Accessibility statement

Accessibility statement for www.harrogate.gov.uk

This accessibility statement applies to www.harrogate.gov.uk.

This website is run by Harrogate Borough Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

  • 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

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

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:

  • the text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
  • you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
  • most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • live video streams do not have captions

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:

We'll consider your request and get back to you in 14 days.

If you cannot view the map on our contact us page, please call us on 01423 500600 or email us at customerservices@harrogate.gov.uk for directions.

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 contact: web@harrogate.gov.uk or complete our online form to report the issues.

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, please 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 D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

We are committed to making the 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 the accessibility regulations

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

Some instances of inappropriate colour contrast exist, meaning reduced readability for people with moderately low vision (if not using contrast-enhancing assistive technology) - this relates to WCAG 2.1 AA success criterion 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum).

We are currently working with our supplier to resolve this issue.

Please be aware that parts of our online services, especially those held outside of our CMS (including functionality driven by other systems and separately branded websites) may not be accessible and may be subject to separate accessibility statements. A programme of work is currently underway to address issues, involving internal developers and designers, and the companies who provide other functionality.

'My account' which allows customers to apply, book, report and pay for services online at: my.harrogate.gov.uk. View the accessibility statement for My account.

Content that's not within the scope of the 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 on how users can access our services, and forms published as Word documents. By September 2022, we plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages.

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.

Live video

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 17 September 2021. It was last reviewed on 13 January 2023.

This website was last tested on 13 January 2023.

The test was carried out by Sitemorse.

All pages and downloads on www.harrogate.gov.uk are tested every week. All issues are addressed immediately.

You can read the full accessibility test report.