Accessibility Statement

This website is managed by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council on behalf of a joint project between Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton Councils. 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 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet's - My Computer My Way has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

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

• Some promotional images include text
• Most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
• Live video streams of Council meetings do not have captions

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

• Online - Dudley Council Plus Enquiry Form
• Call - 0300 555 2345
• Dudley Council Plus information

We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 20 days.

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 tourism@dudley.gov.uk.

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).

Within Dudley Council Plus we provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Dudley Council Plus and key contact offices have audio induction loops. If you contact us before your visit we have a British Sign Language (BSL) service that can provide an interpreter.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. 

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 on discover dudley gov uk / www discoverdudley org uk.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

• A 1.1.1 Alternative text for the image is a file name
  1 instance - Content issue. Page to be reviewed.
• A 1.3.1 Element ID is not unique
  5 instances - Left and right image gallery controls. Fix to be implemented.
• A 1.3.1 Form elements are not grouped
  1 instance - Filter options on event listings. Fix to be implemented.
• A 1.3.1 No headings on a page
  1 instance - Missing heading on homepage template. Fix to be implemented.
• A 2.4.2 Webpage has multiple title elements or no title element
  1 instance - Missing heading on homepage template. Fix to be implemented.
• A 2.4.4 Link text used for multiple different destinations
  1 instance - Issue with automated site map template. Fix to be implemented.
• A 3.2.2 Missing button in form
  10 instances - No button on filter options for service directory template. Fix to be implemented.
• A 3.2.2 Provide a button for 'select box'
  10 instances - No button on filter options for service directory template. Fix to be implemented.
• A 3.3.2 Form elements are not grouped
  1 instance - Filter options on event listings. Fix to be implemented.
• A 4.1.1 Element ID is not unique
  5 instances - Left and right image gallery controls. Fix to be implemented.

Disproportionate burden

With the exception of those listed below, none of the existing issues on discover.dudley.gov.uk / www.discoverdudley.org.uk are classed as a disproportionate burden to solve.

• Existing office documentation such as Microsoft Word (.DOC or .DOCX) and Adobe Acrobat (.PDF).
  This is a failure of 4.1.2 Name, Role Value.
  We are reviewing procedures for creating accessible office documentation and will be working through discover.dudley.gov.uk / www.discoverdudley.org.uk beginning with popular documents first (as derived from website analytics).
• Video streams may not include captions.
  This is a failure of 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded).
  We will be reviewing procedures for providing captions. YouTube embedded contents provides the option to turn captions on/off.

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

• The regulations do not require us to fix office documentation published before 23rd September 2018 if they are not essential. However, we will be working through discover.dudley.gov.uk / www.discoverdudley.org.uk and will provide a fix to documents where possible irrelevant of the publish date.
• We do not plan to add captions to live videos.

The discover.dudley.gov.uk / www.discoverdudley.org.uk site is monitored for accessibility by an automated tool;

• SiteImprove - a subscription service that also includes analytics, quality assurance for all pages. SiteImprove provides three levels of accessibility warnings based on the WCAG 2.1 Criterions are divided into errors, warnings and reviews.
  discover.dudley.gov.uk / www.discoverdudley.org.uk is currently marked at 95/100 for accessibility compliance.

These tools are regularly monitored and issues addressed when identified.

This statement was prepared 14th September 2020.

The discover.dudley.gov.uk / www.discoverdudley.org.uk site is tested weekly using the SiteImprove subscription service.