Accessibility Statement

This accessibility statement applies to https://www.growingmid.wales/, the website pertaining to the Growing Mid Wales economic region (Ceredigion County Council and Powys County Council). 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've also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

We've designed this website with features that make it easier to use by everyone, including those with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, or neurological disabilities. We aim to reach the level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. These are the international standard for accessible websites and content.

Listen to this site using ReachDeck

You can listen to the contents of this website being read aloud to you using the ReachDeck widget on the site.

Follow these steps:

To activate ReachDeck, click on the widget ReachDeck logo at the bottom left of your screen.
This will open a toolbar on the page displaying different options.
You can move the navigation bar by selecting the arrows and dragging the bar to where you would like it. You can use ReachDeck for the following:
Text-to-speech
Spoken and written translation
Text magnification
MP3 generation
Screen mask
Web page simplifier
Customisable options

For further help and support on how to use ReachDeck, click on the question mark in the ReachDeck toolbar.

There are also a number of customisation options for your browser and device that could help you use this website and other websites more effectively.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Feedback and Contact information

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

If you have an accessibility query including:

if you are experiencing issues with accessing information or using the website
if you find an accessibility problem not listed on this statement
if you have positive feedback on the accessibility considerations made.

Please contact: growingmidwales@ceredigion.gov.uk

Alternative formats

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

email: growingmidwales@ceredigion.gov.uk

We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as we can.

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

Growing Mid Wales 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, due to the non-compliances listed below:

Non-accessible content

There's no way to skip the repeated content in the page header (for example, a 'skip to main content' option).
It's not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content.
It's not possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping.

Content that's not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

PDFs and other documents

Most of our older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards - for example, they may not be structured so they're accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role value).

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they're not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix old PDF newsletters, posters or campaign materials that might still be published and accessed through our website.

Any new PDF or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

Many of our policy documents are not written in plain English / Welsh. These types of documents are exempt from the regulations as they are not 'needed for active administrative processes relating to the tasks performed', so we do not currently have any plans to make them accessible.

Live video

Live video streams do not have captions. This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.4 (captions - live).

We do not plan to add captions to live video streams because live video is exempt from meeting the accessibility regulations

How we tested this website

Tests were carried out manually by our Communication Officer as well as using automated site-wide testing software from Silktide: https://silktide.com/solutions/accessibility/

We tested:

our main website platform (English), available at https://www.growingmid.wales/

We tested all the English web pages and English PDF documents. We then applied identical fixes to both English and Welsh web pages and documents as necessary.

What we're doing to improve accessibility

We're doing our best to try to fix the issues outlined above. We continually monitor the accessibility compliance of our site and improving our site is part of the Communication Officer's work.

Appropriate staff are receiving accessibility training and are working with our service areas to raise awareness of the need to meet the accessibility regulations.
We have controls in place to make sure that all new content published on the website complies with the accessibility regulations.
We run an automated, site-wide accessibility check every month and work with service area staff to fix any issues.

Accessibility Roadmap

July 2023 - We planned to ensure all our English and Welsh PDF documents published after 23 Sept 2018 that don't fall under Disproportionate Burden or exemptions meet the accessibility regulations currently showing as issues in our website accessibility audit.

This statement was prepared on 30 September 2020 and last updated on 05 July 2023.

If you have any ideas or suggestions to help improve the site then please contact us.

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