Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to the East Cambridgeshire District Council website.

This website is run by East Cambridgeshire District Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. This means that 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 (including skip to main content) 
  • navigate most of the website using speech recognition software 
  • listen to most of the website using a screen reader 

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

AbilityNet (external link) 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: 

  • most PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software 
  • our waste and recycling a-z is not fully accessible - the images do not have alt text and there are anchors that do not exist within the text 
  • our minutes and meetings calendar is not fully accessible to screen reader software

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: 

Please let us know how you would like the information delivered. We will consider your request and get back to you within ten 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 contact webmaster@eastcambs.gov.uk, telephone 01353 665555, or write to Webmaster, ECDC, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE. 

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 are not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) (external link)

Contacting us by phone or visiting in person 

Visit our contact us page

Technical information about this website's accessibility 

East Cambridgeshire District 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 (external link) AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below. 

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

Issues with pages 

  • our waste A-Z search pages contain images that do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content)
  • our waste A-Z search pages contain links to anchors that do not exist. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.1. 

We plan to fix this issue as soon as possible. 

Issues with documents  

  • some PDF documents do not have specified headings, the headings do not follow a logical order and the first heading is not a H1, so people using screen readers cannot access this information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (adaptable)
  • some PDF documents do not have a defined title, so people using screen readers cannot access this information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.2 (navigable)
  • some PDF documents do not specify a default language, so people using screen readers cannot access this information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 3.11 (readable) 
  • some PDF documents are not tagged, so people using screen readers cannot access this information. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (adaptable)

We use Adobe Pro accessibility checker to check PDF documents and have created guidance for staff on how to make accessible documents. We aim to make all our essential PDF documents published after 23 September 2018 accessible by September 2023. 

Disproportionate burden 

Fixing documents 

Having carried out a detailed check of www.eastcambs.gov.uk, we have assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the No. 2 Regulations to fix all documents published on www.eastcambs.gov.uk. 

Historical agendas and minutes, FOI responses and SPD documents are rarely viewed, therefore they are not negatively impacting users with disabilities or impairments. For this reason, we do not believe the cost of time, effort and resource to fix all the documents is justified.  

We will focus on fixing the most viewed documents on www.eastcambs.gov.uk, and ensuring that new documents are accessible. 

We believe that users will benefit most from us focusing our available resources on fixing the most used documents on www.eastcambs.gov.uk, and ensuring that new documents are accessible where they are required for essential services or used by people with disabilities. 

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations 

PDFs and other documents 

Some of our PDF and other documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, information leaflets and policy documents. We plan to either fix these or replace them with accessible HTML pages as soon as possible. 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 (external link) if they are not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix historical agenda items. 

Any new PDF or other 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 (external link)

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement was prepared on 18 August 2020. It was last reviewed on 1 September 2023. 

This website was last tested on 31 July 2023. The test was carried out by Silktide. 

Silktide's latest index rates this website at 95% (excellent) based on an automated assessment of 125 pages.

We use Silktide to test our entire website every five days, the last test took place on 31 August 2023 when 2,491 pages and 2,500 documents were tested. We were rated at 92% for accessibility.