Accessibility

Information about our commitment to web accessibility.

Our accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the South Ayrshire Council website:

We are committed to making our website as accessible as possible and hope you find it easy to use. 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
zoom in up to 300% 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 have made every effort to ensure this web site is easily readable using plain English. Our web team regularly review content and provide training and recommendations to all our content publishers to ensure all web content is written in a format which is as easy to understand where possible.

The AbilityNet website has advice on making your device easier to use if you've a disability.

The household waste recycling centre(HWRC) booking system is provided by Petagull and accessibility of this site is manged by Pentagull who have provided an accessibility statement for this content.

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 and Advisory Service.

Technical information about this website's accessibility

South Ayrshire 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 AA standard and we continue to work to improve this.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website aren't fully accessible:

the text won't reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
you can't modify the line height or spacing of text
most older PDF documents aren't fully accessible to screen reader software
live video streams don't have captions
some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
you can't skip to the main content when using a screen reader on some pages

Content that's not within scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Accessibility regulations don't require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018. However, for those PDFs and Word documents which are classed as 'active administration documents' and are essential to providing our services, we'll look to replace with accessible versions. We plan to fix our PDFs by in a variety of ways. We will:

replace the PDF with an accessible HTML page, or
transform the PDF into an online form, or
ensure that, if the PDF is to remain as a document, it meets digital accessibility standards

In the meantime, if you're experiencing any difficulties with a PDF on our website please complete our online feedback form.

We will attempt to ensure any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Live video

We don't plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations.

Planning and Building Standards - ePlanning

ePlanning is a free to use online service that is provided by IDOX plc and is managed by the Scottish Government in partnership with all Scottish local authorities. This portal allows you to complete sand submit planning applications, notice of reviews, appeals, and other permissions under planning law, all online from the comfort of your own home or office.

Non-accessible content

Our Annual accounts are non-compliant with the accessibility regulations. These document have been created and secured by sign-off so we are unble to change or update the current version held.

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:

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

Translations

All of our online content can be provided in alternative formats and languages.

Reporting accessibility problems

We're always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we're not meeting accessibility requirements, complete our Website feedback.

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2021. It was last reviewed on 21 July 2022.

This website was last tested on 21 January 2022. The test was carried out by examination of our accessibility rating from Site Improve.

We use the results from Site Improve to continually monitor issues arising on the site allowing us to make improvements to improve our rating.

Accessibility resources for users

BBC My Web My Way

Do you need help in making the web easier to use? The BBC site explains the many ways you can change your browser, computer, keyboard and mouse settings to make the web more accessible to you.