About accessible content
Introduction to accessible content
Accessible content is usually easier for everyone to use, understand and navigate.
Read an overview of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that we must follow.
We also have a legal duty to consider disabled people's needs when designing and delivering services and information. The Equality Act 2010, which includes the Public Sector Equality Duty, says our services must be accessible.
This means that content used to deliver our services should be accessible.
Read more about creating accessible services and environments for disabled people
What accessible content means
The word 'accessibility' can have different meanings depending on what you are talking about. When we talk about accessible online content, it means a disabled user can complete an online action in a similar time/effort as someone without a disability. GOV.UK explains more about what accessibility means.
Accessible content is content that has been written and formatted to ensure it can be understood by as many people as possible. This includes people with:
- Impaired vision
- Dyslexia
- Motor difficulties
- Cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
- Deafness or impaired hearing
Read more about why accessibility is important (GOV.UK).
Overview of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are internationally recognised recommendations. The guidelines explain how to improve web accessibility and solve users' problems.
WCAG 2.2 is the latest version of the guidelines.
Levels of compliance
There are three levels of compliance within the WCAG 2.2 guidelines:
Level A
This covers basic accessibility.
Level AA
It is a legal requirement that Norfolk County Council (NCC) websites meet this level. This is stated in The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Meeting this level means our websites are accessible for as many people as reasonably possible.
Level AAA
This is a higher level of accessibility. WCAG conformance requirements state that level AAA is not possible for some content.
What the WCAG guidelines cover
The guidelines cover areas such as:
- Colour contrast
- Correct tagging of images and headings
- Link text
By fixing these issues, we can:
- Help remove some of the common barriers people face with inaccessible websites
- Improve the experience for all users
- Make the website work better for users of assistive technology. For example, screen readers used by people with visual impairments.
Further information
Content that must be accessible
Content on our websites must be accessible.
Our websites include public facing websites, like www.norfolk.gov.uk. They also include internal websites, like our intranet (myNet) and SharePoint sites.
The following content must be accessible:
- Web pages
- Online PDFs and other documents (such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets etc)
- Online forms
- Videos
- Images
- Text
Content used to deliver our services should be accessible, even if it isn't published on our websites.
What's excluded?
PDFs and other document types published online before 23 September 2018 don't need fixing, unless:
- They're essential to providing our services
- They are being edited and republished after this date
For example, an application form for free school meals or a reception class place must be fixed. People need these forms to access those services.
It is unnecessary to fix documents like newsletters or minutes. They're not intended to give someone access to our services.
Responsibility for making web content accessible
If you create content, you are responsible for making sure it is accessible.
Staff who commission external organisations to create content on behalf of Norfolk County Council (NCC) are responsible for making sure it is accessible. We recommend linking to our accessible content guidance in the work brief.
For example, you and your service might create or commission:
- Documents that get uploaded to one of our public facing websites, our intranet (myNet) or SharePoint sites
- Web pages
- Video and audio
Read about content that must be accessible.
Always make content accessible, however you choose to share it
We recommend you make sure all content your create or commission is accessible. Even if you do not intend to publish it on our websites. This is because:
- Accessible content is easier for most people to access and understand
- People you share your content with might have a disability you do not know about
- You may need to use it to deliver our services
- You might need to publish your content online in the future
Further information
How we can help you
We have created step-by-step guides to help you:
- Create and commission accessible content
- Check content is accessible
Step-by-step guides
How to make web pages accessible
How to make Word documents accessible
How to make video and audio accessible
Accessible Powerpoint presentations and spreadsheets
How to make easy read documents accessible
How to commission accessible digital content and platforms
Read further guidance on how to create accessible content.
Norfolk County Council (NCC) Digital Customer Experience team
The NCC Digital Customer Experience team checks the documents that are submitted to go on the websites we maintain.
We run accessibility checks on PDFs using Adobe Acrobat Pro accessibility check. This tells us if there's anything wrong with the document. We also do manual checks, as the Adobe Acrobat Pro accessibility check does not cover everything.
We will tell you if you need to fix anything.
For most content, we would expect you to make sure your work is accessible from the start. But if you have a complex digital project or are working with a supplier, NCC staff can contact the Digital Customer Experience team (opens in a new window) (opens new window) for advice. Just select the 'Ask advice' option on our online form.
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