Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead website https://www.rbwm.gov.uk. 

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,
• browser zoom 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 and NVDA and VoiceOver).

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 is this website

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible. You can see a list of issues we currently know about in the Non-accessible content section of this statement.

Third-party sites funded, developed by or under our control

Websites which use different platforms but are owned, funded, developed by or under the control of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead that this website may link to are included below.

We have included links to the third-party websites. Service area owners are liaising with their suppliers for information about accessibility and links to their accessibility statements, we are continually updating this section as and when we receive the information.

• Benefits calculator.   
• Council tax : Manage your council tax online.   
• Council tax : Pay or amend a direct debit. 
• Council tax : Report a Change of address.   
• Elections Household enquiry response.
• Events and organisations.
• Know your neighbourhood.
• Libraries
  Login to your library account.
  Search and reserve the library catalogue. 
  Overdrive.
• Make a Payment.
• Moderen.gov. : Councillors, council meetings and agendas.
• My account.
• Parking : Challenge your parking fine.  
• Petitions.
• Planning
  Planning access system.
  Planning : Building control public access system.
  Consult : Consultation portal (Planning policy). 
• Recruitment : Jobs go public.
• Royal Borough search module.

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: email: website@rbwm.gov.uk.

We’ll contact the service area responsible; they will consider your request and get back to you in 10 working days.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please email: website@rbwm.gov.uk. 

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).

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

Customers with disabilities can receive assistance with council enquiries during library opening hours.

• Hearing loops are available on all pods in our libraries.
• We have accessibility software available on library public PCs, Dolphin screen magnification and screen reading software on some of the computers.

We hold 'Accessibility sessions' at Windsor and Maidenhead libraries each week where more intensive one to one assistance is available for people who have disabilities or are vulnerable in any way. 

To contact us please email: customer.services@rbwm.gov.uk.

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 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 and exemptions listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

This website has not been fully tested against the WCAG Guidelines 2.1. we are in the process of working with our new website provider to fix a number of issues highlighted since going live at the beginning of September 2020. We will then seek further assistance on getting the site fully tested.

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. 

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

• Using keyboard to move around some pages can go in unexpected directions and out of focus. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.1 (Keyboard), 2.4.7 (Focus Visible) and 3.2.1 (Focus).
• Screen readers do not identify slider content updates. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.3 (Sensory Characteristics) and 4.1.3 (Status Messages).
• Low slider contrast ratio. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.4.3 (Contrast Minimum). 
• There are number of links that open new windows or link to external pages without labels to communicate their intentions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.4 (Link Purpose).
• For some non-text content, no alternative text is provided. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.1.1 (Non-text Content).
• Some headings and labels are not informative. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels).
• Some contents are not robust enough to be compatible with current and future technologies. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criteria 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value)
• Many of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This fails WCAG 4.1.2: Name, role value.

We are continually working with our services to convert to accessible documents.

If you find an issue that we have yet to identify, please contact us by emailing website@rbwm.gov.uk.

Disproportionate burden 

This part of the accessibility statement applies to the RBWM Modern.gov. website. Some pdf agenda documents published prior to Monday 1 March 2021 are not fully accessible. 

• 366 agenda were published to the website in the relevant period (23/9/18 – 28/2/21). This equates to a total of 1732 individual documents: plus the 366 combined agenda documents. It is estimated each document would take an average of 15 minutes (exact time would depend on number of accessibility issues to amend), plus a further 10 minutes to merge and republish the overall agenda document.

Therefore, having assessed the cost of resolving the issues by republishing all documents (additional staffing costs of c.£22,000) we believe that by doing so would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. 

Specific Planning documents

This part of the accessibility statement applies to the RBWM Modern.gov. website. Some pdf agenda documents published for the Council meeting on Tuesday 8 February 2022 are not fully accessible. 

• Appendices to the main Council Report are published to the website.  A total of 9 complex documents, several of which have been supplied from the Planning Inspectorate as part of the Examination of the Borough Local Plan, require individual accessibility checking.  
  • To comply with central Government requirements to adopt a Local Plan in a timely manner, there is a need to publish the documentation as swiftly as possible in time for the Council meeting mentioned above.
  • Delays to publishing the Council report documentation means that all parties will have reduced access to the information in advance of the meeting.    
  • Delays to the scheduled meeting date at which the Borough Local Plan will be adopted could also result in unwanted speculative planning applications and delays to delivery of the Corporate Plan objectives. This would also cause public confusion and have significant resourcing and cost implications.
  • It is estimated that the total time needed to carry out this activity would equate to 48 working hours (estimated cost circa £5,000) plus the time taken to merge and republish the overall agenda document.  

Therefore, having assessed all of the implications, related to resolving the issues by carrying out an accessibility exercise, in the context of what is reasonable to do right now, the exercise would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. (added 27/01/2022)

You can however request information in a different format. Please email: democratic.services@rbwm.gov.uk. They will consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

• Some pdf agenda documents published for the Council meeting on Tuesday 22 November 2022 are not fully accessible. 
• Appendices to the main Council Report are published to the website.  A total of 6 complex documents, some of which have been supplied from the Planning Inspectorate as part of the Examination of the Joint Minerals and Waste Local Plan, require individual accessibility checking.  
  • To comply with central Government requirements to adopt a Local Plan in a timely manner, there is a need to publish the documentation as swiftly as possible in time for the Council meeting mentioned above.
  • Delays to publishing the Council report documentation means that all parties will have reduced access to the information in advance of the meeting.    
  • Delays to the scheduled meeting date at which the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan will be adopted could also result in unwanted speculative planning applications and delays to delivery of the Corporate Plan objectives. This would also cause public confusion and have significant resourcing and cost implications.
• Therefore, having assessed all of the implications, related to resolving the issues by carrying out an accessibility exercise, in the context of what is reasonable to do right now, the exercise of having these documents in an accessible format by the time that papers are published for the Council meeting on Tuesday 22 November 2022 would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the accessibility regulations. (Added 15/11/2022)

You can however request information in a different format. Please email: democratic.services@rbwm.gov.uk. They will consider your request and get back to you within 10 working days.

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. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible webpages by March 2022.

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 service. Some of which include: 

• Census documents.
• Maps/drawings.
• Conservation appraisals.
• Public rights of way definitive maps and appraisals.

CSV files can be found on this site. We include them on the site for users to use for analysis. 

Any new documents or replacement documents uploaded to this site will be checked against accessibility prior to upload.

Video content

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations. We also have some existing pre-recorded video content that was published before the 23 September 2020. This content is also exempt from the regulations.

Online maps

Our service includes the use of maps to show certain geographical information. These are not used for navigational purposes and are exempt under the regulations. If you require the information presented in a map in a different format, please contact us to discuss reasonable adjustments.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

We recognise there is room for improvement, in the following areas: 

• Content, documents and functionality from third party sites.

We will continually update this section as we receive further information. We are working with service area to assess documents on the website meet accessibility.

We currently have approximately 1100 downloads (as of 29 December 2022) on this website. Not all these downloads meet accessibility, we are working through these documents with the services to review.

• As part of this exercise we have deleted a total of 858 documents that the services identified as no longer being required, or have been converted to webpage content.
• As of December 2022 we currently have 100+ documents that do not meet accessibility.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared in October 2020. It was last reviewed and updated on Thursday 29 December 2022.

We continue to work with service owners to review their documents and content.