Accessibility statement

This statement applies to content published on the www.redbridge.gov.uk and my.redbridge.gov.uk domains. It does not apply to content on subdomains (for example mylife.redbridge.gov.uk).

This website is run by the London Borough of Redbridge, IT and Digital Teams. It is designed to be used by as many people as possible. The text should be clear and simple to understand. You should be able to:

  • zoom in up to 400% without problems
  • navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
  • use most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
  • use ReciteMe, our tool for language conversion of our pages and support around accessibility 

 

How accessible is this website

Parts of this website are not fully accessible. For example:

  • some pages and document attachments are not written in plain English
  • some documents have poor colour contrast
  • some heading elements are not consistent
  • some images do not have image descriptions
  • many documents are in PDF format and may not be accessible

Each department and agency which publishes content on www.redbridge.gov.uk is responsible for making sure it meets the accessibility regulations. We will update the statement when issues are fixed or when we expect them to be fixed.

 

Redbridge.gov.uk services

Each subdomain has its own accessibility page, with details of how accessible the service is, how to report problems and how to request information in an alternative format. You can access these pages from the footer inside the service.

 

What to do if you can’t access parts of this website

Our website has an accessibility tool called 'Recite Me' which allows you to change the language, font size and style and magnify our website content. You can access this by clicking the accessibility button in the top right-hand corner of the page.

 

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:

In your message, include:

  • the web address (URL) of the content
  • your email address and name
  • the format you need - for example, plain text, braille, BSL, large print or audio CD

 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website 

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.

If you find any problems that aren’t listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Digital Content Team by emailing digital@redbridge.gov.uk.

 

Enforcement procedure 

If you contact us with a complaint and you’re not happy with our response contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

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’).

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility 

The London Borough of Redbridge is committed to making its websites 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 A and AA standards.   

Non-accessible content 

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

  1. Users arriving on our homepage as the first page they visit may find it difficult to navigate to the cookie consent buttons using a keyboard (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard and 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap), although by dismissing the subscribe box this then becomes navigable - as the keyboard tabs through background content in the subscription box before selecting the privacy consent box this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.3 Focus Order. We aim to fix this by January 2024 by which time we will have our new platform that we are currently building.
  2. Images on some pages do not always have suitable image descriptions. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to information conveyed in images. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content). 
  3. Some content looks like headings but is not. This makes it difficult for screen reader users to navigate the page. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships).
  4. Many documents are in less accessible formats, for example PDF. Non-HTML documents published on or after 23 September 2018 must have an accessible format. We aim to have this fixed on the new platform on or before January 2024.
  5. Some of our democratic services pages contain forms that have missing labels (which fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 - Name, Role, Value) and although meeting agendas and minutes are listed as HTML, their PDF equivalents are not fully accessible as sometimes the language may not appear as English UK. We are working on ensuring from May 2022 this is rectified. 
  6. Some pages contain embedded video feeds of Council meetings, both live and recorded. Users of assistive technologies may not have access to all the information conveyed in these videos (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 - Non-text content) and these embedded feeds may not contains headings (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 - Info and Relationships). 
  7. Our payment pages (civicaepay.co.uk) contain forms that have missing or multiple labels (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 - Name, Role, Value), missing headings (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1 - Info and Relationships) and elements with duplicate IDs (this fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.1 - Parsing).  
  8. Some pages on our Council Tax, Business Rates and Housing Benefit portals are constructed using non-compliant HTML which fails WCAG 4.1.1 - Parsing. This may adversely affect the use of some assistive technologies. If this is the case then please let us know so that we can pass this information on to the supplier of the portal. 
  9. The keyboard tabs through menu options backwards on the feedback form on the MyLife website, which is an independent site to www.redbridge.gov.uk. 
  10. Our Customer Satisfaction Survey powered by Govmetric is currently not WCAG compliant. We are working with ROL Solutions LTD, to make the survey WCAG compliant by November 2023.  

PDFs and non-HTML documents 

Many documents are not accessible in a number of ways including missing text alternatives and missing document structure. 

You can request any documents in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille  

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

Departments and agencies are urgently fixing content which fails to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard. We will update this page when issues are fixed.

We have more details on how we tested the site to make it more accessible.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was last reviewed on 21 September 2020. 

The preparation date of the statement was on 1 February 2022. 

This statement was updated on 23 March 2022.

It will be reviewed on 21 September 2022.

Last updated 23 March 2022.

 

 

Accessibility regulations: disproportionate burden assessment

Find out how we're checking our websites for accessibility issues, and what we consider to be a disproportionate burden.

London Borough of Redbridge Council is committed to meeting its legal obligations set out in the The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 ("No. 2 Regulations").  

However, we are currently running a programme of work to develop a new website and digital programme to improve our customer experience. But we currently have a complex collection of websites and limited resources to check them all for accessibility issues.  

You can read our approach to checking our websites, and how we've assessed what we consider a disproportionate burden. 

 

Current budget for our website

Currently there is no dedicated budget to support our main website the IT Web development Team allocate a percentage of their staff to maintain functionality and accessibility. The budget for these staff is £397,891.

All web content is part of officer's other main duties, and no allocated budget is set to support content at this current time.

 

Our approach to carrying out accessibility checks 

We've decided to use a combination of methods for our organisation, as set out in the GOV.UK guidance on deciding how to check your websites and in compliance with the No. 2 Regulations.  

 

Detailed checks 

We're doing a detailed accessibility check for: 

We will also check all planning and building control pages, plus a sample of pages on the Council Tax, Business rates and Housing Benefits portal. 

 The process for doing a detailed check will include: 

We believe it is reasonable to carry out a detailed check for www.redbridge.gov.uk and our digital transactions, as this covers the most important content provided by the London Borough of Redbridge.  

Our accessibility statement for www.redbridge.gov.uk  will cover problems we found for both www.redbridge.gov.uk and our third-party sites, and our plans to fix them wherever possible.  

 

Basic checks 

We'll carry out basic accessibility checks on the London Borough of Redbridge website that are independent of www.redbridge.gov.uk. These basic checks will be carried out by the IT development team, Web content team and service area web authors responsible for the website using GOV.UK's guidance on doing a basic check and our own internally produced guidance.  

Services will check samples of content, which will include: 

  • their homepage 
  • content pages that are mostly text based 
  • images, video and audio content 
  • interactive tools and transactions, like forms 
  • pages including login functionality, if the website has them 
  • PDFs and other document types they have 
  • dynamic content like pop-up windows 
  • navigation pages, including their sitemap and pages with search functionality 

 

Disproportionate burden 

Checking websites 

We have assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the No. 2 Regulations to pay an auditor to do a detailed check on our entire collection of websites.  

Our most important content and transactions are provided on our main website, redbridge.gov.uk, and its associated portals and platforms. We're doing detailed checks of these.  

However, we do not believe the benefit of paying for detailed checks of our other websites would justify the impact on our organisation except where those sites are specifically aimed at people with a disability.   

Fixing documents  

Having carried out a detailed check of redbridge.gov.uk, we've also assessed that it would be a disproportionate burden within the meaning of the No. 2 Regulations to fix all documents published on redbridge.gov.uk since 23 September 2018. 

The majority of these documents have never been viewed; therefore, they are not negatively impacting users with disabilities or impairments. For this reason, we don't 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 redbridge.gov.uk (top 10%) and ensuring that new documents are accessible where they are required for essential services or used by people with disabilities.  

Our council minutes hosted on moderngov.redbridge.gov.uk are not all accessible but from May 2022 all pdfs will be made accessible with the language selected to help the user. In the meantime any older minutes can be requested in a format that the user may require and can contact us through customer email. 

The Notice of Statements may not all be accessible due to these being provided by an external source and a statutory limitation to amendments.  

 

Types of website and documents  

Websites  

The London Borough of Redbridge has 22 websites independent of redbridge.gov.uk. These sites cover a variety of purpose, size and content. Some are hosted by our organisation; others are hosted and maintained by external suppliers and managed and paid for by an individual council service or directorate.  

Examples of these sites include:  

  1. https://mylife.redbridge.gov.uk which is a partnership information site managed by Adult Services and NELFT (North East London Foundation Trust) 
  2. https://find.redbridge.gov.uk/kb5/redbridge/fsd/home.page which is a partnership information site managed by Children and Families  
  3. Redbridge https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  4. Find  https://find.redbridge.gov.uk/kb5/redbridge/fsd/home.page
  5. Planning https://planning.redbridge.gov.uk/redbridge 
  6. Building Control https://buildingcontrol.redbridge.gov.uk/redbridge 
  7. Pre Apps https://planningpreapps.redbridge.gov.uk/redbridge 
  8. Enforcement https://planningenforcement.redbridge.gov.uk/redbridge 
  9. Council Tax https://espws.necsws.com/ords/pwslive/call_initial_apex_page.nes_selfsrv?service=CAR&la=LBRED&language=ENG&options=CT
  10. Benefits https://espws.necsws.com/ords/pwslive/call_initial_apex_page.nes_selfsrv?service=NEB&la=LBRED&options=NEW
  11. Business Rates https://espws.necsws.com/ords/pwslive/call_initial_apex_page.nes_selfsrv?service=CAR&la=LBRED&language=ENG&options=BR
  12. Payments https://www.civicaepay.co.uk/RedbridgeEstore/estore/default/Catalog/Index
  13. Search results https://searching.redbridge.gov.uk/s/search.html?query=example&collection=website-meta
  14. Web Account https://idp.redbridge.gov.uk/Account/Register?returnurl=%2F&clientid=RedbridgeCMSLive
  15. eForms https://eforms.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  16. ModernGov https://moderngov.redbridge.gov.uk/uuCoverPage.aspx?bcr=1 
  17. Redbridge North https://north.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  18. Redbridge South https://south.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  19. Crime commission https://crimecommission.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  20. Women’s Resource https://womensresource.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  21. Digital Voice https://digitalvoice.redbridge.gov.uk/ 
  22. Wall of Shame https://wallofshame.redbridge.gov.uk/

Documents 

As of January 2022, there were 713 documents on redbridge.gov.uk published since 23 September 2018 (within scope of the No. 2 Regulations). Focusing on fixing the top 10% most viewed documents is equivalent to about 71 documents. 

Of these 713 

  • 37 documents (5%) have been viewed more than 1000 times 
  • 26 documents (4%) have been viewed between 500 and 1000 times 
  • 126 documents (18%) have been viewed between 100 and 500 times 
  • 209 documents (29%) have been viewed between 10 and 100 times 

Cost of fixing inaccessible documents on redbridge.gov.uk 

It's difficult to know how long it would take to make every document accessible without first reviewing each one.  

If it took approximately one hour to review and fix each document within scope, fixing all 713 would take 96 working days (based on a 7.4-hour working day at Redbridge council. Approximately - £7,488 based on hourly rate for mid-point grade 6. 

Not all minutes for all council meetings may be accessible and from May 2022 every effort will be made to ensure that minutes are accessible and if a user is unable to access this information then an offer will be made to access in another format by contacting the service direct. 

Estimated benefits 

The relatively low volume, frequency and duration of use of the small independent websites and the low level of usage for most documents indicates that the vast majority of this work would have little to no benefit to users. 

Any users unable to access these documents can contact us at digital@redbridge.gov.uk 

Assessment of costs against benefits 

We believe the potential of paying thousands of pounds just on audits (before we've actually fixed anything) is unreasonable especially as we are now in the process of building a new site and integrations over the next 18 months. 

For most of our websites, the extra benefits for customers with a disability that could be gained from paying for a detailed check would not justify the cost above doing a basic check internally.   

Customers will benefit more if we continue to focus our resources on fixing the most used documents on www.redbridge.gov.uk and ensuring that new documents are as accessible as we can make them.  

The costs of paying for detailed checks for all our websites and fixing all documents on Redbridge.gov.uk would therefore be a disproportionate burden on our organisation. 

The benefit to users will be in the development of our new website and digital programme in which we seek to ensure our site is as accessible and improve customer experience. We will update these statements accordingly as we progress and build our new site. 

 

Estimated costs  

Paying for detailed audits  

We have assessed the costs of detailed external audits (and later re-audits) for our 21 websites independent of redbridge.gov.uk. If 80% of our independent websites were considered small and 20% were large, the cost would be between £60,000 and £218,000. 

These costs are based on estimates from GOV.UK's guidance on deciding how to check your website and getting an accessibility audit. This includes: 

  • a third-party day rate of £1,300 
  • about 1 to 3 days to audit a small website 
  • about 5 to 20 days to audit a large website 

We have excluded redbridge.gov.uk and our most essential digital transactions from the cost assessment as our detailed internal checks on these mean we are highlighting, resolving and preventing issues on an ongoing basis. 

 

Further considerations 

In reaching this decision, we have also considered the following: 

Our organisation’s size and resources 

The London Borough of Redbridge is a local authority managing increasing front-line service demands (e.g. for adult social care) but reducing annual budgets. 

During the period 2020 to 2022 we have been forced to re-prioritise resources owing to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, ensuring business continuity of essential services.  

The nature of our organisation 

We do provide services aimed at people with a disability. These are included on our main website, redbridge.gov.uk, and our associated transaction platforms (which we're doing detailed checks of).  

Our current digital programme and development of a new website will be the focus for the London Borough of Redbridge. We are committed to meeting its legal obligations set out in the The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 ("No. 2 Regulations").  

We believe that: 

  • it is important to make information available to the majority of web site visitors in a timely manner that can be revised at a later date if it is not accessible 
  • maintaining statutory and essential front-line services should be prioritised above paying for independent website audits 
  • it would be reasonable within the meaning of the No. 2 Regulations for our services to carry out basic checks of their independent websites, and use any available resource to fix the main issues found on their sites 

Our services will be assisted in their basic checks by: 

  • automated accessibility monitoring software (Sitemorse), for which we are paying approximately £2126 annually 
  • internal guidance and support from the internal guidance and support from the Digital Content Team (a specialist web content and user experience team) 

 

How much users with a disability would benefit from making things accessible? 

Our users will benefit from us making our websites and online documents accessible. 

However, we do not believe that for the majority of our websites the extra improvements that could be gained from paying for a detailed check would justify the cost over doing a basic check internally.  

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

We will also be placing our efforts and resources to developing our new website and digital programme which will enable users to experience an improved accessible website. 

The London Borough of Redbridge’s Disproportionate Burden Assessment will be in place until January 2024, but we are committed to making improvements continually to our website over this period. We will update this assessment regularly along with our Accessibility Statement. 

Please note: While this assessment explains our corporate position on disproportionate burden, some services may still choose to carry out a detailed check themselves or pay for one if they are able to budget for it. 

 

This assessment was last updated on 23 March 2022 and will be reviewed on 21 September 2022.

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