Accessibility statement for We Are Walsall 2040

This accessibility statement applies to content published on the https://wearewalsall2040.walsall.gov.uk domain.

This website is run by Walsall 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 400% 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 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:

• focus does not always remain on the activated item
• updates to content are not announced to screen reader users
• videos on this website do not have a descriptive transcript or an audio description
• captions of some of the videos do not include sounds to provide additional context
• some images do not have image descriptions 

Feedback and contact information

Tell us if you need information on this website in a different format. In your message include:

• the web address (URL) of the content
• your name and email address
• the format you need (for example, BSL, large print, accessible PDF, audio recording, easy read or braille)

We’ll consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. We encourage you to tell us what you think. 

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, let us know via:

• email: WebProject@walsall.gov.uk
• phone: +44 1922 650000
• address: Walsall Council, The Civic Centre, Walsall, WS1 1TP

We will respond to feedback within five working days.

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).

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Walsall 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 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances, listed below.

Non-accessible content

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

1. Some decorative images contain alternative text. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text content. We plan to amend this by July 2025.
2. Captions are automatically generated and are not checked on errors or spelling. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.2: Captions (Prerecorded). We plan to amend this by July 2025.
3. Transcripts are automatically generated and are not checked on errors or spelling. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.3: Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded). We plan to amend this by July 2025.
4. Some videos have significant visual content that is not included in captions or narration. To remediate this, an audio description is needed. This is currently missing. This does not meet WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.5: Audio Descriptions (Prerecorded). We plan to amend this by July 2025.
5. On some pages focus does not always remain on the activated item. Some non interactive elements receive keyboard focus. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus order We plan to amend this by July 2025.
6. Some status messages are not announced in the correct format for screen reader users. This fails WCAG 2.2 success criterion 4.1.3 Status message. We plan to amend this by July 2025.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Following the audit conducted in January 2025 we are urgently reviewing how we can improve the accessibility of this website. We plan to make progressive fixes to content that fails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, with all fixes in place by July 2025.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 08 January 2025. It was last reviewed on 09 January 2025.

This website was last tested on 08 January 2025. The test was carried out by Walsall Council DaTS Team.

• a mixture of simple manual checks and automated tests to find only the most common barriers to users with accessibility needs
• manual checks using each page without a mouse, viewing the page at different zoom settings, and simulating viewing the page on a small screen 

The automated tests were completed using the latest version of Axe and WAVE. 

Tests were completed using different settings in the Internet Explorer browser on Lenovo ThinkPad with a 13-inch screen.