Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Hull City Council corporate site www.hull.gov.uk.

This website is run by Hull City Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website.

That means you should be able to -

  • change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
  • zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
  • navigate most of the website using a keyboard or 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 also made the website text as easy to read as possible.

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 our website are not fully accessible -

  • some PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
  • some parts of our online forms need improvement and we are working to improve forms on this site and on third-party sites
  • other accessibility issues exist with some third-party websites and systems that this website links to and we are working with suppliers to address these issues
  • some of our online third-party forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
  • there’s a limit to how far you can magnify the maps on our location pages
  • some groups of links are not written as lists
  • it is not possible to close the chatbot using a keyboard

Feedback and contact information

If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact the Customer Experience Team -

If you need information on this website in a different format, such as an accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille -

We’ll consider your request and get back to you within five working days dependant on the urgency of your request.

If you cannot view the map on any of our ‘contact us’ pages or location pages, call or email us for directions -

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) handles the enforcement of 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 

We are committed to making our 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. 

Non-accessible content 

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

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations 

WCAG 2.0 A 2.4.4 – some instances occur where the same link text is used for different destinations. This is usually when menu links are the same as links in a page title or page content.

PDFs (WCAG 1.1.1) 

Some PDF documents are not fully accessible as they are not machine-readable. We are working towards amending the existing PDFs and ensuring processes are in place to make sure newly published PDFs meet accessibility standards. Currently, some existing PDFs fail to meet the following criteria - 

  • WCAG A 1.1.1 - All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose
  • WCAG A 1.3.1 - Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text

Images and other non-text content 

Some non-text content is not accessible via screen readers and keyboard navigation. 

  • WCAG AA 1.1.1 - Some images and other non-text content must have sufficient alt text to enable effective access to content via screen readers. 
  • WCAG AA 1.4.5 - Images of text should not be used unless text cannot be formatted to the same effect. 

iFrames and embedded third-party content 

We are aware that some third-party websites or systems that this website links to, or integrates with (such as Google Maps), are not accessible and may have issues, such as – 

  • WCAG A 1.1.1 - All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose
  • WCAG A 2.4.1 - A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple web pages
  • WCAG AA 1.4.3 - The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1
  • WCAG 2.0 A1.3.1 - some information presented as tables in maps do not have headers

Third-party sites 

We use third-party providers to provide some additional functions and tasks for our web users, such as forms, online payments, mapping etc. We are working with these suppliers to address any accessibility issues with their products. This is to ensure we provide a robust and accessible solution for you across all our online services.

Some of the issues we are aware of include -

  • no ‘skip to main content’ option 
  • it is not always possible to change the device orientation from horizontal to vertical without making it more difficult to view the content
  • it is not always possible for users to change text size without some of the content overlapping
  • there is insufficient contrast between text and background colours
  • some forms are not labelled correctly
  • the content cannot be listened to using a screen reader
  • text on images where no alt text is provided
  • some links use duplicated text
  • some controls do not change appearance when selected
  • keyboard focus is sometimes lost due to extra tabbing sometimes being required such as our cookie preference plugin
  • WCAG 1.4.10 some content is covered by buttons ( feedback and chatbot) in mobile or zoomed views such as 400%
  • WCAG A 2.1.1 - The chatbot cannot be closed via a keyboard. All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes, except where the underlying function requires input that depends on the path of the user's movement and not just the endpoints

Some embedded content or widgets are added to our site as it is a legal requirement to do so. We are dependent on the organisation to provide an accessible version and are unable to remove this inaccessible content from our site.

Each third-party supplier has published their own information for their product and their timescales for corrective action to be taken.

Housing portal 

Our housing portal was updated in June 2021 as part of a system replacement project and we also have a replacement product planned for November 2023 which will be added to this statement. 

Payments portal

The current version of the portal is not styled in a way that meets the accessibility standards and the system itself does not meet the required standards. It is unable to be developed further to be compliant. 

We have purchased a new version of the portal which is a compliant version, and it will replace our current version by the end December 2023. 

Customer portal

Our third-party supplier has stated – 

govService is committed to developing products that are accessible to all citizens. Wherever possible, govService products will meet the accessibility guidelines recommended under WCAG 2.1 for AA compliance. The precise level of compliance is dependent on the CSS and branding used to display a form and any Javascript/code and HTML elements used locally. 

Forms are tested with the current version of JAWS 4 to assist blind and partially sited users; we also use SiteImprove and Wave evaluation tools and others. When used in conjunction with JAWS, Forms will output the most popular refreshable braille displays in computer or Grade 2 braille. 

When reviewing UX/UI changes, we look to the standards defined in the government design system for determining best practice in conjunction with the W3C WAI guidelines. 

Council Tax and benefits portal 

We are working with our third-party supplier to ensure this portal is as accessible as possible for our customers. The portal was updated in December 2019 to ensure it met the WAG AA standards however it is acknowledged that due to the complex questioning structure of some of the forms there may well be scenarios where the format needs further update. 

Any identified issues will be amended and updated in the next available release. We are currently working on updating the styling of the product to ensure the standards are met. 

Mapping system 

We are working with our third-party supplier to ensure our mapping system is as accessible as possible for our customers. It currently requires an update of the styling to meet the standards. Where possible we have provided alternative content. 

  • WCAG A 2.1.1 - Map points cannot be selected via a keyboard. All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes, except where the underlying function requires input that depends on the path of the user's movement and not just the endpoints 

Appointments through our booking system 

We are aware that our booking system is not currently fully accessible, and the following issues have been identified - 

  • a number of fields have missing labels
  • some headers and buttons have insufficient contrast
  • there are broken ARIA references
  • empty header tags
  • missing field sets

We are currently working with the provider to address these issues as well as updating the web styling on this system to ensure it meets the accessibility standards. 

Content that is not within the scope of the accessibility regulations 

PDFs and other documents 

Some of our PDFs and word documents are essential to providing our services. For example, we have PDFs with information on how users can access our services, and forms published as word documents. We continue to work on either fixing these or replacing them with accessible HTML pages. 

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. 

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

Live video

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

What we are doing to improve accessibility

We have just provided a new website for our Customers and will continue to work on making improvements to all aspects of the site.

Our third-party suppliers will be contacted to ensure we have their latest information on their products and any issues they have corrected.

We continually assess and fix issues to ensure this site remains as accessible as possible and update this statement accordingly.

Timeline for fixing issues 

  • November 2023 - new housing portal and app available
  • December 2023 - payment portal updated to meet WCAG 2.1
  • January 2024 – investigate booking system for updates
  • February 2024 – mapping system improvements

Preparation of this accessibility statement 

This statement is currently being updated as of the 25th July 2024 and we are waiting for information regarding our 3rd party systems and portals from our providers. The above timeline will be updated based on the responses received. 

This website was last tested on 24th July 2024. The test was carried out by Hull City Council using the Silktide system and all the pages were tested, and manual checks were also made.