Accessibility statement
We want everyone who visits our website to be able to access the full range of services available, regardless of their skill or technology.
Durham County Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This accessibility statement applies to www.durham.gov.uk, linked sub domains of durham.gov.uk and all applications and systems that are classed as part of that site.
Compliance status
This website and supporting applications are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliance(s) and/exemptions listed below.
Non-accessible content
Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Below is a list of the systems and sites which we have identified as not compliant and the accessibility compliance fails.
Main site - documents
Information about documents updated since September 2018.
Documents that are provided for download only
Excel
Excel spreadsheets may be added to this site but are not accessible. Whenever one is added a .csv file will also be provided.
- traffic sensitive street consultation (provide to give additional search functionality) - this information will be removed from the website in December 2025
- selective licensing postcode checker (provide to give additional search functionality)
PDFs
Benefits calculator
This is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
Births, deaths and marriages certificates
This system is due for review in August 2024.
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for color-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- contrast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
- zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
Care Academy and adult learning courses
This is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- images: decorative / spacer images are missing a null alt attribute, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- IDs: aria-controls attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- IDs: aria-labelledby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- language: there is a bad value for attribute lang, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- tags: an end tag violated nesting rules, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- elements: li element is a child element when it should not be, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- elements: a button appears as a descendant of the a element, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
- forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Children's Services feedback forms
This is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- keyboard users: onmousedown handlers are missing onkeydown / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- keyboard users: onmouseup handlers are missing onkeyup / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
Community grants
This website is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
- fieldsets: fieldset elements are not labelled with legend elements, failing success criteria 3.3.1 and 3.3.2
Council tax / business rates / housing benefit repayments
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- IDs: some elements have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
Councillors, minutes and papers
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
- images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
Customer account (Do It Online / online forms)
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- lists: a list element contains other elements are is ordered incorrectly (register and login buttons), failing success criterion 1.3.1
- aria: aria roles are missing or not valid (register and login buttons), failing success criterion 1.3.1
- stylesheets: absolute positioning fails success criterion 1.3.2
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
- keyboard users: some features or links are not available when using a keyboard (privacy statement, contact methods), failing success criterion 2.1.1
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the focus style makes it difficult to see the keyboard focus (privacy notice), failing success criterion 2.4.7
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- iframes: some interactive element iframes appear as a descendant of the a element failing success criterion 4.1.1
- IDs: some elements have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
DCC Equal Online
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- IDs: aria-labelledby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- elements: an aria-labelledby attribute reference is missing an element ID, which fails criterion 1.4.4
- contrast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- images: animated images last over five seconds with no means of pausing or stopping them, failing success criterion 2.2.2
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- tabbing: the tab order does not follow a logical order, failing success criterion 2.4.3
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the focus style makes it difficult to see the keyboard focus, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- elements: the interactive element a appears as a descendant of the button element, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
DLI collections (Courageous Restraint collection)
This system will become part of the Story website when it launches, and will no longer be part of of the DCC website by the end of 2024.
Some links have duplicate link text but go to different destination, failing success criterion 2.4.4.
DLI collections (objects collection)
This system will become part of the Story website when it launches, and will no longer be part of of the DCC website by the end of 2024.
Some links have duplicate link text but go to different destination, failing success criterion 2.4.4.
Ebooks
This website is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- elements: objects elements do not have alt text, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- links: links use generic link text that has no context, such as 'click here', failing success criterion 2.4.4
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- IDs: some elements have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
Foster carers portal
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: tables are being used for layout but still have structural markup, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Freedom of information, information rights and disclosure log
These forms are provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
- frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
Parking fines portal
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
- contrast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
PaybyPhone parking
This website is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- script: script is used to create a blinking effect, failing success criterion 2.2.2
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Pensions portal (scheme members)
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
- elements: some aria roles elements are empty/have no accessible name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
- links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Pensions portal (scheme organisations)
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified
- images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- document titles: some documents contain placeholder text failing success criterion 2.4.2
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
- forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Planning applications
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCA 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
Planning consultations
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes. It will become part of consultations portal when it launches, potentially before the end of 2025.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- elements: fieldset elements are not labeled with legend elements, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- documents: figures / images in documents have blank alt text, and are not marked as decorative, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- elements: objects elements do not have alt text, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: some data tables with two or more logical levels of headers are not marked up to associate the header cells failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: tables are being used for layout but still have structural markup, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: nested tables are used which do not make sense when read in a screen reader, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- images in documents: some Word documents contains a non-inline graphic or objects, failing success criterion 1.3.2
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- links: skip links are broken as there is no anchor link, failing success criterion 2.4.1
- headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- markup errors: some pages have markup errors which cause screen readers to miss content, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
- images: an image has been updated but not its alt attribute, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 4.1.2
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Spiider
The system uses 3rd party controls.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.2 AA compliance have been identified
- graphs: these use a 3rd party web control so may not be compliant
- images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- headings: these do not cascade, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- outline / border style: the focus style makes it difficult to see the keyboard focus, failing success criterion 2.4.7forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
Volunteering portal
This website is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified
- images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- IDs: aria-describedby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- hidden elements: an element with aria-hidden=true contains focusable content, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- zooming: viewport tag is being used to disable zoom, which fails criterion 1.4.4
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- IDs: some pages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- labels: some are blank, failing success criterion 4.1.2
- IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
- forms: some form controls have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
Disproportionate burden
Below is a list of the systems and sites which we have identified as a disproportionate burden and details of the classification of the disproportionate burden and the accessibility compliance fails.
Main site - documents
Documents on the site that we have marked as disproportionate burden.
- Anxious about School
- Local land searches: We are required to provide access to these documents on a short term basis while that are transferred.
- Pension fund annual report: The document is provided by a 3rd party company in a prescribed layout that we are unable to change. This document is not currently fully accessible for the following reasons:
- some graphs/tables may not be readable by a screen reader
- the document is missing a correct heading structure
- the document is missing bookmarks
- Statement of accounts: The document is provided by a 3rd party company in a prescribed layout that we are unable to change. This document is not currently fully accessible for the following reasons:
- some graphs/tables may not be readable by a screen reader
- the document is missing a correct heading structure
- the document is missing bookmarks
Main site - Microsoft Forms
These forms are provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes to the basic product.
- keyboard users: some features or links are not available when using a keyboard, eg tabbing through a calendar, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- 'hidden' text: some error and submission text is not available to a screen reader, failing success criterion 3.3.2
- links: some do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
DLI collections (medal collection)
This system will become part of the Story website when it launches, and will no longer be part of of the DCC website by the end of 2024.
Some links have duplicate link text but go to different destination, failing success criterion 2.4.4.
Durham Controlled Parking Zone permits - challenging (Challenge Smarti)
This is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
Human resources system (MyView)
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes. They intend to make the system accessible by the end of 2025.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- IDs: aria-describedby attributes do not point to IDs of elements in the same document, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- markup: the stylesheet font-weight property.is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- contrast ratio: some controls do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio which fails success criterion 1.4.11
- keyboard users: onclick handlers do not have an equivalent onkeyup or onkeydown handler, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- keyboard users: onmousedown handlers are missing onkeydown / onclick handlers, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- frames and iframes: some do not have a title attribute, failing success criterion 2.4.1
- language: there is a bad value for attribute lang, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- IDs: an aria-labelledby attribute references a non-existent element ID failing success criterion 4.1.2
- buttons: there is an empty button element with no accessible name, failing success criterion 4.1.2
- colours: some body or element colours are set, but not all of them, failing success criteria 1.4.3, 1.4.6 and 1.4.8
Jobs portal (applying for council jobs)
This website is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Library Online
This system is due to be replaced in 2025.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images: some images do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- language: some pages have words made of Unicode characters that look like English characters but are from another alphabet, meaning screen readers are unable to pronounce these words correctly, and failing success criterion 1.1.1
- stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- form field labels: some are not unique or are not enclosed in a fieldset with a legend to make them unique, and fail success criterion 2.4.6
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- language: some phrases in a different language should are not in a span or div with a lang attribute, failing success criterion 3.1.2
- IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- forms: some have blank labels or titles, which fails success criterion 4.1.2
- elements: some elements do not contain text or an img with an alt attribute, failing success criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2
Parent portal (providers)
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.2 AA compliance have been identified:
- markup: the stylesheet font-weight property is used rather than semantic markup like strong, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- stylesheets: some content is in stylesheet, making it unavailable to screen readers and users who are not using the stylesheet, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- links: these do not have underlining making it hard for colour-blind users to see them, failing success criterion 1.4.1
- keyboard users: some features or links are not available when using a keyboard, failing success criterion 2.1.1
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- navigation: the system does not have information about its general layout failing success criterion 2.4.5
- outline / border style: the stylesheet makes it difficult to see the dotted link focus outline, failing success criterion 2.4.7
- IDs: some pages has duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- attributes: extra quote marks are appearing, possibly due to missing ones earlier in code, failing success criterion 4.1.1
- links: some JavaScript is being used to behave like a link so it can not be tabbed to from the keyboard or read out when screen readers list the links on a page, failing success criteria 1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.3 and 4.1.2
Parent portal (school admissions and early years funding applications)
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.2 AA compliance have been identified:
- headings: some headings do not cascade, failing success criterion 1.3.1
Some areas of the system that we do not use have not been tested, but we are unable to remove links to them.
Public transport bus timetables
This system is provided by a third party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
During our accessibility checks the following fails with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance have been identified:
- images in documents: some images / figures do not have an alt tag, failing success criterion 1.1.1
- tables: heading elements are not declared and role=presentation is not used, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- documents: PDFs are not tagged so are not accessible by screen readers, failing success criterion 1.3.1
- background colours: some text / background colours do not have enough contrast, failing success criterion 1.4.3
- page language: this is not declared, failing success criterion 3.1.1
- page titles: pages titles are not unique, failing success criterion 2.4.2
- document titles: some documents have no title failing success criterion 2.4.2
- headings: empty headings fail success criterion 2.4.6
- images: some alt text is the same as the image's file name, failing success criteria 1.1.1 and 1.2.1
Stopfords Registrars
This is provided by a 3rd party supplier where we do not have full control to make changes.
IDs: some pages/elements have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers, failing success criterion 4.1.1
Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations
- PDFs and documents (pre September 2018): PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 and are not essential to providing our services
- pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
- live audio and video including road and traffic cameras
- maps unless they provide core information (this includes maps in documents)
- content that's under someone else's control that we have not paid for or developed ourselves:
- social media buttons
- documents that we must make available and are submitted by the public or an external organisation:
- planning application feedback
- council minutes and papers
- environmental permit consultations
- common land decommissioning enquiries
- neighbourhood plan submissions
- Public Rights of Way register entries
- Nutrient Neutrality planning documents
- Integrated Strategic Commissioning documents
- North East Devolution consultation results documents
- documents that must be formatted in a way under Section 7 of the Procedure Guide For Local Plan Examinations that makes them not accessible:
- Schedule of Main Modifications (MMs) to the Publication Draft Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations Development Plan Document (M&WDPD)
- Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment Main Modifications Addendum
- A Schedule of Additional Modifications to the Publication Draft M&WDPD
- Draft M&WDPD with changes tracked
- archived systems that are not needed for services we provide and are not updated:
- The Durham Record
- Bootstrap
- births, deaths and marriages certificates
- DLI collections (Courageous Restraint, medals, objects)
- The Durham Record
- Duty to Refer
- Library online
- My Durham
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was first prepared in November 2019.
We re-assess the code, design and content of a website, application or system for accessibility whenever it undergoes a major modification or every one to two years. We do this internally using a combination of automated and manual checking, and with any testing documentation the 3rd party supplier provides.
Main site page content is manually checked every time it is updated.
The statement was last reviewed on 5 September 2024.
Feedback and contact information
We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page, think we're not meeting accessibility requirements or have any feedback, please Contact Website Administrator.
If you need information on this website in a different format please see our Communication support page.
Find out how else you can get in touch with us in our Contact the Council section.
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).
Under the Equality Act 2010 we must ensure we do not unlawfully discriminate in our service delivery and make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities where necessary. We are constantly working to improve the accessibility and usability of our site.
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