Accessibility statements

Rochdale Borough Council accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to rochdale.gov.uk only. It does not cover other Rochdale Borough Council subdomains or websites. Each website has its own accessibility statement published.

This website is run by Rochdale Borough Council.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, this means you should be able to:

  • Understand the page name as our web pages have page titles that clearly describe their topic or purpose.
  • Use the website more easily as we have a logical navigation order.
  • Use the content page structure as it's presented and maintained in a meaningful sequence.
  • Use descriptive links on our website so they can be read out of context and users know where they will go next.

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 older PDF documents are not fully accessible to assistive technologies.
  • In some places we rely on functionality provided by third parties that is not fully accessible such as social media sites. We do not have control over the accessibility features of these tools, however, do work with them to improve services, where we can.
  • The cookie banner company Civic UK has dropped Internet Explorer 11 compatibility and the cookie tool will not show on any Internet Explorer 11 websites.
  • Microsoft ended Internet Explorer 11 browser support on 15 June 2022, which may affect Google Maps on any Internet Explorer 11 websites.

Rochdale.gov.uk services

Each council service that has its own website, is responsible for providing an accessibility statement with details of how accessible the service is, how to report problems and how to request information in an alternative format. You can access these accessibility statements from each of the sites.

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: council@rochdale.gov.uk
  • Phone 01706 647474
  • Write to: Customer Services, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU

When contacting us please tell us:

  1. The web address (URL) of the content.
  2. Your name and email address.
  3. The format you need, for example, audio CD, braille or large print.

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within 5 working days.

If you need directions, please call or email us

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, please

  • Email web.team@rochdale.gov.uk
  • Phone 01706 924836
  • Write to: Rochdale Borough Council, Digital Services Team, Floor 3, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU.

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 a text relay service for people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

If you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Call or email us to contact us.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

Rochdale Borough Council is committed to making its website accessible, under 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 (WCAG) version 2.2 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

WCAG 2.2 1.4.10 Reflow (AA) Content obstructed on mobile (cookie button)

When viewing the site on some mobile devices, the floating cookie button obscures the footer text when scrolling to the bottom of the page.

We're working with our supplier and aim to resolve this issue by December 2024.

Technique H2: Combining adjacent image and text links for the same resource

The page called ‘404 Page not found‘ on the website has a list of alternative pages the user may find relevant. Both the title and hyperlink for each listing links to the same URL. This means that each link will be read twice, which is repetitive for keyboard users and confusing for screen reader users. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 Technique H2: Combining adjacent image and text links for the same resource.

We’ve reported this issue to our website supplier and aim to work with them to fix it by April 2025.

WCAG 2.2 1.4.10 (AA) Reflow

The page called 403 Forbidden on the website has text on screen that may be too small for some users to read on mobile devices without zooming in. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criteria 1.4.10 Reflow.

We’ve reported this issue to our website supplier and aim to work with them to fix it by December 2024.

WCAG 2.2 3.1.1 (A) Language of page

The page called ‘403 Forbidden‘ on the website doesn’t have a language assigned in the HTML code. Without the correct language being set, screen readers can’t load the correct dictionaries or pronunciation rules. This may prevent users with disabilities from understanding this content as well as they otherwise might. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criteria 3.1.1 Language of page.

We’ve reported this issue to our website supplier and aim to work with them to fix it by December 2024.

WCAG 2.2.1 (A) Timing Adjustable

There is a 10-minute time limit to complete each page of a form but no warning when this time is getting near, or no way to extend the time limit. This is a technical limitation of our website as it's not connected to a My Account. We've purchased a new forms package and looking to replace our current forms starting in September 2024 and aiming to complete this work by June 2025. This issue should be resolved with the forms created using our new forms package.

WCAG2.2 3.3.1 (A) Error messages must identify the item in error

When an input error is detected, the item in error is identified and the error is described to the user in text. Directory records on our website do currently advise the user of the form error state, but they do not explicitly identify the input with an error.

We're working with our supplier and aim to resolve this issue by December 2024.

PDF files

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format for representing documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system used to create them, as well as of the output device on which they are to be displayed or printed. PDF files specify the appearance of pages in a document in a reliable, device-independent manner.

We have a large number of older PDFs published on the website, some of which may prevent some users from fully accessing these. Non-accessible content with some PDFs includes alternative text not applied to all images, merged cells in tables that aren't correctly coded, many combinations of text and background colour that do not have sufficient colour contrast, use of images as the only way to convey meaning, and images of text instead of text. These fail relevant WCAG success criteria.

We aim to make all new PDF documents we publish accessible, or provide an accessible alternative.

To help make files more accessible we undertake several steps including manual checks and using Adobe Acrobat Pro which is an application that creates and edits PDF files. It has several tools for evaluating and repairing the accessibility of PDF files.

If you need to print a downloadable form on this website and don't have access to a printer, you can access our free printing facilities in your local library - find a local library.

PDF files – unauthorised encampment injunction

We applied to the High Court for a final injunction preventing unauthorised encampments. As a result, the court directed us to add a large amount of evidence to our website in support of our claim. Although we have done some work to make these documents more accessible we are aware they may not be fully accessible as these documents cannot be modified. We expect to keep these documents on the site for a temporary period and remove them by 31 January 2025. Should you require an accessible version of any of the content please email legal.services@rochdale.gov.uk

PDF files – Compulsory Purchase Orders

From time to time we may need to publish Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) on our website in PDF format. These documents may not be structured correctly and may include merged cells in tables without the correct table row or column headers. This means assistive technologies may not read the tables correctly. This does not comply with WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships.

The layout of CPOs is laid down in statute - The Compulsory Purchase of Land (Prescribed Forms) (Ministers) Regulations 2004. CPO guidance states that a copy of the sealed order needs to be made available for viewing.

Should you require an accessible version of the content, you can visit Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU or email property-legal@rochdale.gov.uk.

Cookies

The cookie banner company Civic UK has dropped Internet Explorer 11 compatibility and the cookie tool will not show on any Internet Explorer 11 websites.

Google Maps

Microsoft ended Internet Explorer 11 browser support on 15 June 2022, which may affect Google Maps on any Internet Explorer 11 websites.

Disproportionate burden

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

  • There are no issues that are currently being listed as being assessed as a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. We'll list them in this section should there be any.

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

The following types of content do not need to be fixed on the website because they are exempt from 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 from external agencies. We plan to continue to link to the PDF, where possible, on the host website.

    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. Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards, or we will aim to provide an alternative.
  • Live and audio video - we do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

  • Maps - we have added essential information in an accessible format like an address.

  • Pre-recorded audio and video - we are not required to fix pre-recorded audio and video content published before 23 September 2020.

  • Third-party content - content on social media sites that is under someone else's control.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

Our accessibility roadmap shows how we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

Our roadmap includes:

  • Frequently training specialist staff on meeting accessibility standards.
  • Undertaking an external audit of several different pages of the site to test against WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility criteria to identify any issues. Most of these issues have now been fixed and we've plans in place to fix the remaining outstanding issues.
  • Subscribing to an auto-testing tool called Sitemorse to regularly identify accessibility issues and then fixing these.
  • Getting tested by Socitm and regularly fixing accessibility issues highlighted.
  • Writing in plain English and getting our website approved through the Plain English Campaign - the language used on the site will where possible, be concise, easy to understand and free from jargon, abbreviations and technical terms.
  • Subscribing to an accessibility toolbar called Recite Me that helps with things like translating the text into more than 100 languages, having the text read aloud, changing the font size and colour, and changing the background colour. More about Recite Me.
  • Information in other languages - although this website is written in English, you should be able to access the majority of the content in the borough's main community languages and several other languages using the Recite Me toolbar. Where appropriate we can translate information on this website or provide an interpreter.
  • Audio downloads - in some circumstances we provide audio files such as mp3 audio files for download from this website. To listen to them you may need a media player. We aim to provide a text transcription of audio files. The recordings for download may be podcast programmes or interviews broadcast on the local community radio station. Where this is the case much of the information discussed is already available on this website so we will not always provide a full transcription.

Preparing this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on Friday, 18 September 2020. It was last reviewed on Wednesday, 18 September 2024.

This website was last auto-tested on Monday, 5 August 2024 using the Sitemorse tool. A sample of pages were tested up to WCAG 2.2 (AA) standard.

This website was last auto-tested on Thursday, 2 May 2024 using the Silktide tool. A sample of pages were tested up to WCAG 2.2 (AAA) standard.

This website was reviewed by Jadu on Thursday, 25 April 2024. Jadu sampled a selection of 10 different types of page up to WCAG 2.2 (AA) standard.

Reporting an accessibility problem on a public sector website

You have a right to use (or 'access) online public sector information and services. This means that public sector websites and mobile apps should be easy to use.