Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for Business Surrey

This accessibility statement applies to businesssurrey.co.uk.

This website is run by Surrey County Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

This means that:

• Our pages are written to be clear and easy to understand.
• The website is organised so you can find what you need.

You should be able to:

• Change colours, contrast levels and fonts.
• Zoom in up to 400% 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 aim to meet the AA level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This is the international standard for accessible websites and content.

How accessible this website is

Most of our website should be accessible. It should work well when used with access devices such as screen readers, braille readers, as well as smart phones and other devices.

These are the internet browsers that we support on our website.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

We know some content on this website is not fully accessible and this includes:

• Some heading levels are not correctly structured
• Some pages not working well when zoomed in
• Some pages not working well with screen readers
• Some images are decorative and do not contain appropriate alt text
• Some content not working well with screen readers
• Some text on buttons is not as clear as it should be
• Some historic PDFs are not fully accessible

A detailed list of known accessibility issues and how we plan to address them is available further down this statement. We regularly review the site and add further issues to this statement as they are identified.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information in a different format to the one that we provide, please email us at economy.growth@surreycc.gov.uk.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

If you have difficulty using any part of our website or think that we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, email us at contact.centre@surreycc.gov.uk and mark your email for the attention of the Web and Digital Services team.

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Surrey 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.

Compliance status

The website has been tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) [2.2] AA standard.

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.

Non-compliant

• Some images are for decorative purposes and do not currently contain alt text
• Some form labels on the Support Directory are missing
• There is no announcement of a page update when filters are removed on the Support Directory
• Some text on the home page is blocked when using 400% magnification
• Some heading levels are not correctly structured
• Some content does not work well with screen readers
• Some text on buttons is not as clear as it should be
• Some historic PDFs are not in a fully accessible format

Non-accessible content

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

Images

Appropriate alt text

• Some images on the site do not currently contain alt text as they are used for decorative purposes. We are taking steps to address this and plan to complete improvements by the end of April 2024.

Forms

Labels

• We are missing some form labels on the Support Directory (https://businesssurrey.co.uk/directory/), such as the ‘Find support near you’ fields. We are taking steps to address this and plan to complete improvements by the end of April 2024.

Remove applied filters

• There is no announcement of a page update when filters are removed on the Support Directory (https://businesssurrey.co.uk/directory/). We are taking steps to address this and plan to complete improvements by the end of April 2024.

Screen reader compatibility

Widgets working with screen readers

• We are aware that the top navigation sub-menu lists are read out incorrectly by screen readers. For instance, “Advice and support” should have a ‘list of 5 items’ but is currently read out ‘list of 1 item, list of 1 item, list of 5 items’ which could confuse users. We are taking steps to address this and plan to complete improvements by the end of April 2024.

Text

Text spacing

• We are aware there are occasions where there is text overspill on buttons. We are taking steps to address this and plan to complete improvements by the end of April 2024.

Text re-size to 400%

• We are aware that the back to top button can block some content at this magnification level on the homepage. Making this compliant would require an overhaul of the design of the site, something which is not currently possible from a cost perspective.

Valid structure of headings

• There are some occasions where a heading level skips (such as H3 to H5). This is due to the structure of those pages and not something we plan to update imminently though we will keep it under consideration when making further improvements to the site.

Documents

Accessibility of PDFs in the document library

• We are fully aware there are accessibility issues with the historic PDF documents on the site. We have taken significant steps to improve this but know that there are still some issues with the PowerPoint slides. We will remove historic documents from the site once they are no longer relevant. We are also developing a new template for our formal meetings so that the minutes, agendas and document packs of meetings are fully compliant moving forward.

How we tested this website

We recently undertook an accessibility review combining a manual test of a sample of pages, as well as using Siteimprove accessibility checker for automated testing of the full website.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We are carrying out immediate improvements to most of the non-complaint issues that we have identified and plan to complete these by the end of April 2024.

In terms of PDFs, we are developing a new template for formal documentation of meetings so that the minutes, agendas and document packs of meetings are fully compliant.

We will also carry out regular reviews of content on the site and look at developing an accessibility roadmap based on the outcome of this, showing how and when we plan to improve accessibility on this website.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 27 March 2024. It was last reviewed on 27 March 2024.