Here2Help with Digital Accessibility

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Guidance for public bodies in our community

The Web Accessibility Regulations (opens in a new window) are an extension of the Equality Act 2010 that all public bodies need to adhere to.

These website regulations will apply to all of our local government organisations, including the smaller parish and town councils who have a website because they are a public body representing the first tier of local government in Worcestershire.

The web accessibility regulations may seem overwhelming, but this page can guide you through.

We have broken these regulations down to help you

Introduction to the web accessibility regulations

The web regulations ensure that online information from public bodies can be accessed and used by everyone, including those with additional needs or those who use a screen reader. 

Below is our step by step guidance

There are four steps you need to follow

Step One

Check or audit your website

You need to do a full audit of your website or mobile app against the technical specifications in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) (opens in a new window) 

There are several ways you can do this

Step two

Plan to fix the issues

Using your audit you will need to make an action plan or roadmap to fix any accessibility issues you find.

It might not be possible to meet all of the WCAG specifications straight away. You may even need to plan and budget for technical or specialist help.

Stage one and two will help you write your accessibility statement in step three.

Step Three

Publish your accessibility statement

Based on step one checking and step two fixing, you need to publish what is and isn't accessible on your website and provide details of when you intend to fix it.

The government provide a template website accessibility statement (opens in a new window) to help you.

Step Four

All new content needs to be accessible

From 23 September 2020 all new features and content on your website will need to be created and developed in an accessible way.

This also includes the accessibility of all documents you upload.

The SCULPT for Accessibility guidance can help you with documents.

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Help making documents accessible

The web regulations also include the accessibility of the documents you upload onto your website such as reports, policies, plans, agendas or minutes of meetings.

SCULPT for Accessibility is a bite-sized guidance framework of the six things you need to do to documents to help make them accessible.

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Guidance to help you SCULPT your documents

The links below will guide you through SCULPT and the six basics needed for accessible document creation. 

SCULPT stands for

  • Structure of a document - use in-built headings in your document (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3)
  • Colour and contrast - use strong colour contrast and don't rely on colour alone to identify content
  • Use of images - add meaningful alt text to images (this offers a text alternative if images do not load or cannot be seen)
  • Links  - describe your hyperlinks so they tell people where they are going
  • Plain English - use clear and uncomplicated language
  • Tables - avoid using merged or split cells in tables

 

Need some extra help and information?

The Government Digital Service provided resources and webinars on accessibility awareness day 2020 (opens in a new window) to help you.

The six webinars towards the bottom of the page are a great way to get up to speed with the regulations.

Help with ongoing website monitoring

These free browser extensions will help you monitor your website and highlight any issues with the web page content.

Beyond the free tools there are tools or companies you can pay for that can monitor your website and help you address any issues raised.

 

 

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More government guidance

The government provides full guidance and information on making your websites accessible