Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement covers Stirling Council’s main website, which is www.stirling.gov.uk.

As a council, we also:

• manage and provide other websites
• ask third-party services to manage and provide websites for us

All of our other sites must have their own accessibility statements. If you cannot find a statement on one of these sites, please let us know by emailing web@stirling.gov.uk.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was originally prepared on 28 March 2022. It was last reviewed and updated on 6 June 2023.

This website is run by Stirling Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use it. This means you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 200% 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 text on our website as simple as possible to understand.

Most of this website is accessible, and we run regular checks using Siteimprove to identify issues.

However, we know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

• some content has been published in PDF or Word format and may not be fully accessible to screen-reading software
• some 'aria' elements used by assistive technologies may not work as expected

Below, we list more information on:

• the specific issues we've identified
• the steps we're taking to improve accessibility

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

• email web@stirling.gov.uk
• call 01786 404040

You can also make a request in person by visiting our Customer First office in Stirling city centre.

Customer First
1-5 Port St
Stirling
FK8 2EJ

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 10 working 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, contact our Digital team. You can do this by emailing web@stirling.gov.uk.

They'll reply to your message within 10 working days.

Enforcement

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. These are sometimes just called the 'accessibility regulations'.

If you make a complaint about our site's accessibility and you're not happy with our response, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

Stirling 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

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 - non-compliance with regulations

Issues identified during testing

We identified the following issues when we tested the website in May and June 2023:

• on some pages, the 'aria-hidden' element is focusable or contains focusable elements — this fails WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 ('Name, Role, Value')
• the expandable menu in the website’s header has a visible label of 'Menu' but an 'aria-label' of 'Expand navigation' — this fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 ('Info and Relationships')

Other issues

We’re also aware that the following issues mean that the website is not fully compliant:

• images and graphics within some documents do not have alternative text
  — this fails WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 ('Non-text content')
• some tables are not correctly marked up
  — this fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.1 ('Info and Relationships')
• some documents do not have titles — this fails WCAG success criterion 2.4.2 ('Page titled')
• some documents do not have information about their structure — this fails WCAG success criterion 1.3.2 ('Meaningful Sequence')

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

The regulations state that we do not have to fix the accessibility of documents published in formats like PDF or Word if (both apply):

• they were produced before 23 September 2018
• they're not essential to how we provide services

For this reason, we will not be taking steps to fix issues with these particular documents.

We monitor the accessibility of this site using Siteimprove.

We also carry out an annual audit on a representative selection of pages. This selection includes all of the main page types, such as the:

• article page
• guide page
• form
• document record page

We carried out our most recent tests in May and June 2023 using:

• axe DevTools
• the NVDA screen reader

We tested the following pages:

• our site's homepage
• 'Apply online'
• 'Check your bin and box collection days'
• 'Garden waste permits'
• 'Community Development news bulletins'
• 'Community Development news bulletin, September 2022'
• 'Balfron Library'
• 'Make a complaint'
• 'Councillors'
• 'Elaine Watterson'
• 'Council Tax bands and charges'
• 'Pay a Council Tax bill' (service start page)
• 'Pay a Council Tax bill' (form)
• 'News'
• 'Off the Page festival to bring Stirling’s hidden history to life'
• 'Schools and learning'
• 'Community and evening class programme, April to June 2023'
• 'Aberfoyle Primary School'
• search results for the word 'education'
• 'Service updates'
• 'Public transport updates'

Development of an accessibility roadmap

Following the launch of our new site in September 2022, we're currently developing an accessibility roadmap. This will cover the steps our Digital team will take to:

• identify and replace any inaccessible documents, such as PDFs, that are not exempt from the accessibility regulations
• work with colleagues who create documents to ensure that we always publish these in HTML format

We aim to publish our roadmap by December 2023.

Action on specific technical issues

Our recent audit highlighted some specific technical issues, such as:

• 'aria-hidden' elements that are focusable or contain focusable elements
• 'aria-label' elements that do not match visible labels

For all of these, and for any technical issues that predate our most recent audit, our Digital team will:

• add them to a backlog of development-related issues
• ensure they're reviewed and addressed

We aim to do this by August 2023.