropriate.  

What we’re doing to improve accessibility
We recognise there is room for improvement, particularly in the following areas: Content and functionality from third parties. We monitor other websites to assess best practice for website accessibility on an ongoing basis and we work with external vendors to ensure the solutions they provide us with are as accessible as possible. If you would like to provide feedback about the accessibility of the website then please contact us using our online form: https://www.hartlepoolnow.co.uk/enquiries/new

​Developments to the website in line with user feedback about accessibility will be evaluated in line with what is likely to make the largest impact to our users and the cost of achieving these objectives.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 25th March 2022. It was last reviewed on 31st March 2022.

This website was last tested on 31st March 2022. The test was carried out by This is Focus Limited.

The test was carried out by This is Focus Limited, using https://alphagov.github.io/wcag-primer/checklist.html#checklist and the ARC Toolkit. We used this approach to test a sample of key pages, actions and user journeys against the above checklist. 

You can read the full accessibility test report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tGiGN4TlKFxkX28kwabkpmWsfrNCP_WWhE2N4uANWkE/edit?usp=sharing