Accessibility statement

We want everyone who visits our website to be able to access the full range of services available, regardless of their skill or technology.

The current version of this website was launched in 2017, but individual elements of it may have been updated since then.

How accessible the site is

We know some parts of this website aren't fully accessible.

There are known issues with the:

HTML: the underlying code used to create the website
CSS: used to describe how HTML is shown on the pages
JavaScript: a development language used to program some areas of the site
3rd party functionality: areas of the site which are developed by external 3rd party companies
content: this includes web page content or documents

What to do if you have problems or queries

If you have any accessibility problems or feedback, please email us at webadmin@durham.gov.uk.

If you need to contact us about any other issues, please use our contact us page.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the accessibility regulations. If you're not happy with how we respond, please contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Durham County Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Under the Equality Act 2010 we must ensure we do not unlawfully discriminate in our service delivery and make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities where necessary. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility and usability of our site.

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

Information about which areas of the site fail.

Roadmap

A program of work is now underway to address issues, involving both our in-house developers and designers, and the companies who provide 3rd party functionality.

We aim to resolve the following by September 2021:

Main site

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: some adjacent images have identical alt tags causing screen readers to stutter as the same text is read out twice, and failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: null alt attributes have a title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes, failing success criterion 1.1.1
hidden elements: an element with aria-hidden=true contains focusable content, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
autocomplete: this is not set for new-password or current-password in order to identify input purpose, failing success criterion 1.3.5
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for color-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
contast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
http header: refresh is used to redirect pages, which can confuse users, failing success criterion 2.2.1
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
iframes: some interactive element iframes appear as a descendant of the a element failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
fieldsets: some fieldset elements do not have legend elements, failing success criteria 1.3.1 and 1.3.2
links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2

Documents

images in document: some Word documents contains a non-inline graphic or objects, failing success criterion 1.3.2
document title: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
PDFs / documents (after September 2018): we have a rolling programme of work to move content onto our pages, replace with online forms or remove completely. Any PDFs that remain will have improved accessibility.
video transcripts: transcripts before July 2019 may not be fully marked up

Documents (election notices)

documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Documents (HMO register)

documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Documents (neighbourhood plans)

We are legally required to include documents on our website when a neighbourhood plan is being consultated on.

Some of these documents come from other organisations and may not be accessible.

We are working to get these organisations to make their documents accessible.

Benefits calculator

links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1

Births, deaths and marriages certificates

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for color-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
contast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2

Care Academy courses

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: decorative / spacer images are missing a null alt attribute, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
IDs: aria-controls attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
IDs: aria-labelledby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
language: there is a bad value for attribute lang, failing success criterion 3.1.1
tags: an end tag violated nesting rules, failing success criterion 4.1.1
elements: li element is a child element when it should not be, failing success criterion 4.1.1
elements: a button appears as a descendant of the a element, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Children's Services feedback forms

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
keyboard users: onmousedown handlers are missing onkeydown / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
keyboard users: onmouseup handlers are missing onkeyup / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6

Community grants

images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
fieldsets: fieldset elements are not labelled with legend elements, failing success criteria 3.3.1 and 3.3.2

Consett / Louisa leisure centre membership form

markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2

Council tax / business rates / housing benefit repayments

markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7

Councillors, minutes and papers

images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Customer account (Do It Online / online forms)

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
iframes: some interactive element iframes appear as a descendant of the a element failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Digital Strategy

elements: elements with role=img do not have accessible names, failing success criterion 1.1.1
stylesheets: stylesheet positioning is making pages unreadable when the stylesheet is turned off, failing success criterion 1.3.2
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
links: link text is replaced by aria-label attributes which do not work in some screen readers, failing success criterion 2.4.4
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
labels: visual labels do not appear in the accessible name of links and controls, failing success criterion 2.5.3
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

DLI collections (Courageous Restraint collection)

images: null alt attributes have a title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
headings: these are tagged using a stylesheet and not HTML, failing success criterion 1.3.1
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2

DLI collections (medal collection)

images: null alt attributes have a title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
headings: these are tagged using a stylesheet and not HTML, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2

DLI collections (objects collection)

images: null alt attributes have a title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
headings: these are tagged using a stylesheet and not HTML, failing success criterion 1.3.1
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2

The Durham Record

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1

Duty to Refer portal

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text contains placeholder text, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1

Ebooks

elements: objects elements do not have alt text, failing success criterion 1.1.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
links: links use generic link text that has no context, such as 'click here', failing success criterion 2.4.4
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
IDs: some elements have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6

Estore / payment portal

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
IDs: aria-describedby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
contast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
attributes: some attributes do not have spaces between them, failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text contains placeholder text, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Excelerate (road safety)

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7

Foster carers portal

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: tables are being used for layout but still have structural markup, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Freedom of information, information rights and disclosure log

keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC)

images: null alt attributes have a title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes, failing success criterion 1.1.1
elements: area elements do not have alt text, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: decorative / spacer images are missing a null alt attribute, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: some adjacent images have identical alt tags causing screen readers to stutter as the same text is read out twice, and failing success criterion 1.1.1
documents: figures / images in documents have blank alt text, and are not marked as decorative, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: some data tables with two or more logical levels of headers are not marked up to associate the header cells failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: tables are being used for layout but still have structural markup, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: spaces are used to create multiple columns, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
images in documents: some Word documents contains a non-inline graphic or objects, failing success criterion 1.3.2
formatting: there are spaces between letters in a word meaning screen readers can't read teh words correctly, failing success criterion 1.3.2
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
autocomplete: there is a bad value for the attribute, failing success criterion 1.3.5
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
keyboard users: onmousedown handlers are missing onkeydown / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
keyboard users: onmouseover handlers are missing onfocus handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
keyboard users: onmouseout handlers are missing onblur handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
images: animated images last over five seconds with no means of pausing or stopping them, failing success criterion 2.2.2
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
links: links use generic link text that has no context, such as 'click here', failing success criterion 2.4.4
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2
forms: a form automatically submits when focus changes making it nearly impossible for disabled users to navigate via the keyboard and failing success criterion 3.2.2
elements: the interactive element a appears as a descendant of the button element, failing success criterion 4.1.1
elements: li element is a child element when it should not be, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some elements have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
attributes: some attributes do not have spaces between them, failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
forms: some have blank form controls, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
buttons: there is an empty button element with no accessible name, failing success criterion 4.1.2
labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
labels: some fields in a group of input fields do not have labels, failing success criterion 4.1.2
labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
tables: white space characters are used to create columns and formatting, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2

Human resources / MyView

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
IDs: aria-describedby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
markup: the stylesheet font-weight property.is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
contast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
keyboard users: onmousedown handlers are missing onkeydown / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
language: there is a bad value for attribute lang, failing success criterion 3.1.1
IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
buttons: there is an empty button element with no accessible name, failing success criterion 4.1.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Jobs portal (applying for council jobs)

background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Learn2swim

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
links: links use generic link text that has no context, such as 'click here', failing success criterion 2.4.4
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Leisure centre and park bookings

markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
http header: refresh is used to redirect pages, which can confuse users, failing success criterion 2.2.1
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
fieldsets: fieldset elements are not labelled with legend elements, failing success criteria 1.3.1 and 3.3.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Leisure centre registration

markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
http header: refresh is used to redirect pages, which can confuse users, failing success criterion 2.2.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
links: links use generic link text that has no context, such as 'click here', failing success criterion 2.4.4
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
fieldsets: fieldset elements are not labelled with legend elements, failing success criteria 1.3.1 and 3.3.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Library Online

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
language: some pages have words made of Unicode characters that look like English characters but are from another alphabet, meaning screen readers are unable to pronounce these words correctly, and failing success criterion 1.1.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2
IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Mapping

images: some adjacent images have identical alt tags causing screen readers to stutter as the same text is read out twice, and failing success criterion 1.1.1
documents: figures / images in documents have blank alt text, and are not marked as decorative, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
hidden elements: an element with aria-hidden=true contains focusable content, failing success criterion 1.3.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: some data tables with two or more logical levels of headers are not marked up to associate the header cells failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
images in documents: some Word documents contains a non-inline graphic or objects, failing success criterion 1.3.2
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
images: some alt text contains placeholder text, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Mapping (public transport)

images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1

Mapping (roadworks)

images: some adjacent images have identical alt tags causing screen readers to stutter as the same text is read out twice, and failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
hidden elements: an element with aria-hidden=true contains focusable content, failing success criterion 1.3.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
elements: element is a child element when it should not be, failing success criterion 4.1.1
iframes: some interactive element iframes appear as a descendant of the a element failing success criterion 4.1.1
iframes: some element iframes appear as a descendant of the a element failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
images: some alt text contains placeholder text, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

My Durham

background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

NSL parking shop

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
links: links use generic link text that has no context, such as 'click here', failing success criterion 2.4.4
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
images: some alt text contains placeholder text, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1

Parent portal (providers)

markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
attributes: extra quote marks are appearing, possibly due to missing ones earlier in code, failing success criterion 4.1.1

Parent portal (school admissions and early years funding applications)

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1

Parking fines portal

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
contast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1

PaybyPhone parking

links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Pensions portal (scheme members)

tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
elements: some aria roles elements are empty/have no accessible name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Pensions portal (scheme organisations)

images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
document titles: some documents contain placeholder text failing success criterion 2.4.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Planning consultations

elements: fieldset elements are not labeled with legend elements, failing success criterion 1.1.1
images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
documents: figures / images in documents have blank alt text, and are not marked as decorative, failing success criterion 1.1.1
elements: objects elements do not have alt text, failing success criterion 1.1.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: some data tables with two or more logical levels of headers are not marked up to associate the header cells failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: tables are being used for layout but still have structural markup, failing success criterion 1.3.1
stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
images in documents: some Word documents contains a non-inline graphic or objects, failing success criterion 1.3.2
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
links: skip links are broken as there is no anchor link, failing success criterion 2.4.1
headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
images: an image has been updated but not its alt attribute, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 4.1.2
elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2

Planning applications

background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3

Skip permits

stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8

Technical services

document titles: some documents contain placeholder text failing success criterion 2.4.2
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5

Volunteering portal

images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
IDs: aria-describedby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
hidden elements: an element with aria-hidden=true contains focusable content, failing success criterion 1.3.1
links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2

Welfare assistance form

keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
links: skip links are broken as there is no anchor link, failing success criterion 2.4.1
navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2

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

PDFs and documents (pre September 2018): PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 or documents that are not essential to providing our services
pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
live audio and video
maps unless they provide core information
content that's under someone else's control that we haven't paid for or developed ourselves:
- social media buttons
- Shildon-Sunnydale leisure centre: the virtual tour relies on the user being able to see the tour and use a mouse to navigate it. It is a 3rd party product that was free. We do not intend to use further tours as there would be a cost associated and it is not an accessible product.
- Durham City bus station consultation: the virtual tour walk through relies on the user being able to see the tour and use a mouse to navigate it. It is a 3rd party product that was free. We do not intend to use further tours as there would be a cost associated and it is not an accessible product.
- Street space consultation: information on a separate website relies on the user being able to interact with a map. It is a 3rd party website that was free. We have provided alternative information on our website to ensure all users can access the consultation. We do not intend to use the 3rd party website for further consultations at this time, and not if there would be a cost associated, as it is not an accessible product.

How we test the site

We re-assess a website or system for accessibility whenever it undergoes a major modification.

Main site page content is checked every time it is updated.

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